Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal, in an update on the introduction of the ‘Pure Veg Mode’, said that the regular fleet and the vegetarian fleet will not be distinguishable. He had earlier confirmed that the pure vegetarian fleet that will cater to customers who adhere to a 100 per cent vegetarian diet, would use green delivery boxes instead of the standard red ones. However, his 'pure veg fleet' announcement was met with strong criticism. Goyal, in his latest update, has said that there will be no segregation of the on-ground fleet and everyone would wear the standard red.
“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),” said Goyal in the latest update on Wednesday morning.
The Zomato founder said that making everyone in the fleet wear the standard red would ensure that delivery partners are not incorrectly associated with non-veg food and blocked by RWAs or any societies during special days.
He said that with the segregation of the colours, it is likely that some of the customers would “get into trouble with their landlords”, and it would not be “nice” if it happened because of Zomato.
“Thanks everyone for talking about this last night. You made us understand the unintended consequences of this rollout. All the love, and all the brickbats were all so useful - and helped us get to this optimal point. We are always listening, without unnecessary ego, or pride. We look forward to continue serving you,” he said.
After the vegetarian mode announcement, Goyal had clarified that this feature strictly serves a dietary preference. He explained that this segregation was done keeping in mind that sometimes food spills inside the delivery boxes. He said that participation in the veg delivery fleet would not discriminate on the basis of the delivery partner’s dietary preference. “And I promise, that if we see any significant negative social repercussions of this change, we will roll it back in a heartbeat,” Goyal had stated.