• Zomato has introduced 'Food Rescue' to address food wastage from cancelled orders.
• Nearby customers can purchase cancelled orders at a reduced price, with revenue shared with the original customer and restaurant.
• Not all items are eligible for 'Food Rescue', and most restaurants have opted in for this feature.
• The initiative is set to boost app usage and is being scaled up for a larger rollout across all cities.

In a groundbreaking move to address the issue of food wastage and cancelled orders, online food delivery giant Zomato has introduced a new feature named 'Food Rescue'. This innovative initiative is designed to salvage over 400,000 orders that are cancelled on the platform every month due to various reasons.

Zomato's CEO, Deepinder Goyal, explained the mechanics of the new feature. Cancelled orders will now be made available to nearby customers who can purchase them at a significantly reduced price. The food will be delivered in its original, untampered packaging, and customers can expect to receive their orders within minutes. However, the original customer and those in their immediate vicinity will not have the option to claim the order.

The cancelled order will appear on the app for customers within a 3 km radius of the delivery partner carrying the order. To ensure the freshness of the food, the option to claim will only be available for a few minutes.

Zomato's Approach to Revenue and Quality Control

Goyal further clarified Zomato's approach to the revenue generated from these orders. The company will not retain any proceeds from the sale of these orders, except for 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.

However, not all items will be eligible for the Food Rescue feature. Orders containing items sensitive to distances or temperature such as ice creams, shakes, smoothies, and certain perishable items, will not be included in this initiative due to quality concerns.

Restaurant partners will continue to receive compensation for the original cancelled order, plus a portion of the amount paid by the new customer if the order is claimed. Most restaurants have opted in for this feature, and can opt out of it easily whenever they want, directly from their control panels.

The Impact on Delivery Partners and Future Plans

According to Zomato, 99.9 per cent of its restaurant partners want to be a part of this initiative. Delivery partners will also be fully compensated for the entire trip, from the initial pickup to the final drop-off at the new customer's location. This initiative is expected to boost the app's usage and user retention, as people are likely to be scouring through the app, waiting for a cancelled order to pop up.

The new feature is currently being scaled up for a larger rollout across all cities. Zomato reported an average of 498,000 active delivery partners monthly in the last quarter, underscoring the scale of its delivery network and the potential reach of this initiative.

In a related development, Deepinder Goyal offered a job to a Bengaluru-based Product Manager after his suggestions for Zomato's Food Rescue. The CEO was impressed with the suggestions and asked the individual to share more details about himself. This incident highlights Zomato's commitment to continuous improvement and its openness to feedback and suggestions from the public.