Zomato introduced ‘Pure Veg Mode’ today, but CEO Deepinder Goyal said the company will roll back the scheme if significant negative social consequences arise.
Hours after Zomato launched its ‘Pure Veg Mode’ and ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ for customers, the food delivery giant’s CEO said that the company would roll back the scheme if “significant negative social repercussions of this change” continue to emerge.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s comments came after the ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ led to a loud debate online, with many criticising the move.
The Pure Veg Mode on the app has a curation of restaurants that serve only pure vegetarian food, and will exclude all restaurants which serve any non-veg food items.
Explaining the rationale behind the ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ service, Goyal wrote, “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. For this reason, we had to separate the fleet for veg orders.”
The Zomato CEO also asserted that the “participation in our Veg delivery fleet will not discriminate on the basis of our delivery partner’s dietary preferences.”
“And I promise, that if we see any significant negative social repercussions of this change, we will roll it back in a heartbeat,” Goyal stated.
Meanwhile, he claimed to have received an “overwhelmingly positive response” from so many people, especially from “young people who eat non-veg food saying ‘now my parents can also use Zomato’.”
ZOMATO’S PURE VEG MODE STIRS DEBATE
Earlier today, Goyal announced the “Pure Veg Mode” along with a “Pure Veg Fleet” on Zomato, for customers who have a 100 per cent vegetarian dietary preference and are concerned about how the food was prepared.
The announcement stirred a massive debate online, with people rallying on each side.
“Anyone who thinks this is not blatant casteism is deluding themselves. The idea that “non-veg” food is polluting to veg food is deeply casteist, the entire purity pollution scale, the shuddh shakahari, pure veg bs is all casteist. Sad that Zomato is promoting castes,” an X user Dr. Ruchika Sharma wrote. Several others also echoed the same.
On the flip side, another user, Joy, said, “In this debate about Pure Veg Fleet of Zomato, please don’t try to demean Vegetarians. It’s their choice and belief. We should actually be more accommodating and sympathetic towards them because they have never really tasted good food.”