‘All riders will wear red’: Zomato drops green dress code amid ‘pure veg’ fleet row

Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal issued a clarification amid backlash on social media over food delivery company’s new ‘pure veg fleet’.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red.”

This comes after Zomato announced a dedicated fleet intended to exclusively serve orders from ‘pure veg’ restaurants and said that these deliveries will be made in distinctive green boxes.

What will change now after Zomato CEO’s announcement?
Deepinder Goyal said, “This means that the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that your veg orders will be served by the veg only fleet).”

Why was the decision taken as per Deepinder Goyal?
Citing safety of delivery partners as a reason, he said that the change “will ensure that our red uniform delivery partners are not incorrectly associated with non-veg food, and blocked by any RWAs or societies during any special days… our rider’s physical safety is of paramount importance to us.”

What Deepinder Goyal said on social media backlash?
Accepting his mistake, Zomato CEO said, “We now realise that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice if that happened because of us.”

He also thanked social media users for their views on the company’s move saying, “All the love, and all the brickbats were all so useful – and helped us get to this optimal point. We are always listening, without unnecessary ego, or pride. We look forward to continue serving you.”