Zomato’s Food Rescue Initiative: How Does It Work?
In a bid to reduce food wastage, Zomato has launched the “Food Rescue” initiative, targeting the issue of cancelled food orders. With approximately 400,000 orders cancelled every month on the platform, this initiative offers a practical solution to prevent good food from going to waste. The system aims to make unused, untouched orders available to new nearby customers at discounted rates, keeping both freshness and value intact.
How the Food Rescue Initiative Works for Customers
The Food Rescue feature, available on the Zomato app, offers customers within a three-kilometre radius of a cancelled order the chance to purchase it at a reduced price. Once a delivery order is cancelled, it appears on the app for eligible customers close to the delivery location, where they can “rescue” the food almost immediately. Importantly, to maintain freshness, the option to claim these orders is only available for a short period after cancellation.
We don’t encourage order cancellation at Zomato, because it leads to a tremendous amount of food wastage.
Inspite of stringent policies, and and a no-refund policy for cancellations, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get canceled on Zomato, for various reasons by customers.… pic.twitter.com/fGFQQNgzGJ
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 10, 2024
Several safeguards have been introduced to ensure suitability and quality. For instance, the feature excludes orders for items that are distance- or temperature-sensitive, like ice creams and smoothies, as these items may degrade during travel. Additionally, customers with dietary preferences for vegetarian food will not see non-vegetarian items listed as available for rescue.
In cases where the original customer has already paid for the order online, they are entitled to a portion of the amount paid by the new customer. The remaining amount is shared with the restaurant partner. Zomato itself does not retain any proceeds from these rescued orders, apart from the necessary taxes required by the government.
“The top concern for us, the restaurant industry, and even the customers who cancel these orders, is to somehow save the food from going to waste. Today, we are introducing a new feature (being scaled as we speak) – Food Rescue! Canceled orders will now pop up for nearby customers, who can grab them at an unbeatable price, in their original untampered packaging, and receive them in just minutes,” Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said.
How It Benefits Restaurant Partners
The majority of Zomato’s restaurant partners—99.9%, to be exact—have expressed support for the Food Rescue initiative. Participating restaurants continue to receive compensation for the original cancelled order and also gain a share of the new customer’s payment if the order is claimed through Food Rescue. Restaurant partners can track these orders and their earnings from them in the “Order Level” tab of the weekly payout statement, as well as in the order history section of the Restaurant Partner app.
For restaurants that prefer not to participate in this initiative, Zomato provides an option to instantly opt out through the partner dashboard or app, allowing for flexible participation based on restaurant preference.
Provisions for Delivery Partners
Zomato’s delivery partners, who play a crucial role in the Food Rescue process, are fully compensated for the entire trip. This includes both the initial journey to pick up the cancelled order and the subsequent trip to deliver it to the new customer’s location. This ensures that delivery partners do not lose out on potential earnings due to cancellations, making the initiative more sustainable for all parties involved.
