According to reports, food delivery company Zomato has introduced a feature, called Food Rescue, allowing users to buy canceled orders at a discounted price, to reduce food wastage.

“Cancelled orders will now pop up for nearby customers, who can grab them at an unbeatable price, in their original untampered packaging, and receive them in just minutes,” says Zomato cofounder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal.

According to Deepinder, more than 400,000 orders are canceled each month for multiple reasons, despite the lack of a refund policy. Canceled orders are shown to customers within a 3 km radius of the delivery partner carrying the order.

“To ensure freshness, the option to claim will only be available for a few minutes,” adds Deepinder.

Ice cream, shakes, smoothies, and some perishable foods are not eligible for Food Rescue.

“Zomato will not keep any proceeds (except the required government taxes). The amount paid by the new customer will be shared with the original customer (if they made payment online), and with the restaurant partner,” says Deepinder.

The company also compensates delivery partners for the entire journey. According to the latest shareholder letter, the company averaged 498,000 active delivery partners per month last quarter.
The Gurgaon-based company has been experimenting with various features over the past few months. In June, it recently launched Brand Pack, which allows users to purchase coupons for additional discounts on food delivery from restaurants they frequently order from.

The company introduced a feature in November that allows users to see the total number of orders they have placed on the app.

“Restaurant partners will continue to receive compensation for the original canceled order, plus a portion of the amount paid by the new customer if the order is claimed,” adds Deepinder.