Didn’t Expect An Uproar, Decision To Launch Pure Veg Fleet Was Based On A Survey: Zomato CEO

Days after Zomato’s decision to launch a ‘pure veg fleet’ raked up a controversy online, the foodtech major’s cofounder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said he was taken aback by the backlash as the decision was taken on the basis of a survey.

“We had done a large survey of people who are more than 50 years old. An overwhelming majority said they needed a veg-only option and preferred veg-only restaurants… So, we launched it. We had not expected such an uproar… It was only when we launched it that we were like, ‘Oh! aisa bhi ho sakta hai (This is also possible),” Goyal told Economic Times in an interview.

The Zomato cofounder said that the survey comprised 1,600 people and an overwhelming 72% voted in favour of “veg only” deliveries. 

Goyal also said that about 80% of the reactions to the launch of its green fleet were positive, while 20% were negative. 

Earlier this month, Zomato unveiled its ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ with green uniforms to cater to customers with ‘100% vegetarian dietary preference’. It also launched a ‘Pure Veg Mode’, which allows users to exclude all restaurants which serve any non-vegetarian food item.

The move triggered a major row online as many users questioned the introduction of a fleet with a separate uniform and cited concerns that many resident welfare associations (RWAs) might put a complete ban on the entry of Zomato delivery partners who are not in the green-coloured uniform.

Eventually, the company took a U-turn and rolled back the decision to introduce a green uniform for delivery partners.

“While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red,” Goyal said then.

Meanwhile, the foodtech major continues to be the darling of the retail investors as the stock continues to notch record highs on the bourses. Shares of Zomato jumped to an all-time high of INR 188.95 on the BSE during the intraday trading on Wednesday (March 27). However, the stock gave up the gains to close the session 1.7% lower at INR 179.50 on the BSE.

Earlier in the day, brokerage ICICI Securities raised the price target (PT) on Zomato to INR 300, citing the company’s sustained growth trajectory and anticipated improvement in profitability in the near future.