“Our dishes look dull on Swiggy and Zomato, and the place next door gets the orders.”
On a delivery app your dish is a small square beside ten others. We shoot one clear dish per frame and check it at phone size.
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Advertising · Photography · Food photography
Foodphotography
Since 201565+ in-house team6 cities
Dishes that look as good on a phone as on the plate. And arrive looking like the picture.
A strategist calls you in one working day.
/ 01 Food photography
People eat with their eyesbefore they order.
Most menus are shot once, in a hurry, and then the place next door wins the order. PromotEdge plans and delivers food shoots for restaurants, cloud kitchens and packaged food brands.
We shoot the real dish, so what arrives matches the photo.
Pick this page over our wider product photography when food is what you sell. A dosa goes limp in minutes, so we cook to a timetable with a food stylist on set. One shoot covers the app, menu card, standee, pack and hoarding.
We shoot for restaurants, cloud kitchens, QSR chains, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) food brands, caterers and bakeries. Selling six dishes from home? Window light and a good phone go far. Book us when your menu grows.
- 2015working with Indian brands since
- 65+in-house team: strategy, creative, media and tech
- 4pillars under one roof: strategy, advertising, digital, on-ground activation (BTL)
- 6cities: head office in Kolkata, teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar
/ 02 What you receive
From menu checkto files for every use.
| Deliverable | What it is | When you get it |
|---|---|---|
| Menu and listing check | Your menu photos beside three nearby competitors, on a phone | Before the shoot |
| Shot list and style guide | Dishes, angles, plates, props and where each picture is used, in writing | Before the shoot |
| Delivery-app menu set | One clean, well-lit picture per dish, sized for your app | Usually within a week of the shoot |
| Hero dish pictures | A few styled dishes for website, social posts, banners and the menu front | With the menu set |
| Ingredient and process shots | Spices, a gravy pour, dough rolled, hands at work | With the menu set |
| Pack and label photography | Product on white; serving-suggestion pictures checked with your team | Usually within two weeks |
| Print files and usage terms | Sharp, true-colour files for menus, standees and hoardings, with usage rights in writing | With the final set |
Short videos and reels are quoted separately. Timings are planning guidance for one menu or pack range; large menus or slow approvals add time. Send us your menu link and we will say which five pictures to fix first.
/ 03 Common hurdles
What usually gets in the wayof a good food photo.
“Customers say the biryani looked bigger in the photo.”
That turns into poor ratings. We shoot the real portion in your real bowl or box.
“We have 120 menu items and one day to shoot them.”
We plan it like a production line: dishes grouped by base and plate, light set once per group, best sellers first.
“Every photo on our menu looks like a different restaurant took it.”
We write a short style guide with angle, background, plates and props. Every new dish then fits in.
“Our pack shows a bowl full of fruit, and our quality team is worried.”
They are right to ask. Indian food labels must not mislead, and pictures count. We plan pack shots with your regulatory team before the shoot.
“The hoarding photo looked fine on screen and blurry from the road.”
Large prints need big, sharp files and space for your words. We plan the hoarding crop on shoot day, not at the printer.
Send us your menu link and we will say which five pictures to fix first. Get a free growth plan
/ 04 How we work
Brief to final filesin about two to three weeks.
- 01
Pick the dishes that matter
We start from your sales, not the chef's favourites.
- 02
Agree the look
Plates, backgrounds and props are agreed and the shot list signed off before shoot day.
- 03
Plan the kitchen
We visit first. With your chef we set the cooking order and keep a spare plate of each dish for the light.
- 04
Shoot while the food is fresh
Each dish is plated, styled and shot within minutes. You see every picture on screen as we go.
- 05
Edit honestly
We fix colour, crumbs and spills, and sharpen detail. We never enlarge the portion or add what isn't in the dish.
- 06
Deliver and check it live
Files go out sized for each use. Once your menu is updated, we check it on a phone and fix any picture that doesn't work small.
We use AI to save your team's time. A person still makes the decision.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
Go deeperMore on this
How we deliver it, and why
- Fix the look in writing. One guide keeps a menu looking like one kitchen. A one-page guide.
- Shoot with the chef beside us. Food has minutes, so the kitchen order sets the day. Pictures on screen as we go.
- Check it live on a phone. A big-screen picture can fail as a small square. Fixes after launch.
Go deeper: the market, a brand and AI
Market
NRAI and Redseer put India's foodservice market at about US$90 billion in FY24, heading to US$150 billion by FY31. Online delivery is around 11% of it, and may reach nearly 18%.
Source: NRAI and Redseer, as reported by Restaurant Times, 10 July 2026
Haldiram's
Haldiram's began in 1937 as a small shop in Bikaner, founded by Ganga Bishan Agarwal. The family later opened in Nagpur, Kolkata and Delhi, and the brand is now sold in 80+ countries.
Source: Storyboard18, 26 March 2025
How your business model changes the plan
A cloud kitchen lives on its app photos, so the menu set comes first. A chain needs one look across outlets. A packaged brand needs pack shots for its site and for quick commerce apps. Canteens and cafes inside hospitals, factories and housing complexes need honest menu pictures too: see healthcare, industrial manufacturing and real estate.
Who sets the rules and who shaped the field in India
NRAI describes itself as the voice of the Indian restaurant industry, from chains to independents. ASCI, formed in 1985, self-regulates advertising, so food ad claims follow its code.
Source: NRAI and ASCI official sites, read 10 October 2026
AI in food photography: today and next
Swiggy's Photoshoot tool checks owner photos against its guidelines, improves them and offers backgrounds. Swiggy said better images can bring up to five times more orders, a company claim. It improves a photo; it cannot cook the dish.
Source: Inc42, 8 November 2023
Easier to chat? Message us on WhatsApp. Chat with us
/ 05 Cost
What affects the cost of food photography.
A twenty-dish menu in your own kitchen is a different job from a hero shoot for a new pack. Stylist, props and studio are billed at actuals and shown before you approve.
What affects the cost
- Dishes or products, and angles of each
- Menu pictures only, or hero, process and pack shots too
- Food styling, props, plates and backgrounds
- Your kitchen, a studio, or several outlets and cities
- Editing per picture, and where the pictures are used
How we quote
- We talk about your menu, outlets and where the pictures will be used
- We see your current photos and, if needed, visit the kitchen
- We list dishes, shots and dates in a written scope, each cost on its own line
What you get in the quote
- Dish list and angles for each dish
- Styling, props and backgrounds, at actuals
- Final edited pictures, sized for apps, menus, web and print
- Who may use the pictures, and for how long
We quote per dish, per shoot day, or as a menu refresh plan. When you compare quotes, check how many final edited pictures you get, and whether a stylist is on set.
/ 06 What happens next
What happensafter you ask.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
- 01
A strategist calls you
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
- 02
You get a 1-page plan
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
- 03
A quote, if you want one
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop.
Brands and people are named only as public examples. They are not PromotEdge clients or endorsers unless stated.
Keep exploring
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What people say
In their own words
“PromotEdge has been a unique creative group amongst unique creativity world. …”
Rajat ChatterjeeHead Business Development at Birdman Chemeng Pvt Ltd.“I commend PromotEdge as a content and advertising partner. I applaud their top-notch team, swift problem-solving, and outstanding digital media work for my brand. I express my happiness and eagerness for a long-term partnership.”
Priyanka GuptaDirector at Nitya Gold & Diamonds“I really want to thank Sayantan and his team from PromotEdge because what I find good in them is that, the team. When the team is wonderful, the outcome will definitely be wonderful. …”
Abhijit BhattacharyaFormer Captain Indian VolleyBall Team; and Founder of Brahmaputra Volleyball League
No pressure. No sales pitch.
Send us your menu link.We'll show you the plan.
Straight answers.
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It depends on the number of dishes, whether you want hero and process shots too, and whether a food stylist is on set. We quote against a written list of dishes and uses, and show any third-party cost before you approve it.
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As planning guidance, a simple menu set on one background can often cover a few dozen dishes a day if the kitchen keeps pace. Styled hero shots take longer, often a handful a day. We plan the cooking order with your chef.
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Each delivery app sets its own guidance for menu pictures in its partner app, and it changes from time to time. We read the current guidance in your partner account before the shoot, then crop and size every file to match it.
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We'd advise against it for dishes you actually sell. Customers compare the picture with what arrives, and a mismatch shows up in ratings and refunds. Check your delivery app's current terms too. If time is short, shoot your best sellers first and add the rest later.
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As general guidance, the FSSAI's Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020 say a label must not mislead. If a picture makes an ingredient stand out, the label usually states how much is inside, with exceptions for spices, flavourings and serving suggestions. Your regulatory team signs off.
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We plan, manage and deliver the shoot. Our in-house team of 65+ people does the work, with industry consultants and partner agencies where a job needs them. Restaurant shoots happen in your kitchen; packaged products can go to a studio. Our servicing team is based in cities across India.
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We share relevant work when we talk, so ask for examples in your kind of food. In a first call we can also look at your current menu on a phone and tell you which five pictures to fix first.
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Compare before and after. Note each dish's menu views and orders in your delivery-app dashboard before the shoot, if it shows them, and check again a few weeks after the new photos go live. Ratings that mention 'looked different' are worth watching too.