Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said on Wednesday that all riders of the food delivery giant would wear the usual red-coloured t-shirts after its newly-introduced 'all-veg' service sparked a massive online debate, with many criticising the move.
"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," Goyal said in a post on X.
"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). 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 daysâ€æ our rider’s physical safety is of paramount importance to us," he added.
The new 'Pure Veg Fleet' introduced on Tuesday for customers with a vegetarian dietary preference required the delivery riders to wear a green uniform. 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.
In his tweet, Deepinder Goyal also said that the company realised "that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice if that happened because of us".
"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 added.
Just hours after the launch of the new fleet, the Zomato CEO said the company would roll back the scheme if significant negative social consequences arise.
"India has the largest percentage of vegetarians in the world, and one of the most important feedback we’ve gotten from them is that they are very particular about how their food is cooked, and how their food is handled," he tweeted on Tuesday night.
While explaining the decision to launch the new fleet, Goyal said that "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".
"Please note that 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."
But the launch of Zomato's 'Pure Veg Fleet' led to massive differences in opinions amongst social media user, with some slamming the scheme, while others praising it.
While another user said "India has the biggest market of vegetarian food. Zomato introducing pure veg delivery option is just a business decision. Stop outraging for the heck of it"; another noted, "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."
"Keep the T-shirt color the same. Maybe keep a badge. Changes nothing for the person ordering. But won’t let any miscreant harass,' another person posted on X.
