Food services industry revives from Covid blues

NRAI is hosting Indian Restaurant Conclave for the first time outside New Delhi in the past 40 years. The one-day Conclave will be formally inaugurated by KT Rama Rao, Minister for MAUD, I&C and IT, Government of Telangana, at HICC on 13th September, 2022. Over a thousand delegates from pan India will take part in the event

Hyderabad: Indian restaurant industry has been immensely impacted by Covid-19. In 2020-21, the industry declined by 53 per cent, while over 25 per cent food business operators permanently shut their shops that led to 24 lakh job losses. However, the food services industry is expected to recover and reach an estimated annual turnover of Rs 4,72,285 crore this year from Rs 4,23,865 crore during the pre-pandemic period.

This was by Shaaz Mehmood, Founder of NRAI (National Restaurant Association of India) Hyderabad Chapter and a member of Managing Committee – NRAI. He also announced that NRAI is hosting Indian Restaurant Conclave for the first time outside New Delhi in the past 40 years. The one-day event will be inaugurated by Telangana IT & Industries Minister KT Rama Rao at HICC on September 13, 2022.

Over a thousand delegates, including all the stake holders of the restaurant industry, prominent restaurateurs, foreign delegates, investors and bureaucrats from pan India, will take part in this event. NRAI will be conducting its 40th Annual General Meeting during the conclave. Founded in 1982, it represents over 5 lakh restaurants, QSRs, bars, cloud kitchens and catering companies across India.

"With the support of the governments, the restaurant industry trends seem to be optimistic this year. This industry employs over 73 lakh people, making it the third largest employer in the country. Today, the unorganised sector has become 'elephant in the room'. It is our endeavour to enable a rapid shift towards the organised segment," says Chef Shankar Krishnamurthy, Chapter Head, NRAI Hyderabad.

He says, "The organised market share of restaurants in Hyderabad is estimated to be Rs 6,037 crore, with standalone restaurants' market share being Rs 4,657 crore and chain restaurants being Rs 1,380 crore. Some of the additional measures we expect from the governments to ensure immediate succour are friendly policies in ease of doing business from over regulation and excessive licensing."

"NRAI Hyderabad Chapter works closely with the government on how to go about on improving the industry's working, how to make our city and state more vibrant and people friendly. NRAI has 26 chapters and growing aggressively to cover every part of the country. The conclave will be educating the operators as well as bridging the gap between the organised and the unorganised sector," Shankar adds.

The Indian Restaurant Conclave 2022, presents over fifty eminent industry leaders sharing their insights on topics impacting the industry. The event offers over fifteen interactive F&B workshops with domain experts on diverse subjects like digital marketing, food styling, safety in food, financing, real estate, culinary and wine masterclass.

NRAI Hyderabad Chapter has recently launched 'Mission Khana' and 'Mission Kaam'. Mission Khana voluntarily provides 300 hot meals a day to the underprivileged children and homeless in the city and targets to scale up to provide a 1,000 hot meals a day over coming months. Mission Kaam is an upskilling initiative to make the underprivileged youth as employable workforce for the restaurant industry.