Zomato’s Food Rescue Concerns Faces Pushback from Restaurateurs Over Logistics

Zomato’s Food Rescue program seems to have failed because the restaurateurs are not convinced with this initiative considering their brand value and relations with the consumers. On the other hand, the owner of Zomato Ltd. believes that this initiative would mitigate food waste statistics. While some restaurateurs agree with this policy and are ready to sign up for the food rescue program, on the other hand, the majority of restaurateurs are not willing to go with this initiative as it risks their brands’ reputation.

Zomato food rescue restaurateurs concerns highlight

• Zomato Ltd. initially introduced the “Food Rescue” initiative as a mandatory policy in September 2024.
• In the Food Rescue program, customers can buy the canceled food order at a substantial discount on the original price.
• The food delivery platform later revised this program and re-introduced it as a voluntary initiative in November, after facing significant pushback from the restaurateurs.
• The restaurant owners working with Zomato, are concerned about their restaurants’ image and loyalty to the customers.

Ever since Zomato introduced its initiative under the name “Food Rescue” it has been facing a significant pushback from the restaurateurs who are highly concerned about their brands’ loyalty and reputation among the customers. Many restauranteurs have said no thanks to the food delivery platform after this program was introduced as a mandatory policy. However, the significant pushback by the restauranteurs forced the food delivery platform to revise its policy and make it a voluntary initiative. Despite this, the restauranteurs are seeing the Food Rescue initiative as a risk instead of a reward because they are expressing reluctance to participate at this stage. Since many people are still not aware of the Food Rescue program of Zomato, we have come up with this article to tell you everything about it.

In September 2024, the Food Rescue program was launched as a mandatory policy for all the restauranteurs only to face a significant backlash and pushback from the restaurants. Meanwhile, the food delivery platform revised its policy and made it a voluntary initiative. However, the owner of Zomato introduced this contagious policy with good intentions. On November 11, 2024, Zomato officially announced that it has made Food Rescue a voluntary initiative. Despite the significant change, the revamped program seems to have failed to convince the restaurant owners because they are concerned about the quality of food to be maintained throughout the process.

The CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal introduced the Food Rescue initiative on Twitter as it would allow the customers located along the route of a canceled order to buy the food at a reduced price than its original with untampered packaging. He also said that his company is registering more than 4 lakh canceled orders each month even when they have set no refund policy for the canceled orders. Deepinder Goyal’s intention to launch Food Rescue was to mitigate the alarming food waste. However, the restauranteurs have different opinions on it. The owner of Tamak and Nksha, Pranav Rungta said this model carries a high risk of harming a restaurant’s reputation. The CEO of WOW Momo, Sagar Daryani said he would not sign up for this initiative unless Zomato shares SOPs on the processes, more minute details, and guarantee that the quality of food remains safe in this entire process. The majority of the restauranteurs are saying that the earlier policy of returning the canceled food to the restaurant was better.

In Case You Didn’t Know

• Participating in the Zomato Food Rescue program can also lead to licenses being canceled as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has strict guidelines for food safety.
• United Nations Food Waste Index Report claimed that India wastes 78.2 million tonnes of food each year despite having the world’s largest hunger population.