Deepinder Goyal on 'pure veg' fleet: Zomato's 75% orders vegetarian, didn't expect backlash

Deepinder Goyal explained Zomato's "pure veg" fleet launch saying that it was prompted by market research in which over 1,600 respondents expressed a preference for veg-only options, the Economic Times reported. He said, “We did a large survey of people who are more than 50 years old. An overwhelming majority said they needed a veg-only option and preferred veg-only restaurants. It was a large customer segment… So, we launched it. We had not expected such an uproar. The survey had 1,600 (people) and about 72 percent of people said that they wanted veg-only delivery.”

Pure veg fleet announcement was made on X (formerly Twitter), by Zomato’s CEO Deepinder Goyal, where he posted a photo of riders sporting green T-shirts.

Read more: Deepinder Goyal on what happened after backlash on Zomato's 'Pure Veg' feature: 'Was on Zoom call for 20 hours'

What was the controversy over Zomato's ‘pure veg’ fleets?

Zomato stirred up controversy after the food delivery platform announced the launch of its green-branded "pure veg" fleet. As the company faced heavy backlash on social media, it said that it will roll back the "green branding" for its new "pure veg" fleet and renamed the service as “veg only”.

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What Deepinder Goyal said on vegetarian preferences?

Zomato CEO said, “In India, many non-vegetarians turn vegetarian during festivals or rituals. That’s how the country has always been. But food often gets politicised. People in our friends’ circle who have gone on meditation retreats have come back saying they will be vegetarians from now on. It’s a deeply spiritual thing. They don’t want to hurt anyone. It’s the principle of nonviolence rather than anything to do with religion or caste.”

What Zomato CEO said on the backlash?

Read more: Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal warns startup founders: Adapt, innovate or perish

Deepinder Goyal told Economic Times that Zomato did not anticipate any backlash and was taken aback by the negative feedback which resulted in a swift response to address all concerns.

"We had done our base work and surveys. We were expecting a little bit of noise. About 80 percent of the reactions were positive while 20 percent was negative. And 20 percent is a lot. We have been through such times," he said.

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