In a bid to reduce food wastage caused by order cancellations, food delivery platform Zomato on Sunday announced that it has introduced a new feature, "Food Rescue," which allows nearby customers to purchase recently canceled orders at a reduced price. This feature, which is already being scaled across the platform, aims to curb food waste while benefiting customers, restaurants, and delivery partners alike.

Every month, approximately 4 lakh orders are canceled on Zomato, resulting in a considerable amount of wasted food. In response, Zomato has implemented stringent policies and a no-refund policy to deter cancellations, but the issue persists. To tackle this, Food Rescue will now make canceled orders available for nearby customers, who can claim them at an "unbeatable price" while ensuring the food remains fresh.

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal announced the launch in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), saying that reducing food wastage is a priority not just for Zomato but for the entire restaurant industry.

"We don't encourage order cancellation at Zomato, because it leads to a tremendous amount of food wastage. Inspite of stringent policies, and and a no-refund policy for cancellations, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get canceled on Zomato, for various reasons by customers. The top concern for us, the restaurant industry, and even the customers who cancel these orders, is to somehow save the food from going to waste."

"Today, we are introducing a new feature (being scaled as we speak) -- Food Rescue! Canceled orders will now pop up for nearby customers, who can grab them at an unbeatable price, in their original untampered packaging, and receive them in just minutes," Goyal said.

We don't encourage order cancellation at Zomato, because it leads to a tremendous amount of food wastage.

Inspite of stringent policies, and and a no-refund policy for cancellations, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get canceled on Zomato, for various reasons by customers.… pic.twitter.com/fGFQQNgzGJ

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 10, 2024

How Food Rescue Works
Food Rescue works by offering canceled orders to customers within a 3 km radius of the delivery partner who has the order. These orders will appear on the app for a limited time, ensuring that the option to claim the order is available only for a few minutes to maintain freshness.

However, the original customer and those in their immediate vicinity will not be given the option to claim the canceled order. The payment made by the new customer will be shared between the original customer (if they paid online) and the restaurant partner, with Zomato retaining only the necessary government taxes.

Certain items, such as ice creams, shakes, smoothies, and other temperature-sensitive or perishable goods, are excluded from the Food Rescue program. Additionally, customers who prefer vegetarian food will not be shown non-vegetarian orders.

Zomato's Food Rescue: Restaurant and Delivery Partners
The company expressed that it is heartened to see that 99.9% of its restaurant partners are eager to participate in the Food Rescue initiative.

For restaurant partners, the process works as follows: They will continue to receive compensation for the original canceled order, along with a portion of the amount paid by the new customer if the order is claimed.

Restaurant partners can view Food Rescue orders in the Order History section of the Restaurant Partner app and in their Weekly Payout statement under the 'Order Level' tab.

If, for any reason, a restaurant partner does not wish to participate, they can opt out instantly via their Restaurant Partner app or dashboard.

As for delivery partners, they will be compensated fully for the entire trip, from the initial pickup to the final drop-off at the new customer's location.