Zomato Introduces Food Rescue Feature In Order To Reduce Food Wastage: Get Cancelled Orders At Discounted Rates

Food delivery company Zomato has been introducing new features that benefit both users and restaurants. Today Zomato co-founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal has officially announced a new feature for the food delivery app- Food Rescue.

We don't encourage order cancellation at Zomato, because it leads to a tremendous amount of food wastage.

Inspite of stringent policies, and and a no-refund policy for cancellations, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get canceled on Zomato, for various reasons by customers.… pic.twitter.com/fGFQQNgzGJ

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 10, 2024

This feature is introduced as an effort to reduce food wastage, this is because as per the above post in spite of no refund policy, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get canceled at Zomato for various reasons by customers and the top concern is somehow to save food from going to waste.

Food Rescue feature will show canceled orders to nearby customers, who can grab them at an unbeatable price, in their original untampered packaging, and receive them in just minutes. To ensure freshness will only be available for a few minutes, items such as ice creams, shakes, smoothies, and certain perishable goods will not be eligible for Food Rescue.

As per the official blog by Zomato, the canceled order will pop up on the app for customers within a 3 km radius of the delivery partner carrying the order. Also, the original customer and those in their immediate vicinity will not receive the option to claim the order. While customers who prefer vegetarian food will not see non-veg orders.

The amount paid by the new customer will be shared by the new customer will be shared with the original customer (if they made an online payment) and with the restaurant partner. The company has also clarified that Zomato will not keep any proceeds (except the required government taxes).

Delivery partners will also be compensated fully for the entire trip from the initial pick up to the final drop off at the new customer’s location. Meanwhile, restaurant partners will continue to receive compensation for the original canceled order, plus a portion of the amount paid by the new customer if the order is claimed. Restaurant partners can also opt out via their Restaurant Partner app and dashboard if they don’t wish to participate.