Zomato, a major player in the foodtech sector, has rolled out a new initiative catering to customers with a 100% vegetarian dietary preference. This initiative includes the launch of a dedicated delivery fleet named ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ and a specialized feature on its app called ‘Pure Veg Mode.’
Zomato’s founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, made the announcement on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“India has the largest percentage of vegetarians in the world, and one of the most important feedback we’ve gotten from them is that they are very particular about how their food is cooked, and how their food is handled,” he said in a post, adding that the new launches are aimed at catering to such customers
Pure Veg Mode will feature a selection of restaurants exclusively serving pure vegetarian cuisine, excluding any establishments offering non-vegetarian items.
Meanwhile, the Pure Veg Fleet will exclusively handle orders from these pure vegetarian restaurants. This implies that meals containing non-vegetarian ingredients or those from non-vegetarian establishments will not be delivered by this fleet.
Goyal mentioned that the introduction of the new feature and fleet will be implemented gradually across the country over the next few weeks.
“In the future, we plan to add more specialised fleets for special customer needs. For example, there’s a special cake delivery fleet coming up with hydraulic balancers which prevent your cake from getting smudged during delivery,” he added.
The development comes a day after Goyal, speaking during the ongoing ‘Startup Mahakumbh’, emphasized the need for startups to constantly innovate. He stated that in today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, no business model can endure for more than a decade.
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These new launches are also within Zomato’s ongoing series of experiments with novel services and features. Earlier this year, the startup introduced a daily payout feature for certain restaurants and expressed its ambition to achieve 100% delivery using electric vehicles by 2033.
Zomato is additionally establishing a facility to process value-added food supplies for its Hyperpure vertical. These supplies will include sauces, spreads, pre-cut, and semi-finished perishable products.
In Q3 FY24, Zomato achieved its third consecutive profitable quarter, recording a profit after tax of INR 138 Cr. This marks a notable increase from the INR 36 Cr profit reported in the preceding quarter.
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Following these achievements, the startup’s share price has climbed by over 25% year to date. Just this week, Jefferies identified Zomato as one of its top selections for the next five years, anticipating the stock to reach INR 400 within this timeframe.
Zomato’s shares concluded today’s trading session slightly lower by 0.13% at INR 158 on the BSE.
Continue Exploring: Zomato among Jefferies’ top picks for next five years, anticipates 2.5X share price increase by 2029