Monday, May 20

“What An Idiotic Move”: Criticism Over Zomato’s ‘Pure Veg Fleet’

Edited by Shibu NK
"What An Idiotic Move": Criticism Over Zomato’s ‘Pure Veg Fleet’

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal‘s announcement of a “Pure Veg Mode” and “Pure Veg Fleet” to cater to vegetarian customers has sparked controversy and criticism from various quarters, including prominent voices like Indian journalist and digital rights activist Nikhil Pahwa.

Mr Goyal unveiled the initiative, emphasizing India’s significant vegetarian population and their specific dietary preferences. He stated, “India has the largest percentage of vegetarians in the world, and one of the most important feedback we’ve gotten from them is that they are very particular about how their food is cooked, and how their food is handled.”

The Pure Veg Mode by the online food delivery platform promises a curated selection of restaurants serving only vegetarian food, with a dedicated fleet ensuring that orders from these establishments are exclusively handled by vegetarian delivery partners. Mr Goyal added, “This feature will see a phased roll out across the country in the next few weeks. We remain committed to listening to our customers, and serving our community in the best possible way.”

However, Nikhil Pahwa swiftly denounced the move, labeling it as “idiotic” and raising concerns about potential discrimination against customers with specific dietary requirements. Mr Pahwa questioned the initiative, suggesting, “How about a separate fleet for those vegetarians who don’t have onion & garlic & don’t want that mixed with their veg food. How about separate fleets for jhatka and halal non veg.”

He further criticized the initiative for potentially enabling societies to halt non-vegetarian deliveries, thus restricting consumer choice. Mr Pahwa concluded, “What an idiotic move. Some societies will stop non veg deliveries & you’re only enabling them.”

Journalist Fathima Khan said the move may lead to more discrimination. “There have been multiple instances of people rejecting food deliveries because the delivery agent was a Muslim. The argument used by them was also “we didn’t want our food purity to be tarnished”. I won’t be surprised if ‘pure veg’ Zomato initiative leads to more discrimination,” she wrote on X.

Meanwhile, an X user named Tushar Khandelwal called Zomato’s move as a marketing move from “a marketing company that delivers food.” “Pure Veg Mode!! This guy gets marketing so well. They turn a simple swiggy filter into a grandiose branding campaign. I will continue to say. Swiggy is a delivery company & Zomato is a marketing company which delivers food,” he wrote.

Journalist  Himanshi Dahiya said: “The term and concept of ‘pure‘ vegetarian food itself is casteist. Please care to explain the difference between veg food and ‘pure‘ veg food”.