New Delhi: A day after facing backlash for introducing a “pure veg fleet” with a separate green uniform for its delivery partners as an “on-ground segregation” method, food delivery giant Zomato has rolled back the uniforms citing feedback by customers.
Zomato had Tuesday announced a new service catering exclusively to pure vegetarian customers, termed “Pure Veg Mode”. This initiative included the introduction of a “pure veg fleet” dedicated to delivering vegetarian food, who would wear a green uniform. Non-veg food delivery agents would continue to wear the red one.
However, the decision faced backlash online, with many slamming the move as “casteist”.
Responding to the outcry, Zomato co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal announced in a late-night post that Zomato would roll back the separate green uniforms, but added that the “pure veg fleet” would continue to be visible on the app.
“While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red.
“This means that the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that your veg orders will be served by the veg only fleet),” he said in his post on X Tuesday night.
He added: “This will ensure that our red uniform delivery partners are not incorrectly associated with non-veg food, and blocked by any RWAs or societies during any special days… our riders’ physical safety is of paramount importance to us.”
Update on our pure veg fleet —
While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will…
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 20, 2024
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Earlier, Goyal had highlighted the practical considerations behind separating the fleets, citing concerns about food spillage and cross-contamination between vegetarian and non-vegetarian orders.
“Despite everyone’s best efforts, sometimes the food spills into the delivery boxes. In those cases, the smell of the previous order travels to the next order and may lead to the next order smelling of the previous order,” he explained.
The decision to introduce the “Pure Veg Mode” was made based on feedback from vegetarians, Goyal added, claiming that “India has the highest population of vegetarians”.
However, he said the new service did not serve or alienate any religions, or political preference.
Explaining the rationale behind the move, Goyal said, “This feature strictly serves a dietary preference… as there are a lot of customers who would never order food from a restaurant which serves meat, irrespective of their religion/caste.”
This move marks a shift from Zomato’s previous stance in 2019, when it stated the challenge of accommodating both vegetarian and non-vegetarian preferences in delivery logistics.
Zomato had said that it was impossible to ensure that vegetarian and non-vegetarian preferences were factored into delivery logistics after a group of executives in West Bengal’s Howrah went on an indefinite strike claiming the company was forcing them to deliver beef and pork against their will.
Poonam Sangeetha of the DMK student wing has criticised the move calling it ‘truly disgraceful’. “It’s truly disgraceful to label vegetarianism as ‘pure’—strongly condemn the casteist nature of #Zomato‘s ‘pure vegetarian’ fleet”, she posted on X.
It's truly disgraceful to label vegetarianism as 'pure'—strongly condemn the casteist nature of #Zomato's 'pure vegetarian' fleet pic.twitter.com/o4O9uaVrUE
— Pooranasangeetha Chinnamuthu (@poornasangeetha) March 20, 2024
The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union has also criticised the green fleet.
In a press note released after the announcement, the union said, “Will @zomato in the future also take customer feedback about who can deliver their food and who cannot?”
Our Q to @deepigoyal on Zomato's "Pure Veg Fleet" announcement: Will Zomato now also filter out delivery workers who r vegetarian only to service this fleet? Will @zomato in the future also take customer feedback about who can deliver their food and who cannot? Read PRESS NOTE 👇 https://t.co/JZFkFi2ChO pic.twitter.com/QPwRo84sHY
— Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (@TGPWU) March 19, 2024
ThePrint reached Zomato via phone and emails but has not received a response. The copy will be updated once a response is received.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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