Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal responds to the ‘logout’ movement – restaurant owners mock him on Twitter

• Zomato’s CEO Deepinder Goyal took to Twitter said this is a ‘wake up call’ for them and asked restaurant owners to stop the logout campaign.
• Goyal asked restaurant owners to look at ways to reduce operating costs.
• This angered restaurateurs on Twitter who mocked Goyal for his lack of understanding.

Food aggregators in India who offer massive discounts on their platforms to lure customers are facing a problem. The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) launched the ‘logout’ movement last week claiming that the business practices of aggregators are unethical.

A leading foodtech aggregator Zomato’s CEO Deepinder Goyal took to Twitter to address the issue, saying this is a “wake up call” for them to make things better with their restaurant partners, and asked them to stop the logout campaign.


At the root of the problem lies the company’s hit offering – Zomato Gold, which offers consumers avail of 1+1 on food and 2+2 on drinks. Zomato also launched the infinity dining feature, where users for a fixed cost can order everything off the menu.

However, Goyal himself admitted that “bargain hunters have also joined Zomato Gold and they are hurting some segments of the restaurant industry very badly.” He also promised to modify Zomato Gold which will result in a win-win situation.

But he also asked restaurateurs to do their part. He wrote, “I would also want to urge the restaurant industry to proactively look at ways to reduce operating costs, so that eating out becomes more affordable for consumers - our only objective here is to drive the growth of the restaurant industry.”

His statement led to multiple restaurant owners ridicule him for not understanding the costs involved in running a restaurant. Most restaurant owners pointed out that it’s the massive discounts offered by food aggregators that is hurting the consumers.

Noted restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani mocked the entrepreneur and wrote, “Visionary idea as usual! Maybe we can fire restaurant workers? Or put a gun on our landlord heads to reduce rent? Or buy inferior ingredients so that we can reduce costs, and offer lower prices to accommodate your vision. Why didn’t I think of this before?”