Zomato Won’t Launch Private Brands On App To Compete With Restaurant Partners: Blinkit CEO

SUMMARY

The CEO also claimed that the company won’t be using the Zomato app to market its newly launched 10-minute food offering Bistro

His response follows NRAI’s president Sagar Daryani's concerns about the foodtech companies masking customer data

Dhindsa in a post on X, said, “All the companies innovating with us on Bistro also work with a number of restaurants and our success at Bistro has the potential to add value for the entire food & restaurant ecosystem.”

A day after it was reported that the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) will likely approach the Competition Commission of India (CCI) flagging standalone 10-minute food delivery apps, Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa said that its parent Zomato will never launch private brands on the main app to compete with its restaurant partners

The CEO also claimed that the company won’t be using the Zomato app to market its newly launched 10-minute food offering Bistro. However, he acknowledged that this would come at a significant cost to the company but said the ethics took priority over anything else.

His response follows NRAI’s president Sagar Daryani’s concerns about the foodtech companies masking customer data saying that these foodtech giants have access to crucial consumer data but do not share this information with restaurant partners.

In another tweet ‘Introducing Bristo’ Dhindsa said, Bistro is a new app, outside of Blinkit and Zomato and Bistro’s service is currently live across a few locations in Gurugram to help us find product market fit.

Marking the recent roll out of 10-15 minute food delivery service by Swiggy and Zomato named Snacc and Bistro, NRAI has expressed concerns that the duo might be using this data to divert customers towards their products sold through these apps.

Just a few days ago, NRAI even requested the government of giving industry status to the food services sector, to ensure fair play for restaurants, delivery partners as well as consumers against potential exploitative practices of foodtech platforms.

The association previously alleged that the food delivery giants engaged in anticompetitive practices such as bundling of services, exorbitant commissions, delayed payment cycle and imposition of one-sided clauses.