Facing criticism on social media after launching the “Pure Veg Mode” on his platform, Zomato Co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal on Tuesday clarified that if the company sees any significant negative social repercussions of this decision, “we will roll it back in a heartbeat”.
Earlier in the day, Goyal announced the ‘Pure Veg Mode’ along with the ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ on his platform for customers with 100 per cent vegetarian dietary preference.
He said the new mode or fleet doesn’t “serve or alienate any religion or political preference”.
His decision drew flak from various quarters on social media.
However, Goyal admitted that he has received “an overwhelmingly positive response on this launch from so many people”.
A lot of comments from young people who eat non-veg food said that “now my parents can also use Zomato”.
“I would like to repeat that this feature strictly serves a dietary preference. And I know there are a lot of customers who would never order food from a restaurant which serves meat, irrespective of their religion/caste,” the Zomato CEO emphasised.
He also clarified that participation in the veg delivery fleet will not “discriminate on the basis of our delivery partner’s dietary preferences”.
Several people argued that some societies and resident welfare associations (RWAs) will now not let Zomato’s regular fleet in.
“We will stay alert for any such cases and work with these RWAs to not let this happen. We understand our social responsibility due to this change, and we will not back down from solving it when the need arises,” said Goyal.
The ‘Pure Veg Mode’ will consist of a curation of restaurants that serve only vegetarian food and exclude all restaurants that serve non-vegetarian items.
