As predictable as clockwork, some of the detractors absurdly linked Zomato’s decision to cater to the Pure Veg market—a set of users who religiously follow vegetarianism and are particular about ordering their food from a vegetarian-only restaurant—to a move that empowered and encouraged Brahminism and casteism.
Such claptrap is, of course, not new to ‘wokeism’ and ‘left-leaning liberalism’, which have long thrived on manufacturing issues and continuing their ostracisation of communities that they viscerally hate, in this case, Brahmins and those who follow vegetarianism, a dietary choice that is common among individuals of various religions and castes.
However, these nuances are lost on those who have made it their profession to outrage on everything under the sun, even on business decisions that corporations make after thoroughly analysing market demand and existing solutions.
One social media user quoted Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s tweet about the latest announcement and accused his company of openly promoting casteism. The user also likened the company’s move to launch a ‘Pure Veg’ fleet to the preservation of untouchability in urban India.
Such preposterous extrapolations to create a fear psychosis among the society is a hallmark of the leftwing and woke ideology.
Many others too furthered the argument that Zomato’s ‘Pure Veg’ fleet would promote untouchability with its distinction between non-veg and pure-veg, ignoring the fact that there have been several incidents in the past when vegetarians were served non-vegetarian food owing to restaurant negligence or food aggregator’s carelessness.
A social media user insinuated that Zomato’s decision to launch a ‘Pure Veg’ service would lead to the next level of neighbourhood policing.
Yet another X user postulated that such a move by Zomato will stop some societies from delivering non-vegetarian food to residents who order it. This, again, is ludicrous reasoning, given that it is illegal to stop food delivery partners from fulfilling their jobs, besides the fact that not opting for a ‘Pure Veg’ fleet does not mean that the existing food delivery partners will dedicatedly serve only non-vegetarian food.
Zomato brings ‘Pure Veg Mode’, and ‘Pure Veg Fleet’ for vegetarians who do not like mix-ups
Food delivery aggregator Zomato has often faced criticism from ‘pure veg’ users who have sometimes found non-veg items on their food orders. On March 19, CEO Deepinder Goyal announced that Zomato has brought a new service ‘Pure Veg Mode’ to serve its pure veg customers.
“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. To solve their dietary preferences, we are today, launching a Pure Veg Mode along with a Pure Veg Fleet on Zomato, for customers who have a 100% vegetarian dietary preference”, Deepinder Goyal announced today.
Goyal further explained that Pure Veg Mode will consist of a curation of restaurants that serve only pure vegetarian food and will exclude all restaurants that serve any non-veg food item.
“Our dedicated Pure Veg Fleet will only serve orders from these pure veg restaurants. This means that a non-veg meal, or even a veg meal served by a non-veg restaurant will never go inside the green delivery box meant for our Pure Veg Fleet”, he added.
Goyal added that anyone who prefers pure veg food can avail the service and this Pure Veg Mode, or the Pure Veg Fleet doesn’t serve or alienate any religious, or political preference.
Goyal further added that Zomato is planning more specialised fleets for special customer needs. “For example, there’s a special cake delivery fleet coming up with hydraulic balancers that prevent your cake from getting smudged during delivery”, he explained.
