Zomato has rolled out a new feature for users in India which aims to minimise food wastage caused by cancelled orders. The feature, dubbed Food Rescue, lets users grab orders cancelled by others from nearby restaurants at discounted prices for a limited time. The food delivery platform says orders will be received by customers in a short time and in their untampered packaging. However, only select food items will be eligible for this service, with items such as ice-creams or shakes excluded.
Zomato’s Food Rescue Feature
In a blog post, Zomato announced that recently cancelled orders will be visible to customers on the app within a 3-kilometre radius of the delivery partner. The orders will be available to claim for only a few minutes and the original customers, as well as those in their immediate vicinity, will not be able to grab their respective orders. If the payment for the cancelled order has already been made online, the amount paid by the new customer will be shared with them and the restaurant partner. Zomato says the platform will only keep the required government taxes from the fee.
As per the food delivery platform, 99.9 percent of its restaurant partners wish to sign up for this initiative. With Food Rescue, they will not only receive compensation for the cancelled order but also a small share of the amount paid by the customer who has grabbed it. Furthermore, delivery partners will also be compensated fully for the entire trip, Zomato says.
To minimise the misuse of this feature, the original customer will continue to have to pay a cancellation fee to cancel the order; 100 percent of the total amount. Zomato confirms that items sensitive to distances or temperatures, such as ice creams, shakes, smoothies, and other perishable items, will not be eligible for this initiative. It also emphasizes that customers who prefer vegetarian food will not see non-vegetarian orders.
