Zomato Responds To ‘Button Mushrooms With Future Date Of Packing’ Controversy
Food safety officials in Hyderabad have been intensifying inspections at food establishments ahead of Diwali. On 29 October 2024, a task force conducted a visit to Zomato’s Hyperpure warehouse in Kukatpally. Hyperpure, Zomato’s supply chain solution, caters to the Hotels, Restaurants, and Caterers industry, providing essential ingredients and equipment.
The warehouse, functioning as a Food Business Operator (FBO), had a valid state license prominently displayed, and essential documentation like Medical Fitness certificates and pest control records were found in order. However, officials uncovered violations during the inspection. Among these, 18 kilograms of button mushrooms were labelled with a future packing date of 30 October 2024, raising concerns. The inspection also revealed the presence of houseflies, an open premises lacking an insect-proof screen, and some handlers not wearing hair caps and aprons.
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Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal responded to the controversy, clarifying, “The FSSAI team found 90 mushroom packets with an incorrect packaging date, identified and rejected during an inward QC. This was due to a manual error on the vendor’s part, and we have since delisted them. Hyperpure has strict quality control measures, which helped identify this issue early.”
Goyal emphasised Zomato’s commitment to food safety, stating that despite the minor issue, their Hyderabad warehouse received an A+ rating, the highest in the inspection benchmark. Addressing media attention, he remarked, “It’s surprising that mushroom packets worth Rs 7,200 are making headlines, despite the A+ rating. Some may gain from this narrative that ‘all big business is bad business.’”
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s full statement:
“Hello all – just want to clarify that the fssai team noted that 90 packets of button mushrooms had incorrect packaging date – these were already identified by our warehouse team and were rejected during an inward QC. This is not usual, and was due to a manual typing error on the vendor’s side. Still, the concerned vendor has been delisted from our database. At Hyperpure, we have stringent inward guidelines and tech systems that helped our teams to identify this error in time.
We are committed to upholding industry food safety standards and are focused on not compromising on product quality at any stage of the supply chain. The recent food safety inspection at our Hyderabad warehouse resulted in the Hyperpure warehouse achieving an A+ rating, highest benchmark in their ranking.
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I am not sure why just these small number of mushroom packets worth Rs 7,200 (out of the crores of inventory in the warehouse), which were never going to make it to customers, are being talked about the media, while we got an A+ rating. Maybe some people benefit from the virality which they get at the expense of pulling down the Zomato brand. And maybe we all love to believe the narrative that “all big business is bad business”.”
