Zomato has a new plan to stop food wastage, and how this ‘flash sale’ is good news for users | – Times of India

Zomato delivery personnel

Someone’s cancelled order could be your lunch, dinner, or even snack—that too at a discount. Zomato has unveiled “Food Rescue,” an initiative that transforms abandoned orders into budget-friendly meals for nearby customers. The feature aims to address the staggering problem of food waste on the platform, where approximately 400,000 orders are cancelled monthly despite strict no-refund policies, says Zomato.

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal on ‘Food Rescue’ feature

“Today, we are introducing Food Rescue,” announced Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal on X (formerly Twitter). “Cancelled 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.”
The system works by instantly notifying users within a 3-kilometer radius of a delivery partner carrying a cancelled order. To ensure food quality and safety, these notifications are time-sensitive, giving potential customers just minutes to claim the order before it’s offered to others.

The company has implemented several safeguards to maintain food quality and customer satisfaction. Temperature-sensitive items like ice creams, shakes, and smoothies are excluded from the program. The platform also respects dietary preferences, ensuring vegetarian customers only see vegetarian cancelled orders.
Zomato says that the initiative has received overwhelming support from restaurant partners, with 99.9% opting to participate.
The financial model creates a win-win scenario for everyone involved. When a cancelled order is rescued by a new customer, Zomato only keeps the tax amount while distributing the rest of the payment. The original customer gets reimbursed for their online payment, the restaurant earns twice—once from the cancelled order compensation and again from a portion of the rescue payment—and delivery partners receive full compensation for their entire journey, including both the original and redirected delivery.