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Ten thousand eateries, or 80% of OLO volume, get Zomato Hygiene Rating
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Friday, 15 February, 2019, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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Restaurant aggregator Zomato touched a new milestone - 10,000 restaurants were audited for Zomato’s Food Hygiene Rating, a figure that translates to over 80 per cent of the volume for its online ordering (OLO) business.
This has come after it announced tamper-proof tapes and other precautionary measures in December 2018, and the objectives are to ensure better food for more people and an extra layer of food safety when it comes to deliver the best to its users.
To help set and improve hygiene standards followed by restaurants, Zomato introduced hygiene audits/ratings on our platform for the first time in 2017. This was the first in the world for a food/restaurant aggregator.
The idea was to introduce the concept of standardised kitchen hygiene to the restaurant industry in India, and reward restaurant operators who care about the hygiene of their premises compared to those who do not.
Commenting on how effective this initiative has been so far, Deepinder Goyal, founder and chief executive officer, Zomato, said, “We have been actively involved in adopting measures to ensure that quality food reaches our users without compromising on hygiene.”
“The ratings are helping us enable an environment where food is prepared and served in the cleanest manner. We will continue to press hard on this initiative and gradually raise the bar for food hygiene in our country,” he added.
Zomato, which has over 80,000 registered restaurant partners, operates with accredited third-party auditors who are experts in the field of hygiene and conduct surprise physical food hygiene audits at participating restaurants.
Such on the spot audits lay a major emphasis on whether the eatery covers various aspects of the food hygiene. Factors such as handling of food, separation of cooking spaces for vegetarian and non-vegetarian items, the basic cleanliness level, etc. are taken into consideration before the ratings are allotted.
As a food company, Zomato, which provides delivery services in about 150 cities in India and 10,000 cities in 24 countries, ensures better food for more people, and aims to solve for every step of the food value chain.
With initiatives like Hygiene Ratings, it focusses on the quality of food and transparency with an aim to maintain high standards of cleanliness in restaurants, whether a user chooses to order in or dine out.
Bicycle delivery for sustainable mobility
Peddling the future towards sustainable mobility, Zomato, which achieved a monthly order run rate of 28 million in December 2018, is introducing bicycles – both mechanical and electric – into its last-mile delivery fleet.
Food delivery via bicycles will not only help reduce environmental damage and create additional employment opportunities, but also tackle traffic and parking issues, especially in the narrower lanes of the country, where cycles would be able to navigate better.
Zomato has a last mile delivery fleet of 1.5 lakh partners. As of today, it has over 5,000 cyclists operating across 12 cities in India, with the majority of the fleet pushing the pedal in Delhi NCR.
It has partnered with Mobycy, e-HIRAN, TNT, Yulu and Zoomcar’s PEDL to provide e-cycles to aspiring delivery executives who are allotted shorter-order distances — an average of 2.5km — to ensure safer and faster delivery.
Speaking on the initiative, Mohit Gupta, chief executive officer, food delivery business, Zomato, said, “Climate change and environmental challenges are an inalienable reality of the future.”
“With the aggressive geographical expansion of food delivery, our last-mile fleet is increasing by about 150 delivery partners every day, which places the onus of pollution-free and minimal fossil-fuel solutions on us,” he added.
“We have been taking baby steps towards environmental responsibility by promoting biodegradable packaging and targeting food wastage with Feeding India,” Gupta said.
“With this development, we are aiming to build a future that creates more tangible value and leaves a lesser carbon footprint,” he added.
“We are working closely with our vendor partners to raise the scale of e-cycle adoption and aim to convert 40 per cent of our fleet to power-assisted bikes within the next two years. The positive feedback from our cycling delivery partners has further strengthened our belief in this movement,” Gupta said.
An efficient and responsible last-mile delivery fleet and the safety and welfare of the riders is a critical part of the Zomato business.
In order to make sure users receive their favourite food on time, on average, this delivery fleet carries out a million trips every day. These journeys translate to approximately 4.4 million km a day - over 11 times the distance between the earth and the moon.
The use of bicycles for short-distance-deliveries is an attempt to think about the carbon footprint of our business in an active and everyday way.
The delivery fleet on bicycles (whether mechanical or e-cycles) is provided with an ergonomic delivery bag and are diligently trained for the job as well as educated on-road safety norms in the Zomato Rider University.
Zomato, as a food company, is committed to ensuring better food for more people and aims to solve for every step of the food value chain.
Its initiatives like HyperPure and Hygiene Ratings are focussed on the quality of food and transparency, and its association with Feeding India is directed towards solving the challenges of food wastage, hunger and malnutrition.
With biodegradable packaging and pro-environment messaging, Zomato actively engages in behaviour change.
Its reward points programme, Zomato Piggybank, has helped raise funds equivalent to 22 lakh meals within six months of its launch.
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