SUMMARY
- Zomato introduces “Food Rescue,” allowing nearby users to claim cancelled orders at unbeatable prices to combat food wastage.
- The feature ensures cancelled orders are delivered in original, untampered packaging, but only for a limited time.
- The original customer pays the cancellation fee, and the payment is shared between the restaurant partner and the new customer.
Zomato has launched a new feature called “Food Rescue,” which allows nearby customers to claim cancelled food orders at unbeatable prices, with the aim of minimizing food wastage. The feature, announced by Zomato Co-Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal on LinkedIn, will display cancelled orders on the homepages of nearby customers. These orders will be available in their original, untampered packaging and can be claimed for delivery within minutes.
The new feature comes as Zomato tackles food wastage, but it also addresses the issue of cancelled orders, which typically result in financial losses for the company and restaurant partners. While Zomato does not offer refunds on cancelled orders, customers can now claim these at discounted prices, helping to redistribute the food that would otherwise go to waste.
“The original customer still pays the cancellation fee – which is 100% of the amount of the cancelled order,” Goyal clarified. Zomato will not retain any proceeds from these orders, except for necessary government taxes. Instead, the payment from the new customer will be divided between the restaurant and the original customer (if the payment was made online). Restaurant partners will receive compensation for the original cancelled order, as well as a share of the payment from the new customer if they claim the food.
Delivery partners will also be fully compensated for their services, including the entire trip from the restaurant to the new customer’s location.
However, to maintain food quality and ensure freshness, Zomato’s “Food Rescue” feature will only be available for a limited time. The pop-ups for cancelled orders will appear for only a few minutes, and the feature will not apply to orders with temperature-sensitive or perishable items such as ice creams, smoothies, and certain other items that could be affected by long delivery times.
Most restaurant partners have opted into the program and can easily opt-out via their control panels, giving them flexibility in participating.
This new feature aims to reduce food waste while offering consumers a cost-effective way to enjoy meals that might otherwise have been discarded.
