Zomato, operated by Eternal Limited, has launched PackSwitch, a digital platform designed to help restaurants across India identify and source lower-plastic and more sustainable food-delivery packaging.

The initiative addresses a practical challenge facing restaurants seeking alternatives to conventional single-use plastic packaging: finding materials that can meet the specific performance requirements of different foods while remaining commercially and operationally viable.

PackSwitch combines packaging guidance with access to more than 100 verified suppliers across India, creating a pathway from material selection to procurement.

Zomato has also introduced a low-plastic packaging tag and consumer filter within its app, allowing customers to identify restaurants using lower-plastic packaging options.

PackSwitch Matches Packaging to Individual Dishes

Rather than treating sustainable food packaging as a single material substitution, PackSwitch is structured around the requirements of individual dishes.

Restaurants first identify the packaging performance required for a particular food. They can then assess potential alternative materials before connecting with verified packaging manufacturers.

The workflow follows three main stages: identifying dish-specific requirements, evaluating the performance of alternative materials and sourcing suitable packaging from suppliers.

This approach addresses one of the difficulties involved in replacing plastic in food delivery.

Packaging used for hot meals, sauces, fried foods or moisture-sensitive products can face different requirements for temperature resistance, grease barriers, humidity management and structural integrity during transportation.

A packaging material therefore needs to be evaluated against its intended application rather than selected solely because it uses less plastic.

More Than 100 Packaging Suppliers Available

PackSwitch includes a database of more than 100 verified packaging suppliers operating across India.

Among them is Hyperpure, Eternal’s B2B supply platform, which serves more than 100,000 restaurant outlets across the country.

Providing restaurants with direct access to suppliers could help address another obstacle to packaging substitution: availability.

A restaurant may identify an alternative packaging format but still struggle to locate a reliable manufacturer capable of supplying the required quantities, specifications and locations.

By connecting packaging evaluation with procurement, PackSwitch aims to make the transition more practical for restaurant operators.

Eight Packaging Materials and Coatings Demonstrated

At the PackSwitch launch in Bengaluru, an exhibition curated by industry specialists Shashwat Das and Jyoti Shrestha demonstrated eight sustainable barrier coatings and primary packaging materials.

The materials were presented under conditions intended to reflect the performance demands encountered during food delivery.

Evaluation areas included grease resistance, humidity retention and end-of-life processing.

Barrier performance is particularly important when reducing plastic in food packaging. Paper and other fibre-based substrates may require functional coatings or other treatments when they are used with oily, moist or hot foods.

The challenge for packaging developers is to achieve the necessary food-protection performance while also considering the material’s eventual recycling, composting or other end-of-life route.

Consumers Can Filter Restaurants by Packaging Choice

Zomato is also bringing the packaging initiative into its consumer-facing platform.

A new low-plastic packaging tag identifies participating restaurants, while a dedicated filter enables customers to search specifically for businesses using lower-plastic packaging.

This introduces a demand-side component to the program.

Restaurants investing in packaging changes can make those efforts visible to customers, while consumers interested in reducing single-use plastics can incorporate packaging into their restaurant selection.

Whether this feature significantly influences purchasing behavior will depend on consumer adoption, but it creates a direct connection between restaurant packaging decisions and the food-ordering interface.

More Than 100 Million Low-Plastic Orders Delivered

PackSwitch builds on Zomato’s existing Plastic-Free Future program, developed alongside Startup India and India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

According to the company, the initiative has enrolled more than 10,000 recognized restaurant partners across 500 cities.

As of March 31, 2026, participating restaurants had delivered more than 100 million orders using low-plastic alternatives.

Anjali Ravi Kumar, chief sustainability officer at Eternal Limited, said PackSwitch expands the effort by helping restaurants make packaging decisions according to individual dishes.

The distinction is important because reducing plastic at scale requires more than awareness. Restaurants need packaging that can function under actual delivery conditions and be sourced reliably at commercially workable volumes.

Food Delivery Becomes a Testing Ground for Packaging Alternatives

India’s large food-delivery market provides a significant testing ground for new packaging materials and formats.

The sector combines high packaging volumes with demanding operating conditions. Containers must protect food against leakage, grease and moisture while surviving handling and transportation between restaurants and customers.

PackSwitch attempts to address those requirements by bringing material performance, supplier access and consumer visibility into one system.

For packaging manufacturers, the initiative could also provide greater access to restaurant demand, particularly for suppliers developing fibre-based containers, barrier-coated paper, molded fibre and other alternatives to conventional single-use plastic formats.

The next measure of PackSwitch’s impact will be whether the platform can convert its supplier network and restaurant participation into sustained reductions in plastic packaging across India’s rapidly growing food-delivery ecosystem.

Last Updated on 20/08/2026 by Jota Machinery