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Swiggy rival Zomato recently introduced a 'Pure Veg Fleet' to cater to the dietary preferences of India's significant vegetarian population. The fleet was designed to ensure that vegetarian orders are handled and delivered separately, addressing concerns about cross-contamination with non-vegetarian orders.
Zomato rolls back green dress code
However, the decision to distinguish the 'Pure Veg Fleet' with green uniforms and delivery boxes quickly met with backlash from the public. Netizens argue that the move could lead to unnecessary segregation and potentially harm the delivery partners by making them targets of discrimination.
In response, CEO Deepinder Goyal, in a post on X, said that all Zomato riders, regardless of the fleet they belong to, will wear the standard red uniforms, removing any on-ground segregation while maintaining the service differentiation in the app.
Update on our pure veg fleet —
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 20, 2024
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…
This means that the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that the 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 days… our riders’ physical safety is of paramount importance to us," Goyal wrote.
"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," he said.
What is 'Pure Veg Mode' and 'Pure Veg Fleet'?
The 'Pure Veg Mode' on Zomato's app filters out non-vegetarian restaurants, showcasing only those establishments that serve purely vegetarian cuisine.
Beyond the 'Pure Veg Fleet', Zomato has plans to introduce more specialized delivery services, such as a cake delivery fleet equipped with hydraulic balancers to prevent smudging.