Zomato To Inspect Cloud Kitchens Hosting More Than 10 Brands From The Same Kitchen

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 blog post 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 emphasised that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a government agency, has announced that cloud kitchen organisations are free to operate several brands under a single FSSAI licence. However, it noted that some fly-by-night businesses, which make up fewer than 0.2% of registered kitchens, abuse this legal flexibility by launching numerous brands from the same kitchen.

According to Zomato, these brands 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 post stated.

The blog post continued by explaining 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 right SOP and control, results in significant inconsistencies in food quality and hygienic practices.

"Following discussions with Zomato, we decided that this was a workable temporary solution that would involve the Zomato staff physically inspecting these locations beforehand. Together with the Zomato team, we will determine whether these kitchens adhere to accepted industry standards and offer remedies if not. The goal is to establish and maintain a thriving ecology, "said NRAI President Kabir Suri.

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 advised restaurant partners who did not make the whitelist but who thought they served a lot of distinctive brands (more than 10) from the same location to get in touch with the company.

"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. Zomato's decision follows a Twitter discussion over multiple brands being handled by the same kitchen that occurred a few weeks ago.