Deepinder Goyal, CEO of the food e-commerce platform Zomato, recently unveiled an interesting backstory about the name of his platform. Goyal appeared on the latest episode of the streaming sketch comedy show The Great Indian Kapil Show, alongside his wife Grecia Munoz, and notable guests Narayana Murthy and his wife, Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty.
During the episode, host Kapil Sharma couldn’t resist posing the question many have wondered about. “We have heard potato, tomato, but what is the meaning of Zomato?” Kapil joked. “I saw an ad where cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth argue, saying it’s ‘Zomato’ or ‘Zomaato’. So, what’s the real story? Where did the name come from?”
(Also read: Deepinder Goyal reveals how he met Mexican wife Grecia Munoz: ‘My friend said you’ll marry her’)
A play on words
Deepinder, with a smile, responded, “This, ‘tomato’ or ‘tomaato’, whatever you want to say – we wanted that name as the dot com. We wanted ‘tomato dot com,’ but we didn’t get that domain,” he explained. “So we changed the alphabet and got Zomato dot com.”
The love story that started it all
Kapil asked Deepinder about how he met his wife, Grecia Munoz, who is originally from Mexico. Deepinder’s expression softened with a nostalgic smile as he recounted the moment. “I was single for a long time,” he began. “My friends would set me up on dates, always advising me not to get too serious. But when Grecia first came to Delhi, a friend called me and said, ‘There’s a girl you need to meet.’ He insisted, ‘Make sure you meet her; you’ll end up marrying her.’ It was his rare moment of foresight. This time, he said, ‘If you find a girl like her, you must marry her.’ I was intrigued, and so we met…”
(Also read: Deepinder Goyal asks Bengaluru man to apply for job after reading his suggestions for Zomato)
Romantic inspiration for app notifications
Deepinder also shared a unique aspect of Zomato’s marketing during the show. “Sometimes, my romantic messages to Gia inspire the app’s notifications,” he revealed with a laugh. “I give full credit to our marketing team, who took my idea of ‘building a relationship with the customer’ a bit too seriously!” he said.
The episode wrapped up with hearty laughs, giving the audience a charming insight into the Goyals’ life, blending personal anecdotes with the story of a leading brand.