Zomato launches 'Food Rescue' service to curb food waste

In a bid to reduce food waste, Zomato has introduced Food Rescue, a new service that allows users to book food orders cancelled by ors at a lower price. As part of new service, cancelled orders will pop up on app's screen for customers trying to book an order within a rius of 3km of delivery partner carrying order. Customers can book order for mselves without having to pay original amount.

“ top concern for us, restaurant industry, and even customers who cancel se orders, is to somehow save food from going to waste,” said Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, stressing that platform sees over 4 lakh “perfectly good orders” getting cancelled for various reasons despite strict policies, including zero-refund policy.

How does Food Rescue work?

After a customer cancels an order, it goes up for grabs for or customers trying to book a food order. app will show a pop-up with order content and a discounted price to customers within a 3km rium of delivery partner carrying order. Zomato says pop-up will stay on app for a few minutes, so if a customer does t want it, it can be offered to ors – all in a bid to “ensure freshness.” cancelled order will t be shown to customer who cancelled, alongside ors from same vicinity, however.

Once a customer grabs cancelled order for mselves and pays for it, amount goes to original customer through an online mode and to restaurant. “Zomato will t keep any proceeds (except required government taxes),” said company in a blog post. Food Rescue service is t applicable to distance-sensitive foods such as ice-creams, shakes, and or certain perishable items. Zomato said it will also factor in a customer's food choice, so that vegetarians do t see n-vegetarian orders.