Zomato starts fund to support restaurants, offers one-year free gold membership

Restaurant aggregator and food delivery service Zomato has long been known for its Zomato Gold membership, which let patrons avail “buy one get one free offers” at partner restaurants. Now, amid a nationwide lockdown that has put millions of restaurant workers at financial strain, the company has announced that all proceeds from the sale of Zomato Gold memberships in April would go towards supporting housekeepers, cooks, servers and their families.

“In a bid to support these unsung heroes of the food industry, Zomato announces a Gold Support Fund. With this initiative, all proceeds from the purchase of Zomato Gold annual memberships in April will go towards supporting restaurant housekeepers, cooks and servers as well as their families in these uncertain times. As a token of gratitude, all users who purchase the Gold annual subscription during this month will get a 2-year membership (instead of 1 year) at no additional cost,” the company announced.

“Restaurants workers who function day in and out in order to render a great food experience are one of the most significant factors behind the restaurant industry’s success. It is disheartening to see the industry which has grown to drive tremendous employment opportunities in recent years, struggle to sustain. Zomato has always worked towards connecting passionate restaurateurs with millions of potential customers. Today, we must use our scale to stand by our partners in need in these testing times. We are starting this initiative in India and UAE and hope to support as many restaurants as we can,” said Gaurav Gupta, Co-founder and COO, Zomato.

Zomato Gold membership is made available at Rs 1,200 for an annual membership that will automatically include an extra year of service free. The price will remain for the duration of the campaign. The company is promoting the campaign on Twitter with the #SupportYourServer hashtag.

The company had earlier started a 'Feed the Daily Wager' campaign, which raised over Rs 21 crore to provide essential kits to daily wage workers across India.