Gurugram: Zomato has launched a new initiative, “Food Rescue,” to reduce food waste by offering canceled orders at discounted prices. CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal took on X to announce the initiative, the feature allows customers located along the original delivery route to purchase the cancelled food order at a discount, as long as it’s in its original, untampered packaging.

“We don’t encourage order cancellation at Zomato, because it leads to a tremendous amount of food wastage. In spite of stringent policies, and a no-refund policy for cancellations, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get canceled on Zomato, for various reasons by customers,” Goyal said on X.

In his tweet, Goyal stressed the extent of food waste caused by order cancellations, noting that Zomato handles over 400,000 canceled orders each month. Despite the company’s strict no-refund policy, many of these orders are still discarded for various reasons, contributing to unnecessary waste.

“Zomato will not keep any proceeds (except the required government taxes). The amount paid by the new customer will be shared with the original customer (if they made payment online), and with the restaurant partner. Orders containing items sensitive to distances or temperature such as ice creams, shakes, smoothies, and certain perishable items, will not be eligible for Food Rescue,” Goyal added in his tweet.

Goyal also said that most restaurants partnered with the food aggregator platform had agreed to the new initiative. Under this change, restaurant partners will be compensated for the original canceled order and will also receive a share of the amount paid by the new customer if the order is claimed. Additionally, restaurants can easily opt out of the program if they wish to make adjustments.

Goyal addressed the reasons why the food isn’t simply donated, pointing out logistical and legal challenges as the main obstacles. “Most places where we can distribute them are away from urban centers, and distributing free food to the needy is fraught with liability challenges.” he said on X.

Know how it works

Through Food Rescue, customers within a 3km radius of a delivery partner with a canceled order will find it listed on their app’s home screen, available to “rescue” at a discounted price. The listing will be shown for only a few minutes to preserve the order’s freshness. Orders containing perishable items, such as ice creams and smoothies, or those that may degrade during transit, will not be included in the program.

To ensure the initiative benefits those financially affected by cancellations, Zomato has arranged for payments from new customers claiming a rescued order to be shared between the original customer (if prepaid) and the restaurant. Zomato itself will only take the necessary taxes, with no other proceeds.

Restaurants, compensated for the original order, will also receive a share of the resale value. Delivery partners will be fully paid for both the initial pickup and any subsequent redelivery, ensuring their earnings remain unaffected.

The Food Rescue feature is being gradually introduced on the Zomato app, enabling users to refresh their home page and see nearby canceled orders available for claim.