After the introduction of the “Pure Veg Mode” sparked intense debate on social media platforms, Zomato has decided to drop the green dress code for riders carrying only vegetarian food. Deepinder Goyal, the founder and CEO of Zomato, used social media to respond to criticism and share the decision.
The CEO stated, “We have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the color green, even though we will still have a fleet for vegetarians,” in a post on X (formerly Twitter). All of our riders will be dressed in red, including those in our regular fleet and the fleet designated for vegetarians.
He continued, “This means that the fleet designated for vegetarian orders won’t be visible from the ground; instead, it will indicate on the app that your vegetarian orders will be fulfilled by the veg only fleet.
What are “Pure Veg Fleet” and “Pure Veg Mode” on Zomato?
According to Goyal, the launch of the “Pure Veg Mode” and “Pure Veg Fleet” is intended to serve only those clients who consume only vegetarian food. Goyal went into further detail about the rationale behind the launch of the business’s “Pure Veg Mode” service. He continued by saying that no political or religious group is favored or singled out by this initiative, which is impartial.
The CEO explained in a different post on X that the feature is meant to serve customers—regardless of their caste or religion—who refuse to order from establishments that serve meat.
But why was it necessary for us to divide the fleets? Because occasionally, in spite of everyone’s best efforts, food does leak into the delivery boxes. In those situations, the prior order’s odor may permeate the subsequent order and cause it to smell like the prior order. Goyal elaborated in the post, “We had to divide the fleet for vegetarian orders because of this.
Furthermore, the founder of Zomato promised that delivery partners’ dietary preferences would not be taken into consideration if they joined the vegetarian delivery fleet.
“Some societies and RWAs are reportedly going to stop allowing our regular fleet to enter. We’ll keep a watch out for any instances like this and collaborate with these RWAs to make sure it doesn’t happen. We are aware of our social responsibility as a result of this shift, and we won’t back down from addressing it when necessary, the CEO continued.
“It will roll back in an instant.”
If the meal delivery service sees unfavorable social effects, they will quickly withdraw the initiative. Goyal declared, “And I guarantee that we will quickly reverse this change if we observe any major negative social repercussions.”
This development occurs one day after the food delivery platform revealed that it will be using a specialized fleet to deliver meals only from “pure veg” restaurants. The deliveries will be made in recognizable green boxes.
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