Why has ZOMATO’S Pure Veg fleet stirred a controversy?

1 minute read

Zomato’s CEO Mr. Deepinder Goyal made headlines on tuesday announcing zomato’s pure veg fleet which aims to cater to people who are pure vegetarians , however this news is facing severe backlash and has sparked a heated debate on social media . Lets know why?

On March 19, Founder -CEO Deepinder Goyal posted on X “Pure Veg Mode will consist of a curation of restaurants that serve only pure vegetarian food… Our dedicated Pure Veg Fleet [in distinct green uniforms] will only serve orders from these pure veg restaurants. This means that a non-veg meal, or even a veg meal served by a non-veg restaurant will never go inside the green delivery box meant for our Pure Veg Fleet.”

However a day later Goyal also came up with another statement stepping back from his previous statement saying” 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 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.

We now realise that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice thing if that happened because of us.

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). “

(Deepinder Goyal on X, March 20)

Although there seem to be no issues with customers ordering from pure vegetarian restaurants, a recent debate has arisen over the uniform segregation policy implemented by Zomato. Some individuals have viewed this issue through the lens of caste, a significant factor in India. In the country’s culture, those who consume pure vegetarian food are deemed pure, while those who prefer meat are often associated with lower castes. The belief that even a speck of meat should not fall onto vegetarian food, due to spilling from a previous order, is being viewed by some as a form of untouchability, rather than a dietary or religious preference. Furthermore, some have raised concerns about whether Zomato should create a pure halal fleet , if a pure vegetarian one exists.

However, others have viewed this issue from a business standpoint. They argue that Zomato has a considerable number of pure vegetarian customers, as mentioned by Goyal in a recent episode of Shark Tank India Season 3, and that the company has the right to cater to their needs.

Zomato has previously faced criticism for its Kachra ad, which was linked to casteism. Nevertheless, the company has artfully handled this situation by rejecting the uniform segregation policy, thereby avoiding any potential backlash.

By shreepriya1052March 21, 2024OthersLeave a Comment

Hello Student

Leave a Reply Cancel reply