New Delhi: Zomato, the popular online food delivery platform, has rolled out a new feature 'Food Rescue', aimed at tackling the problem of over 4 lakh cancelled orders each month.
Giving details, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said to reduce food wastage and provide customers with discounted meals, the new feature will allow nearby users to grab cancelled orders at "unbeatable" prices.
How 'Food Rescue' Works?
Goyal announced the launch on Sunday, explaining that cancelled orders would now become available to customers within a 3-kilometres radius of the delivery partner carrying the order. These orders, which remain in their original packaging, can be claimed at a steep discount, but only for a limited time to ensure freshness.
In a post on X, Goyal said Zomato does not encourage order cancellation as it leads to a "tremendous amount of food wastage". "Inspite of stringent policies, and a no-refund policy for cancellations, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get cancelled on Zomato, for various reasons by customers. 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!" Goyal said.
We don't encourage order cancellation at Zomato, because it leads to a tremendous amount of food wastage.
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 10, 2024
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
He said the cancelled orders will now pop up for nearby customers for "unbeatable price, in their original untampered packaging, and receive them in just minutes."
"The cancelled order will now pop up on the app for customers nearby, but they will only have a few minutes to claim it," Goyal said. "This feature ensures that food remains fresh while helping us reduce cancellations and waste."
The initiative is designed to benefit not only customers but also the restaurants and delivery partners. Zomato assures that the original restaurant will still receive compensation for the cancelled order. Additionally, if a new customer claims the order, the restaurant will get a share of the payment, while the original customer will receive their portion of the proceeds if they made an online payment.
Exclusion For Sensitive Items
However, there are some restrictions. Perishable food items like ice creams, smoothies, and shakes, which are sensitive to temperature or distance are excluded from the 'Food Rescue' initiative.
Goyal emphasised that the program has garnered overwhelming support from restaurant partners, with 99.9 per cent opting in. Restaurants can also easily opt out of the feature at any time via their control panels. Delivery partners, too, will be fully compensated for the entire journey, from picking up cancelled orders to delivering them to the new customer.
This move by Zomato aims to reduce food wastage while giving customers the chance to grab great deals on food the would otherwise go to waste.
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