After Row Over Its Delivery Executive Eating From Customer’s Orders Zomato Introduces ‘Tamper-Proof Packing’
Online restaurant guide and food delivery startup Zomato on Wednesday (20 March) stated that its ‘Zomato Safely Sealed’ initiative had received a positive response in ten cities with more than 5000 restaurants already delivering 25 per cent of their orders with tamper-proof packages.
“Over three million tamper-proof packages have already been shipped to restaurants, and going by the current run rate, we will increase this figure by 3x by April, as we will introduce this packaging across 25 more cities in India,” said the company in a statement.
The cities where the initiative has been launched are Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Nagpur and Vadodara.
Under the initiative, food deliveries from restaurants are packed using sealed tamper-proof packages. “Once the restaurant seals the package before it is dispatched, the only way to break the seal is by cutting off the top-end strip. There is no other way to access the food inside, making the tamper-proof packaging trustworthy. And if consumers find the safety seal open, then they are advised not to accept the delivery,” the company explained.
The company also noted that each package was made from a single material polymer with 50 microns thickness which is completely reusable/recyclable. “In the not-so-distant future, we will move towards a biodegradable option,” it added.
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Food delivery companies like Zomato, Swiggy initiated tamper-proof packaging after the video of a Zomato delivery guy consuming food from a delivery leaked online in December 2018. This led to a public furore in social media, forcing these companies to introduce better food hygiene standards.