Will Discontinue If There’re Negative Social Repercussions: Zomato CEO On ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ Launch

Foodtech major Zomato on Tuesday (March 19) announced the launch of ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ to cater to customers with ‘100% vegetarian dietary preference’. However, the move faced backlash from social media users.

After a row erupted over the company’s decision, Zomato cofounder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said that the foodtech major is willing to roll back the new initiative if any significant negative social repercussions erupt.

“We understand our social responsibility due to this change, and we will not back down from solving it when the need arises. And I promise, that if we see any significant negative social repercussions of this change, we will roll it back in a heartbeat,” Goyal said in a post on X.

He, however, defended the new launch saying that in some instances the food spills and smells from non-vegetarian orders would seep into the vegetarian orders. This, he said, necessitates the need to separate the fleet.

“But why did we need to separate the fleets? Because despite everyone’s best efforts, sometimes the food spills into the delivery boxes. In those cases, the smell of the previous order travels to the next order, and may lead to the next order smell of the previous order. For this reason, we had to separate the fleet for veg orders,” Goyal added. 

Assuring users that the new launch strictly serves a dietary preference, the Zomato CEO said that the new fleet would not “discriminate on the basis of our delivery partner’s dietary preferences”.

He also said that the company would “stay alert” and work with resident welfare associations (RWAs) to curb instances of societies not allowing the startup’s regular fleet in.

Goyal’s new post on the social media platform came after Zomato’s move to separate the fleets kicked up a storm online. While many appreciated the new move, others flagged the decision. 

“If the problem statement is about food spilling into delivery boxes, how is segregating veg & non-veg delivery a solution? You think non-vegetarians are okay with their tandoori chicken smelling like smoked salmon? How are the victims of food-spilling exclusively vegetarians?” said a user on X.

Another X user said, “Literally now, me and my family can use Zomato without any doubt. Trust me I had never ordered from Zomato or Swiggy because of the veg and non-veg food mix issue. I just can’t eat the food if it is touched somehow with non vegetarian food. Never.”

Earlier in the day, the company also said it planned to add more specialised fleets for special customer needs, including a special cake delivery fleet with hydraulic balancers to prevent cakes from getting smudged during delivery.

The developments came just a day after Goyal, while speaking at the ongoing ‘Startup Mahakumbh’, said that constant innovation is needed by startups as no business model would last for more than a decade today amid the rapid evolution of technology.

The new experiment comes as Zomato continues to be a favourite of the retail investors. Banking on three consecutive profitable quarters, the company’s stock has jumped more than 180% in the past 12 months.

Zomato reported a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 138 Cr in Q3 FY24, up from INR 36 Cr in the preceding quarter. Earlier this week, Jefferies also selected Zomato as one of its ‘top picks’ for the next five years and said it expects the stock to surge to INR 400 during this period.

Shares of Zomato ended today’s trading session 0.13% lower at INR 158 on the BSE.