In the last few years, we have undertaken multiple initiatives to reduce the impact of packaging used by restaurants for food deliveries on the environment including giving customers the option to opt out of receiving cutlery and recycling more plastic waste than restaurants use for deliveries.

Today, we’re launching the Zomato Plastic-Free Future Program, a campaign designed to recognize restaurant partners who are making active efforts to adopt sustainable packaging solutions for their food deliveries.

More than 200 pioneering restaurant brands in 30+ cities have already joined the program by submitting detailed evidence of their packaging including photos and certificates, confirming their main items/dishes are being packed in sustainable alternatives. These restaurants carry a banner on their menu page and a clear call out in the order summary on the Zomato app to make it easy for customers to identify them. (See screenshots below)

Let’s deep-dive on how such a program is going to help restaurant partners reduce their usage of plastic packaging for food deliveries in the long-run.

Restaurant partners choose and procure their own packaging for food delivery based on cuisine type, brand and budget. Many restaurants, particularly those serving desi and oriental cuisine, find that food-grade plastic containers and meal trays can be shut tight, handle heat and carry gravy-based cuisines safely on our roads, apart from being economical and widely available. If there’s one thing we have learned from years in food delivery, it is that no hungry customer likes to receive their order with sambhar, green chutney, soy sauce or raita spilled or with soggy packaging!

The good news – there’s been a surge in innovation in this domain. We ran a Zomato X Start-Up India Packathon earlier this year to surface some of the most exciting sustainable packaging solutions for food delivery. With a panel comprising judges from the restaurant sector, Zomato, Indian Institute of Packaging and waste-picker rights organizations, the  Packathon put a spotlight on planet-friendly packaging solutions such as edible cutlery, barrier coatings made of plant-based gums and patented carry bags made of agri-waste.

For these innovations to reach nearly 3 lakh active food delivery restaurant partners onboarded with us across 700 cities in India, this program is an attempt to encourage customers to place their orders from the restaurants that are willing to experiment with plastic-free alternatives.

By giving these participating restaurants call outs on the app, Zomato’s Plastic-Free Program aims to motivate more restaurants to make the switch and encourage more investments in the sustainable food delivery packaging supply chain – reducing the cost difference between plastic and plastic-free alternatives and expanding availability of sustainable packaging beyond big cities.

A basic plastic food container might seem low-tech and easily replaceable, but it has over 100 years of research and development, manufacturing advancements, and extensive distribution networks behind it. For many sustainable alternatives, this is only the beginning of the road.

How are we going to support restaurants seeking to use alternatives beyond the call outs on the app?

The 1st edition of our Plastic-Free Packathon introduced restaurants to innovators. We will continue to make it easier for restaurants to discover sustainable alternatives through offline and online initiatives in partnership with Hyperpure by Zomato which serves over 75,000 restaurants.

Fun fact: Hyperpure sold over 50,000 Kgs of sustainable packaging to restaurants in FY24!

How can our customers help?

Join us in celebrating food brands and restaurants that are able to use less plastic packaging! Tell us when you receive your favourite main dishes in paper, glass, aluminium, bagasse and other alternative packaging.

A little appreciation can go a long way, be a part of the #zomatoplasticfreefuture movement today!

If you know of or run a restaurant that uses alternatives to plastic containers for their main items and wants to become a part of this program, write to us at plasticfreefuture@zomato.com.

For a full list of restaurants that are a part of the plastic-free future program until now – click here.