Your next Zomato order could cost 10-30% more. Here's why food delivery may get costlier
Zomato says shifting food deliveries from plastic to sustainable packaging could raise order costs by 10% to 30%. The company says wider adoption and scale are needed to bring those prices down.
- Aug 19, 2026,
- Updated Aug 19, 2026 11:08 AM IST
For customers already keeping a close watch on the final bill, ordering food online may become 10% to 30% costlier if sustainable and biodegradable packaging materials are used. Anjali Ravi Kumar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Zomato Limited, said the shift away from plastic packaging could raise costs for consumers.
At present, most food deliveries are sent in plastic containers or plastic wrapping materials, and packaging usually makes up about 5% of the total cost of an order, a cost that is borne by the consumer. Kumar said the move to greener alternatives is being shaped by both environmental concerns and the limits of what customers are willing to pay.
In a conversation with The Hindu, Kumar said the toughest challenge in replacing plastic packaging in food delivery with sustainable alternative materials such as Bagasse, aluminium, paper, and earthenware was affordability. She said consumers were unwilling to absorb such a premium for going green.
“Customers have to pay for the packaging; however, their willingness to pay for sustainable packaging has its limits. Sustainable packaging can become affordable as adoption increases and economies of scale kick in. Once the scale is achieved, the prices will naturally go down,’’ she elaborated.
She further said that Zomato had been encouraging packaging start-ups and restaurant partners to focus on acceptable price points and reduce costs through better manufacturing and distribution. To take this campaign forward, Zomato has launched PackSwitch, an interactive website to help restaurants, cloud kitchens and independent food entrepreneurs find the right sustainable packaging for each item on their menu.
The platform offers information on alternative packaging materials, their functionality, business viability, and environmental impact. According to her, packaging is an important decision, especially in food deliveries, as it has to be able to handle everything from biryani to desserts while surviving the entire delivery journey. “Restaurants should plan their packaging based on their cuisine, the brand communication and the cost,’’ she added.
Zomato has also introduced a low-plastic-packaging filter on its app to allow customers to identify restaurants using reduced-plastic packaging, she claimed. Zomato’s Plastic-Free Future Programme has recognised more than 10,000 restaurants across over 500 cities for using alternatives to plastic packaging for their main menu items, as the company continues to push for wider adoption of such materials.
For customers already keeping a close watch on the final bill, ordering food online may become 10% to 30% costlier if sustainable and biodegradable packaging materials are used. Anjali Ravi Kumar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Zomato Limited, said the shift away from plastic packaging could raise costs for consumers.
At present, most food deliveries are sent in plastic containers or plastic wrapping materials, and packaging usually makes up about 5% of the total cost of an order, a cost that is borne by the consumer. Kumar said the move to greener alternatives is being shaped by both environmental concerns and the limits of what customers are willing to pay.
In a conversation with The Hindu, Kumar said the toughest challenge in replacing plastic packaging in food delivery with sustainable alternative materials such as Bagasse, aluminium, paper, and earthenware was affordability. She said consumers were unwilling to absorb such a premium for going green.
“Customers have to pay for the packaging; however, their willingness to pay for sustainable packaging has its limits. Sustainable packaging can become affordable as adoption increases and economies of scale kick in. Once the scale is achieved, the prices will naturally go down,’’ she elaborated.
She further said that Zomato had been encouraging packaging start-ups and restaurant partners to focus on acceptable price points and reduce costs through better manufacturing and distribution. To take this campaign forward, Zomato has launched PackSwitch, an interactive website to help restaurants, cloud kitchens and independent food entrepreneurs find the right sustainable packaging for each item on their menu.
The platform offers information on alternative packaging materials, their functionality, business viability, and environmental impact. According to her, packaging is an important decision, especially in food deliveries, as it has to be able to handle everything from biryani to desserts while surviving the entire delivery journey. “Restaurants should plan their packaging based on their cuisine, the brand communication and the cost,’’ she added.
Zomato has also introduced a low-plastic-packaging filter on its app to allow customers to identify restaurants using reduced-plastic packaging, she claimed. Zomato’s Plastic-Free Future Programme has recognised more than 10,000 restaurants across over 500 cities for using alternatives to plastic packaging for their main menu items, as the company continues to push for wider adoption of such materials.