New Delhi, 30th September 2024: Zomato today announced a target to support training of 10,000 women to empower them to participate in logistics in collaboration with non-profit and skilling sectors. The target was shared at a closed door roundtable conference event today titled, “Women in Logistics” at Le Meridien, New Delhi. The event brought together key industry stakeholders, including representatives from NGOs including Pratham, Azad Foundation, impact consulting firms such as FSG, Give Grants, and logistics companies such as Porter and Mahindra Logistics, to discuss the challenges and opportunities for women in India’s growing hyper local and quick commerce economy.

The target announced today is a part of Zomato’s broader commitment to gender inclusion reflected in its flagship initiative, Project Arya. Started in 2021, the project aims to break gender barriers and provide women with the skills and opportunities needed to succeed in logistics. As part of this initiative, Zomato has already successfully onboarded more than 2500 women in the delivery fleet. In addition to onboarding women in last-mile delivery, Zomato has also begun onboarding women in Hyperpure and Blinkit warehouses and dark stores with a target of 20% representation of women across the day-time shift in warehouses by the end of 2024.

The discussions at the event focused on the hurdles women face in gig work, such as safety concerns, access to infrastructure and training. Stakeholders shared their insights and innovative solutions to enhance women’s participation in the last-mile logistics.

Anjalli Ravi Kumar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Zomato, said, “Women today account for less than 10% of the overall delivery workforce despite the fact that ordering and delivery platforms offer a better balance of flexibility and earning potential than many other opportunities available to them. Zomato is eager to lead the change in this sector in collaboration with both government and non-governmental organizations that are working with women seeking to become self-reliant. Together, we believe we can create the right conditions for women to participate and benefit from the huge growth in the food ordering and delivery space and quick commerce.”

“We are excited to collaborate with Zomato towards the vision of making logistics more inclusive. Zomato’s Project Arya, which is designed to develop the ecosystem to support onboarding of more women as delivery partners, aligns with Give Grants’ mission of advising on social and environmental issues while creating shared value for both the business and society”, Sumit Tayal, CEO Give Grants

Vikram Jain, Managing Director at FSG said, “FSG’s GLOW (‘Growing Livelihood Opportunities for Women’) program has collaborated with Zomato to improve gender diversity in logistics roles, with a special focus on warehousing. At this roundtable conference, it’s been heartening to see the progress in terms of the increase in the number of women employed in warehouses. We’re convinced that, with supportive policies and corporate practices to make warehouses women-friendly, the sector can be a major driver in improving women’s labour workforce participation in India.”

In the last few years, Zomato has taken multiple steps to combat entry barriers for women in logistics. The company provides benefits like shorter distance deliveries, period rest leaves and maternity benefits to its female delivery partners. Zomato continues to launch initiatives with an objective of enabling greater participation of women in logistics.