The age of quick commerce, food delivery apps, online grocery stores, and more came with the COVID-19 pandemic. While they had always existed, the pandemic and eventual country-wide lockdowns shot up their popularity to levels then unheard of. Now, they have integrated into our lives, with companies like Blinkit (previously Grofers), Big Basket, Zepto, Instamart, and Jiomart, each trying to capture the ready customer base in practically every state of India.
While nobody can deny that they do provide a level of convenience and comfort, especially in cases of emergency or urgent situations where it is not possible for a person to physically go to a store themselves, there have also been rising problems with these companies, mostly to do with food safety violations, and toxic work environment for employees and delivery people.
Recently, Zepto’s controversy, where Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the license of one of their outlets in Mumbai, claiming serious hygiene violations, has highlighted this issue once again.
As if that was not enough, an anonymous former employee of Zepto has gone viral for a social media post exposing the “ugly truth” about the company and many of its practices.
What Did The Employee Claim About Zepto?
On June 21, a Reddit post was made on r/FuckZepto by a person who claims that they were an employee with Zepto for three years.
In their post titled, “I Worked at Zepto for 3 Years. Here’s the Ugly Truth”, the former employee alleged that the company often disregards food safety regulations, selling expired products.
Furthermore, they wrote about how hygiene conditions in the stores are not adhered to, with “gutter water” filling the stores and workers standing for over 9 hours in “dirty water without shoes,” with no “medical compensation” given to them when they fell sick.
They wrote, “I’ve worked at Zepto for 3 years—and I can’t stay silent anymore.
Once, a customer ordered Greek yogurt. We had only 3 left. All were expired. Still, our store in-charge said, ‘Give it anyway.’
People think Zepto is hygienic. It’s not. The reality is disgusting.
Every monsoon, our Pune store floods with gutter water—right where your groceries are packed. We’ve worked 9+ hours standing in that dirty water without shoes. Many of us fell sick, but no one got medical compensation.
Fruits and vegetables come in damaged and rotting—we’re still told to pack and deliver them. Expired products are sent without hesitation. Zepto is not just unhygienic. It’s unethical. Customers deserve to know the truth.”
Don’t order from Zepto.”
Read More: Who Is This Anonymous, Angry Whistleblower Of The Mukherjee Nagar Coaching Industry Flustering Institutes
The post quickly went viral, with many agreeing with the original poster and how these apps and delivery apps seem to be misusing their power.
User de_das_dude also called out other brands writing, “Blinkit formerly grofers is dog shit. I have gotten way worse from them than Zepto. They changed from Grofers to Blinkit because of their horrible image. They think indians are fools and don’t realise. But looking at your comment, they might be right.”
Several also recommended that it is much better to visit local farmers’ markets or Kirane stores to physically purchase your groceries instead of relying on these apps and their rose-tinted promises of convenience.
This is not the first time that Zepto has come under fire for violating food safety regulations. In early June, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended Zepto’s Dharavi facility’s license.
As per reports, inspectors found that the facility was failing in several areas of hygiene, these included “fungal growth on food items, expired stock intermixed with fresh products, cold storage at improper temperatures, food placed directly on wet or filthy floors, and storage next to stagnant water.”
The suspension was revoked later on, though, after Zepto appealed, and a June 13, 2025, hearing went over the corrective actions taken by the company for the facility.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: News18, Financial Express, Outlook Business
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Zepto, Zepto founder, Zepto ceo, Zepto food, Zepto food safety, Zepto employee, Zepto ex employee reddit, Zepto reddit, Zepto whistleblower, Zepto warehouses, Zepto hygiene, food safety, food safety india
Disclaimer: We do not hold any rights or copyrights over any of the images used; these have been sourced from Google. If you require credits or wish for removal, please kindly email us.
Other Recommendations:
India’s Biggest Retailers Demand Action Against Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy
