Zomato to examine cloud kitchens that house more than ten brands
- ByStartupStory | September 24, 2022
Food aggregator Zomato announced on Friday that it would physically audit cloud kitchens that manage more than 10 brands from a single location in an effort to prevent operator fraud. Zomato stated in a weblog that even the most organised outlets in the sector don’t perceive operational benefits and customer trust in operating too many brands from a single kitchen, despite the fact that there is no exact science to the ideal amount of brands.
The food aggregator cited recent statements made by the government agency Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that cloud kitchen firms are permitted to run several brands under a single FSSAI licence. It claimed that certain fly-by-night operators, who make up fewer than 0.2% of licenced kitchens, abuse this legal latitude by launching countless brands from a single kitchen.
According to Zomato, these firms sell products with little to no differentiation; instead, they deceive/confuse clients by giving them the impression that there are many options when there aren’t any. “On our platform, the majority of the brands that these operators operate likewise receive subpar reviews and ratings. Such businesspeople damage the reputation of the restaurant sector as a whole, harming all of us in several ways “The blog article stated.
The blogger went on to explain why this results in a poor customer experience, stating that these operators frequently develop many brands with little uniqueness in the actual product (dishes or the actual culinary experience) supplied to clients. The food aggregator added that managing various brands and cuisines is operationally challenging and, without the proper SOP and control, results in significant discrepancies in food quality and hygienic practices.
According to Zomato, it has been collaborating with the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and the other restaurant partners over the past few weeks to develop the best strategy to stop these activities. “After discussion with Zomato, we decided that this was a workable temporary solution where the Zomato staff does an initial physical examination of such places. “We will continue collaborating with the Zomato team to determine whether these kitchens abide by accepted industry standards and to offer solutions in this regard. The goal is to establish and maintain a healthy ecology, according to Kabir Suri, President NRAI.
Future physical locations that operate more than 10 brands out of a single location will be carefully checked, according to Zomato. Other than the operators indicated above, the aggregator said it will whitelist restaurant partners that offer a wonderful experience from this manual inspection so they do not have delays when growing the scope of their companies.
It was advised that restaurant partners who did not make the whitelist but thought they served many different brands (more than 10) from the same location should contact the business. “Our teams will evaluate your projected offering, the kitchen area (will it be big enough to accommodate and do justice to a variety of cuisines), and previous Zomato consumer feedback for your active listings, among other factors. On their request, we would also work with FSSAI to support our authorities “said the blog post. The decision by Zomato follows a Twitter discussion over various brands being handled by the same kitchen that took place a few weeks ago.
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