We take food hygiene very seriously and are keen to leave no stone unturned as far as food delivery is concerned. In fact, we’ve been at it for a while now;  it’s imperative we cover all aspects. After all, consumers deserve to receive food that’s as good as it was when it was prepared in the kitchen. Which is why, going forward, you’ll see the implementation of what we’d like to call Zomato Safely Sealed. In other words, more and more Zomato food deliveries will be completed using 100% safely sealed tamper-proof packages.

For starters, these sealed packages will come in two sizes: small and large. The large ones are capable of carrying 2-4 large boxes while the smaller ones are convenient for 1-2 food item boxes. The versatility of the packaging design allows for efficient utilization of the space.

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.

So far, we have piloted this initiative in 10 cities (Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Nagpur and Vadodara) and the response has been very encouraging, with more than 5,000 restaurants already on-board. So much so, we are covering 25% of our order volume from these cities 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.

Over time, we’ll be scaling up this change, so there is no ambiguity with food safety. We understand that the safety seals are made from plastic however we take consolation in the fact that each package is made from single material polymer with 50 microns thickness, and are completely reusable/recyclable. In the not-so-distant future, we will move towards a biodegradable option.

Lastly, this particular change depends heavily on consumer feedback and restaurant participation. While we all love food, no one wants to compromise on food safety. This is also why we expect more restaurants to get on-board with this development. As a result, restaurant pages will feature a ‘100% SAFELY SEALED’ message if they have signed up to use this packing. This will help consumers make a more informed choice while deciding where they’d like to order food from.

We are thrilled about boosting our ongoing efforts against food tampering with this initiative. And while we fully understand that change often takes its course over a period of time, when you’re heading in the right direction, the effort is entirely worth it.