’20 Hours of Zoom Call’: Zomato CEO on what happened after the ‘vegan’ trip

Deepinder Goyal wins Entrepreneur of the Year award today

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal today told NDTV that its top team held over 20 hours of Zoom calls to find a way out of the massive controversy surrounding the announcement of an “all-veg” food delivery service. Mr. Goyal received the Entrepreneur of the Year award from Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and NDTV Executive Director Senthil Chengalvarayan at the NDTV Indian of the Year Awards today.

When asked what message he wanted to convey to a young Indian who wants to be successful like him, he said: “I come from a very small town in Punjab. The only message is that wherever you are born, wherever you come from What background comes from, you can actually do it.”

Mr Goyal was then asked about the massive controversy surrounding Zomato’s announcement earlier this week to build a “pure vegetable” fleet. Under this service, Zomato will rope in restaurants that offer only vegetarian food and the delivery partners of this service will not handle non-vegetarian food packages. Initially, Zomato also announced the launch of green uniforms for its “pure veg” delivery partners.

The news sparked an outcry on social media. While some equate to a form of the modern caste system, others point to real problems. Some users pointed out that the different color schemes for vegetarian orders could cause problems for those ordering non-vegan food. Tenants may be questioned by landlords about their eating habits, while residential complexes with a predominantly vegetarian population may ban red-uniformed Zomato partners entirely on certain days, they said.

Mr. Goyal and his team reacted quickly and canceled the separate uniform plans. He said Zomato will have a fleet of “veg-only” vehicles and will display on the app that it is delivering orders opting for the service. However, all delivery partners will continue to wear red uniforms.

Zomato CEO thanks social media for feedback. “You guys helped us understand the unintended consequences of this rollout. All the love and all the bricks went a long way – and helped us get to this sweet spot. We were always listening, without unnecessary ego or pride. ” he wrote on X.

In an interview with New Delhi TV, Mr. Goyal shared what prompted them to launch a “pure vegetable” fleet. “We did a big survey asking ‘What would make you order more from Zomato’. This question came up,” he said.

“Growing up, we didn’t know what the words meant, what the historical context was, and none of our team (members) knew that. We were indifferent to it. I think that’s the purest form of hands-off casteism of any kind. , any religion, any prejudice. We continued to make changes. But when we got feedback, we actually understood it. For the next 20 hours, we were on Zoom calls just trying to address whatever we needed to address Problem. Fix,” he added, describing the behind-the-scenes story of Zomato’s popularity on social media.

Mr Goyal had earlier stressed in a social media post that the ‘veg-only’ service caters strictly to dietary preferences, irrespective of one’s religion or caste.

“Please note that this vegan model or vegan fleet does not serve or alienate any religious or political preferences,” he said.

NDTV also asked Mr Goyal in a light-hearted manner whether he had ever ordered food through Swiggy, Zomato’s biggest competitor in the food delivery aggregator space. “Never,” he replied with a smile.