Why Customer Feedback is Important for your Restaurant's Growth

A latest report named Godrej Food Trends 2020 was revealed at the 4th Tasting India Symposium event by its author, food writer and trend-spotter, Rushina Munshaw and C.N. Nageshwaran, Deputy General Manager, Corporate Communications, Godrej Industries Ltd, in the presence of hoteliers, restaurateurs, chefs, farmers, hotel management teachers, journalists and bloggers. Here are the top 10 food trend predictions for 2020

1. Continued commitment to provenance and mindful eating

Powered by the growing demand for sustainable practices, consumers will continue to make active choices that help minimise their carbon footprint by supporting local/artisanal producers and eating seasonally.
 

2. Deeper exploration of South-East Asian flavours

In 2020, the restaurant industry will offer diners a greater variety of South-East Asian flavours through deeper explorations of the popular cuisines, along with specialist menus from previously unexplored regional and ethnic cuisines from the region.

3. Emergence of the neighbourhood 'foodpreneur'

The growing demand for fresh, hygienic and familiar gharkakhana, combined with the convenience of digital communications and payment platforms, will encourage many more traditional, regional and community cooks to run mini-enterprises from their home kitchens, offering limited daily specials to small communities of their fans.

4. Keeping it real

Fuelled by an ever-growing consumer demand for authenticity, 2020 will see a growth of dining experiences designed around real issues, real people, real ingredients, and real stories.

5. Longing for ghar ka khana

The decline in daily cooking at home, because of changing social dynamics and attitudes towards cooking, will see nostalgic diners ordering food that reminds them of their own ghar ka khana, more often than ever before!
 

6. No-compromise convenience cooking

A discerning consumer of 2020, experimenting with the latest health fads and lifestyle diets, can look forward to many more options for quickly and conveniently assembling personalised meals at home, with little or no compromises to their choices.

7. Proliferation of desi flavours

As an outcome of the persistent demand for all things indigenous, consumers should expect to see a proliferation of desi flavours in everything from small plates to cocktails and even desserts in 2020.

8. Return to traditional fats

The growing appreciation of the significance of our choice of cooking medium will inspire more consumers in 2020 to go with desi ghee and cold-pressed local seed oils over other options.

9. Rise of the culinary explorer

An evolving sense of social, financial and cultural independence among young people will drive a greater demand for aspirational, novel, and even exotic travel and dining experiences. These experiences will be inspired by exciting new cuisines from within and outside the country.

10. Revival of culinary traditions

Riding the ongoing wave of deeper exploration and discovery of our culinary heritage, food businesses and restaurants will find exciting new ways of packaging traditional food wisdom, knowledge, cookware, cooking techniques and food preparation methods to make it suitable for the demands of the modern dining experience.

When thinking of a restaurant you often consciously think of the menu. Is the food, however, enough to create repeat business from a customer? While some will argue yes, the majority will know that there is more to the dining experience than just the food. It's also the interior design of the restaurant that influences repeat customers.

Celebrity Mixologist Arijit Bose, when asked about the design of full service restaurants said,” It can make or break your dining experience. The inside of the bar has gained much prominence in the past few years.”

Play it Well With Furniture’s

Since the online home décor and furniture market is no longer a niche segment, differentiation and a competitive edge are imperative. Keeping this in mind, Natasha started Bent Chair in Delhi in August 2016. From the shape and squashiness of dining chairs to the exact textures of the wallpaper, Natasha reveals,” It takes a lot of knowledge that goes into creating the interior of a restaurant.”

A well structured dining room is more than just tables & chairs. It sets the tone and ambiance of your restaurant. Creating an amazing interior design is anything but simple. There are thousands of factors to juggle ranging from your restaurant, bar or cafe’s style, to making the interior as beautiful and decorative as possible without disrupting the staff’s workflow.

Commenting on the same, Natasha said,” It’s not how the equipment looks but how it is wired.”

The Tricks & Actions

From a psychological point of view, one of the key aspects to a restaurant’s design is the lighting. It has to be soft and flattering to make guests feel comfortable so that they are confident and relaxed and enjoy their stay in the restaurant.

“We tend to do this through soft ambient lighting to complement the more targeted architectural lighting and also to suit the time of day. In my experience, the worst lighting is when there are just down lights over the tables that can cast shadows over diners face. This can be very unflattering for guests and make them feel uncomfortable”, said Arijit Bose.

What Makes a Great Restaurant or Bar

It is all down to good planning of the place and making it work, something that customers would not be aware of. Then it is about atmosphere, from lighting to music. People have to feel relaxed, but before we start on a project we research extensively into the offer and the location, making sure that what we are designing is relevant to the local or targeted demographic

When asked about to what she attributes her designing skills, Natasha said,” Education, Travelling and Learning from outside have helped me broaden my knowledge space about interior decors.”

The ongoing trend has completely tilted towards eating and drinking out and thus restaurants and bar owners is trying really hard to make it a holistic experience for their customers.

Opening a restaurant is not an easy task in today’s day and age when customers have become very choosy about what they are eating and where they are sitting. They are looking out for a constant innovation, consistency when choosing a place to eat out. And, for brands it is important today to identify the right mix of the clientele and the product offerings before expanding their wings to other parts.

Focus on Scalability Growth will Come

Restaurant industry runs on scalable model. Restaurant owners need to identify the brand whether it is scalable or not.  And, then look into expansion. Expanding in hurry will only land you into trouble. Be persistent in what you do.  “If the brand is not scalable we need to standardise it and then make an efficient infrastructure so that the dependency on workforce at each store is minimal,” says Karan Tanna, CEO, Yellow Tie Hospitality adding that it will help the brand to have a consistent quality of not only food but also the service and the experience.

Restaurant biz is a Mirage remember Consistency

Restaurant business is actually a mirage business. It looks very glossy but when you actually go there it is a very tough business.  “For us scaling has been the honest product, consistency. We don’t have a central kitchen but we cook biryani at each of our outlets. We prepare spices at our commissary every day which is sent to each our outlets and the biryani gets prepared at the outlets in small portions,” shares Jayanth Narayanan, Owner, Mani’s Dum Biryani who is running nine outlets in the same city.  Hence, we can say that restaurant business is a consistency driven sector.

Prioritise the Product Customer will Follow you  

If your business economics are not right there is no point expanding the brand to other region. Also, do you have the right product to make the customer happy over there? Do you have a right target audience? Once you are sure that these things are there and the product is able to solve these problems. You can expand. “In our case it was very simple; we ensure that our products are consistent and constraint at all the locations at the same time we also ensure that our supply chain is well geared up in any location in India,” points Chef Manu Nair, Corporate Chef, Billion Smiles Hospitality.

Standardisation is the Key

Food is one of the toughest formats to resolve than any other retail formats when expanding to other geographies. The elements of freshness are more dynamic in restaurant and food business. But the first and foremost thing in the food business is have you standardised your product in the territory that you are already operating in. “I know lots of entrepreneurs backed by impatient investors who want to grow really fast but the important thing is whether the basic is right, the identification of customer i.e the right TG has been done and the product has been designed keeping in mind all that aspects,” adds Vishal Kapur. The restaurants should really standardise well where they operate then they should take a call of going into a different city. India is a large country and each region has its own nuances. So, one has to modify their business model identifying the regional needs.

Focus on Supply Chain before Expansion

Supply chain is crucial and important part of the restaurant business no matter where you go in the world if you don’t have a strong supply chain you are not going to sustain. With coming GST it has become much easier for restaurants to sort out the supply chain issue anywhere in India.  “We have a central kitchen and a fixed venfor to take our raw materials to different cities we are present in,” says Dharam Khalsa, Co-Founder, California Burrito who is running 25 plus store.

Food and Beverage Industry is nailing be it nutritious ingredients, maintaining supply chains, environment conscious sources and satiating customer’s palate in an enticing way. It is one of the largest industries in India and ranks fifth in term of production, consumption and exports as per IBEF. Restaurant Industry has expanded massively which has astonished all the other industries. According to a report by NRAI, size of restaurant industry was two lakhs forty-seven thousand crores in 2013 which is expected to be four lakh crores by 2018. The reason is understanding that change is constant and be adaptable according to the same.Here are few innovationswhich changed the food industry, the way customers dine out and how they perceive the industry globally.

Foresightedness: “This is one of the basic virtues in innovation which played vital in any industry’s success. Experts foresighted that customers are becoming smarter and knowledgeable, they are concerned about health, hospitality, and convenience at the same time. Fore sighting the trend and then satiating customers’ palate accordingly is the never-failing mantra of this outstanding industry,” shares Executive Chef Amit Sinha, L’opera. One who has the eye of an owl to catch inefficiency and matches its pace with change is here to stay.

Making Business Organised: 70 per cent of food business is unorganised and 30 per cent is organised. The organised sector is expected to turn into 41 per cent by 2018 expanding its size to one lakh sixty-seven thousand crores. “Restaurant Industry is bigger than telecom industry, holds second position after Insurance & Retail, seven times the size of hotel industry and twenty-four times bigger than Bollywood industry in India,” avers Riyaaz Amlani, CEO of Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd. Adding that restaurant industry generated employment to 4.8 million people in 2013 which is larger than the population of Switzerland and by 2018, it’s going to be 8 million. Thus, organising your business in food and beverage industry will not only help in growth of one’s enterprise but will help the whole industry in its massive expansion.

Understanding the Market: Restaurant Branding makes you into a name to reckon with! When people recognize you as a brand and not just another food chain, they know they have come to the right place to meet their expectations and make memorable experiences. “Restaurateurs should work towards creating experiences for customers understanding the need of hour. It’s a vast industry and growing at a very fast pace,” says says Kunal Babuta, Proprietor at Big Boyz Lounge. Nowadays, the market has its own demand, and is ever changing due to which being innovative according to the market in every aspect is very important to stay in the market.

Blending Technology with Food: Customers are tech savvy and they enjoy the interference of technology everywhere even when ordering their food. Be it in the presentation or in the ambience. Food service sector is craving for innovation and technology feeds. Organizations in the food and beverage industry are faced with an increasingly health conscious, consumer-centric environment blending technology with food.

Improvised Packaging: It is well-known that, worried about the huge quantities of wastes in the packaging of food and beverage, companies and researchers have spent years in looking for new containers that are edible, avoiding the thousands of plastic packages used nowadays.Although Micro packaging ambitions are to reach all the packaging industry, in the food industry it presents potential benefits such as improved bio-availability, antimicrobial effects, enhanced sensory acceptance and targeted delivery of bioactive compounds. F & B sector has seen all the facets and acquired one of the largest positions in the market. This is a boom period for the industry. One must hit the bull’s eye to hold the position.

TOO INDIAN is the brainchild of Varun Puri, the man who surprised us all by bringing street food experience to restaurants is now all ready with his team to tour us to the 21st century India. Too Indian is the most incredible innovation.

Too Indian is bringing food and drinks in a way that has never been done before!!!

“Too Indian is a revolution in Food and Nightlife, I am proud to bring Too Indian as the first restaurant, where food, retail, bar, motion and music comes under one roof, “says Varun Puri, adding that it is not an attempt of equal footing the conceptual restaurants, but to show our own people our brilliance and sagacity which is left unappreciated and unused amidst the fascination of west.

Too INDIAN as the very name suggest is a paragon that would showcase 'too much of India, not only in terms or food but will highlight some forgotten facts about India being most creative, eccentric and effortlessly royal.

It is a Modern Indian café with progressive transformation to lounge by night. The interiors are plush and chic. You can spot lots of customised lights with plants. Too Indian also puts up live herb garden for your chef to choose the freshest ingredients for flavoursome meal or for you to buy!

Apart from perceptively conceptualised walls to lighted plants, Too Indian has a retail section. The idea of shopping while you are dining scores the most. Get set to pick the best varieties of pickles, seeds, preserves, relish. Not just this, there is a whole new range of bakery products with Indian twist like Fennel rose cookies and baked mathi.

Food at Too Indian is traditional yet modern. It brings back some traditional recipes in 21st Century style by offering you same delights with an organic and healthy touch so that you relish guilt free.

Too Indian Menu is mélange of youngest chefs who are set to conquer the dining scene of the capital. “I can bet that menu here is the most innovative one. We take pride in bringing the Organic menu as well. At Too Indian we have brought in the concept of artisan dining where each basic dish is curated so artistically that so you will be surprised to eat basics with twist,” adds Puri. The menu here is divided into four forms innovation (twist to basic signatures), healthy menu, traditional Indian menu and dessert menu.

Few of the signatures at Too Indian includes signatures like – Is This Dahi Bhalla, chit Chat chaat, Palak Paneer Ravioli, Top trending Quinoa salad, Kathal quinoa biryani, Brown rice chicken tikka pulao , Steamed Patrani machchi, Paththar ke kebab, Indo persian kebab, Daulat ki chaat, Milk cake pie and more.

Too Indian on the Bar front puts forward the most head shaking cocktails Mixologists here are high on their innovations with cocktails, Get set to witness the unique and unexpected concoctions. The bar is equipped with the finest spirits from across the world.

Growth is very individual to every single brand, city and every new location that one expands to. Food service market which accounts at 48 Bn is 8x of hotels and 2x of the pharma industry has seen a continuous growth in the business in last five years. Food service is emerging as a key segment in the Indian economy with change in consumer dynamics and increased awareness about varied cuisine and experience.

There is uninterrupted growth in the industry where organised standalone has grown to 23% in 2016 from 22% in 2013 and is projected to reach at 28% by 2021, the chain market size has grown to 7% in 2016 to reach 10% in 2021 showing a positive side of the growth to industry where the contribution of Unorganised and scattered market is going down to 67% in 2016 from 70% in 2013 which is suppose to lower down in next few years to reach 59% by 2021, says NRAI food service report.

Managing growth

With such a positive turnaround happening in the industry the Indian food brands are growing at a steady rate. Not only in the local market, Indian brands, are eyeing global presence as well as they are at par with the global trends and consumption habits. Brands like Saravana Bhavan, Farzi Cafe, Punjab Grill, Yellow Chilli, Silver Beach Cafe are already doing good in the global markets where they are present in giving an opportunity for the brands who have still not thought of crossing that multi lingual boundary. “The formula is the goals. How do we make the business capable and to make the business capable you need make your resources capable and resources comes from the people, the business and the system. And then what we need is the processes which convert these two into product and products are something that we sell,” believes Reynold Fernandes, CEO- Oriental Cuisines which has already expanded its brand portfolio to more than 170 restaurants in India.

Change is the only constant

The market is changing. These days’ restaurateurs look at the trends that are going in the market as restaurant and food business is all about the business of consumption. Where real estate moving, which markets are opening up, where is growth heading, how are people consuming food and the right mix of portfolio to grow to a city are some of the important aspects one look at before investing money into expansion of a restaurant. “It is great to be in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Delhi, but it is equality exciting to be in Coimbatore, Kolkata, Pondicherry because consumption is happening every day and everywhere,” adds Reynolds.

Customers now a day’s have an advantage of aspiration that are coming from a global brand but end of the day they need to have a sustainable product because there are varied options available in the market for customers in multiple price ranges depending on the quality of the product. “How do you regionlise the brand,” asks Karan Tanna, CEO- Yellow Tie Hospitality adding, it is not only important to localise the product according to Indian taste but to localise it to regional taste because India is a cultural rich country. You need to standardise the product according to regional flavours.

Same goes with Goodies a bakery brand started in Baroda which has to change its model to attract customers with pace of the time. “It was only when we thought of retailing our bakery products we started our cafe of multicuisne food and of course our bakery products,” adds Kaizad Modi, Senior Partner at Reise Hospitality LLP.

Overcoming challenges

Business has to be expanding unemotionally because we are so attached to a thing and that’s the downfall of the business. One needs to have a concrete business plan before going to a new market. If you are going into a market that does lots of delivery you have to build high scale rate. Two to three years payback cycle and within 24 months things could be different but the good business is to take decisions. It’s all about capital- how you are going to move capital or how you are going to rotate capital.

“The challenge we faced at being present in a small town was getting good talent, skilled labour and retains them afterwards. Also, people do not want to spend large amount of money. It’s very tricky because they expect a high quality product but they don’t want to spend the money. So, how do we maintain quality and presentation with very tight budget? Also, the infrastructure is a hard task and it is very hard to match the customer expectation in terms of challenges we have,” adds Modi who believes that it is very important to cater to a local food.

One needs to be creative as far as food business in India is concerned. One need to keep observing why he isn’t doing well because it is a consumption biz and everyone needs food. “It could be way of serving, your pricing, portion size and menu mix and hence you need to be hands on with everything. There is lots of passion that goes into it. So, your rental v/s the ticket size v/s the footfall caters to the larger part of the business,” adds Tanna.

Have you ever woke up past midnight with your favourite pizza and drink in the dream and you crave for it so deeply that you want to order it right away but you are left with no other options other than waiting for the next morning to order it. Here’s good news for you, the Union Cabinet has passed Model Shop and Establishment Act yesterday which allows restaurants and retail shops to open 24*7 allowing you to walk through your favourite food joints whenever you want to.

Benefiting the sector

Today, when restaurant industry is one of the most bludgeoning sectors and is helping India’s tourism and culture to grow such initiative would help the industry grow at a faster pace. The Act will also increase the ease of doing business for retailers and restaurant owners with increase in competition between online and offline players. The implementation of this Act will also generate high employment opportunities. Also it will bring equality in legislative provisions, making it easier for all the states to adopt it and ensure uniform working conditions across the country.

“We welcome the Model Shop and Establishment Act by the Union Cabinet. This is a progressive decision that will benefit the service providers as well as the users, and has the potential to generate additional employment opportunities in the country. For us, the new Act opens up greater avenues for reinventing our service offering for customers and catalyse growth,” says Ajay Kaul, Chief Executive Officer, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited.

Commenting on the same, Riyaaz Amlani, President- NRAI and MD, Impresario Hospitality & Entertainment shares, “Cabinet allowing restaurants and retail shops to open 24*7 has brought freedom very well come. Virtually, increasing employment by one and half shift will also increase employment opportunities and as it will grow up spending pattern consumption pattern will also increase boosting the sector.”

Riding on convenience

And, as the law allows shops, malls and cinema halls, among other establishments to run 24×7 throughout the year, it also covers establishments employing 10 or more workers except manufacturing units and will provide freedom to operate 365 days with flexibility on timing to open and close.

"The central government's decision is a welcome one and I applaud their vision. However, a lot needs to be done to ensure this turns into a reality for establishments like ours. A restaurant serving liquor needs multiple licenses to operate. To make it successful, several departments (Local corporations, Police and Excise) will have to change their rules to permit 24x7 functioning of establishments and that may be a challenge. Also, the ultimate decision to adopt or modify the law lies with the respective States and each one has a different policy or act that the bylaws are drawn from. In the current scenario, the biggest benefiters would be large box retailers, electronic stores, fast- food/ QSR outlets and cinema halls. Malls would certainly benefit the most if shops stay open 24x7, since revenue from rentals would double, as well as the CAM (common area maintenance) charges," shares Rahul Singh, Founder and CEO- The Beer Cafe.

Going forward, it also illustrates that women who are employed on night shifts with adequate security and calls for better working conditions for employees such as drinking water, canteen, first aid, lavatory and crèche.

“We have to watch how the states react to it because they have to consider police commission for operation hours as they are more in the faith. We will be more interested to see Delhi perform because it’s the capital,” adds Amlani who is delighted to see the industry bearing fruits.

Adding to the same lines, A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI says, “It is a very progressive move, as it would enable states to choose to keep shops and other such establishments open 24×7 all through the year. This would give substantial boost to employment generation and will also benefit the consumers in terms of more convenience and accessibility.”

“The introduction of the Model Act by the Central Government is a positive step towards revolutionising the shops & establishment regime across India and addressing the needs of the modern day market places. The new Model Act would help in achieving greater freedom at work places and would allow sectors such as food eateries and restaurants to thrive in an environment which is now routinely becoming 24x7 oriented. The Model Act while liberalising the working hours/ operations of these establishments also ensures that the employees do not suffer as a result of these changes and appropriately regulates their working hours and holidays," points Sharad Abhyankar, Partner, Khaitan & Co.

Hence, with Modi’s government bringing more laws in promoting restaurant and food industry we really can say that the industry is going to touch heights in next few years boosting country’s economy and tourism. 

Tell us about your journey in the world of food?

The journey has been phenomenal. I have grown as a kid who used to study about food and then taking it as a profession and enjoying my work experience as a chef and an entrepreneur. I love my job because every day is a new day in the food industry as your passion for the same increases every single day.

What according to you is the latest trend hitting Indian food industry?

Today concept restaurants are moving towards new style of food which has Indian cuisine from north to south and east to west but yes with western touch in it. Earlier, only western cuisine was supposed to be an elegant cuisine for dine-in or fines dine restaurant but now we can see the transformation in the Indian cuisine getting ahead of that.

We see that eating habits of people is getting influenced by western culture. What is the reason?

Yes, that’s so true restaurants are introducing new and westernized style of food, the concepts of restaurants have changed to new styles. Our basis in restaurants are still Indian but yes people want to change their taste with some Signature Indian dishes which people still want to enjoy and relish.

According to you what is that particular thing that is very much promoted in India?

Chefs and restaurants are moving backwards to the authentic Indian culture. They are bringing back those recipes which has slide down the lane. I think our roots, our Indian food is the top most things which is very much promoted in India, no matter which food style or culture we move towards but when it comes to food our taste is very much Indian as we all love it.

Tell us about your restaurants? How are you meeting up with growing challenge and competition in the industry?

Amongst our restaurants, two of them are on the concept of barbeque and the one is based on the concept of alacarte which serves biryani. If you see every industry has to face competition but you have to be up to date with the market trends as we keep on introducing new menu’s so that people do not get bored with the typical regular menus rather should try new food . Being into a barbeque concept we have several options to change the menu and give customers a new feel when he comes back again and similarly being into an alacarte restaurant it is difficult to change the menu so often and that is where we pay more attention towards the consistency of our products served every time to our customer.

What is some unique strategy that you follow while playing with your flavours?

Well there is nothing unique, every flavor is unique in itself, but yes our choices of the unique strategy of food are that the flavors should be balanced. Flavors should be of a perfect balance even when a kid wants to taste it or the adults it should not be over powering. The flavors should be subtle for any type of food selection. We play with different textures of the food rather than changing their flavors very often as people should remember the same flavor but with a different texture.

You are running threerestaurants. How does each of them differ from other?

We are dealing into two verticals of the restaurant: two are buffet dining restaurant and another one is an alacarte restaurant. Both of them have their different challenges and benefits.

Tell us about your future plans and innovations.

Future plans are on the line of innovations and the trend which is there in the market. I am introducing Ardour Cooking with Chef Ashish Massey where in it becomes easy for people to learn new techniques and easy tips related to cooking. There will be interactive sessions and cooking classes for people who want to come and learn the joy of cooking food and yes some plans for setting up new ideas in the online food industry.

Started by Sagar Daryani and Binod Homagai in 2008, Wow! Momo is known for its unique and specialised momos. Started with a mere investment of Rs 30,000, the brand has grown rapidly, becoming the country's largest momo chain with good turnovers and new innovations. Currently operating 61 stores across Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, NCR, Coimbatore and Digha, the group is targeting to open  100 stores in next two years.

What all is included in your product line?

Our menu comprises of mainly momos and thupka. We serve 11 different flavours of momos available in steamed, fried, pan-fried, sizzler and baked variants in Chicken, Vegetable, Fish, Mushroom momo, Paneer, Prawn, Corn Spring Onion and even Chocolate and momo burger.

How do you do the pricing of Momos?

Our ranges start from Rs. 70-150 and even our ABC is Rs.100 as we value the money. 

There are so many unorganised momo chains in India. How much competition do you face from them?

Yes, there are many momo chains and unorganised players and no organised player like us. So, we are way ahead; now many more companies are coming up with their  momo businesses. What we think is that increase in  competition will  make things more challenging.

According to you, what are the global trends coming in 2016?

Earlier, there was only MC Donald’s and KFC but now Carl’s Junior and other global chains are entering Indian market, giving a way to the global brands. Lots of finger food will be coming up and also international food. Even now, eating out has become a fashion. People want quick food as everyone has a busy lifestyle. So, this the correct time for the huge open market QSR to flourish.

Where do you stand  in terms of revenue?

This year our turnover was Rs 40 crore which is growing gradually. 

What are  your expansion plans?

We are planning to open 100 stores by March 2017. Presently, we have seven in Delhi, 33 in Kolkata. We want to be the best in what we do with presence  in 5-6 different cities.  We are looking at IPO from 7 years and  want to target the Indian market, as its expanding rapidly.

Innovation is not only limited for products; it can be for quality, technology, consistency, efficiency, people and even institutional changes.  According to industry reports, the food processing industry is one of India’s biggest sectors in terms of production, consumption, export and GDP growth. Estimated to be worth US$70bn, it accounts for around 14 per cent of total industrial output and around 6 per cent of GDP.

Indian food processing sector includes a large number of products from fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, seafood and poultry, dairy products; fermented foods and drinks; grains, cereals and millets; bakeries; confectionery; nutraceuticals; and even RTE (ready to eat). Also, time has become very precious and people are highly obsessed with the western culture, where they get home delivery services. On the same note, V L Rajesh, CEO at ITC Ltd says, “We have launched many new items other than products like atta, instant noodles, snacks etc; we have modulated the product.”

Now, many Indian players are making use of new technologies to increase production, meet quality standards and increase profitability. Even, the market is providing a lot of opportunities in the recent time to these players so that they can adopt new technologies

Innovations in food

Few years down the line, we will witness low calorie food with artificial and natural sweeteners. This new innovation addresses the concern of consumers regarding the amount of sugar used in their food and differentiates with different type of sweeteners.

Beverage industry proactively perceived consumer interest for these products that carried a little sugar. So, many companies have launched zero-calorie products like Tropicana's Trop 50 orange juice; Coca-Cola also launched new products in the same category.

Another innovation is thinking- If we need to understand what consumers want, first we have to understand the context and also do some research. “Going to market and observing the opportunity provided for using modern tool to create awareness is something which is different”, shared Yogesh Bellani, CEO of FiledFresh Foods Pvt Ltd.

The new emerging trend in the food processing is the preservation and packaging of food.  “Today, good food has become the prime    desire of the consumers, so innovation needs to get processed and reach the customers”, pointed Sirag A Chadhry, Chairman of Cargill India. Demand of the consumers and their willingness to pay some extra buck for convenience are the main reasons for food delivery.

There should be development in packaging through resources and functionality. “We want to use technology like an ATM machine for milk which is unpackaged,” shared Siva Nagarajan, MD at Mother Dairy.

Snacks and sweets are other fastest-growing segments in the food industry for producing new and creative products. Snack Innovations means creating tasty munchies and good quality products for the customers. 

Hence, Indian food processing industry has reached a point where we can expect many new innovations in the coming years. Active   and   intelligent   packaging is the new innovation for food safety, quality and convenience coming in India.  

Restaurant industry is much larger than the film industry but is less visible due to lack of quality infrastructure, shortage of adequate skilled manpower and proper license and government body which has been hampering the growth of the industry for years now.

To discuss and find a solution to overcome the prevailing key issues in the development of Restaurant industry, Ritu Marya, Editor-in-Chief, Restaurant India, a part of Franchise India Media together with industry panellists including Zorawar Kalra, MD, Massive Restaurants; Rahul Kumar, CEO, Red Mango India; Rahul Singh, Founder & CEO, The Beer Cafe; Chetan Arora, DA, North and West, Subway India and Devendra Chawla, Ceo, Food Bazaar, Future Group joined hands at the conference held at FICCI to bring the best in the food industry partnering with government bodies to unlock the growth potential in this business. 

Industry Overview Food and Beverages industry which is growing phenomenally at a CAGR of 23-24 per cent is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. Highly dominated by the unorganised segment which constitutes over 60 per cent of the total industry, the organised, mainly the standalone players have lots of opportunities to expand their businesses in the country.

Food and beverages sector is one of the vibrant sectors which has seen unprecedented growth in the last five years. Presently, the market has a size of Rs 2, 04,438 crore which is expected to reach Rs 3,80,000 by 2017. However, despite tremendous growth in the sector, both national and global restaurants and food brands have not optimally penetrated the Indian market so far.

Dominated by the QSR and casual dining chains, segments like fine dining, cafes, bars and beverages chain have found favour with the consumer who now prefers to eat 5-6 times a week which was earlier 2-3 times a week. Not only this, during the last one year, the industry has seen many innovations and investments happening in the industry with the emergence of tech-food players in the country and with this, today the industry is at the forefront of attracting the investors.

Commenting on the same, Devendra Chawla said, “India is a very large market and we find that there is a very large untapped opportunity in the Tier II and III towns for quality eating out chains.”

Meanwhile, food expenditure today has larger portion of the consumers’ total consumption basket and with a population of more young generations, eating out is believed to grow as it has become an occasion in itself which was earlier restricted to an occasion-driven activity. And with global and youth centric chains like Starbucks, CCD, Social, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Farzi Cafe, Out Of the Box opening at cool locations like Hauz Khas Village, Cyber Hub, Connaught Place and Epicuria Mall amongst others,  food industry is surely going to rule the Indian industry leaving behind most celebrated industries like Film and Cinema.

“We are the fastest growing industry in India where more than 50 per cent of population is less than the age of 25 years with high spending power and where 50 per cent of the spend on total expenditure goes on food as compared to developed countries where people only spend 30 per cent on food,” shared Zorawar Kalra. 

Major Challenges

Despite all these growth in the last few years, food industry is lagging behind due to some of the major issues like high real estate costs, the large number of licenses required to operate in the sector and a plethora of taxes, which is still a roadblock in the growth of the industry.

And to lead the foundation of growth within the industry, the new government is bringing new laws and policies; the report by FICCI- Grant Thornton also states that the government’s intervention in creating good infrastructure and developing skilled manpower would help boost the growth of the sector. It furthermore proposes that real estate costs can be reduced by lobbying with real estate developers to develop a better formula of rent sharing and developing innovative models for rent.

“The government recognises the F&B sector’s great potential for growth and job creation. Hence, it has been identified as a priority sector in the National Manufacturing Policy and is also amongst the top 25 priority sectors, which are being promoted across the globe to attract investments and as ‘Make in India’ initiative, we are looking at growth in this sector and the growth can happen only if we can get more and more investments coming from local as well as global markets,” said Atul Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary, DIPP.

Meanwhile, according to the industry people simplified licensing requirements with a single-window clearance approach and rationalisation of taxes levied on the restaurant industry are a few solutions proposed in the report to effectively tackle licensing and taxation issues, faced by the industry.

“Despite the fact that we are India’s one of the largest alco-beverage chain, we have only 11 per cent sale of beer in India which is approximately 70 per cent globally and this is due to the law of this country as every state for us is a different country,” pointed Rahul Singh of the Beer Cafe.

Adding on the same line, Rahul Kumar shared, “We are a global yogurt brand and we import most of the raw materials from the US market, the export law is too stringent for us that sometimes the delivery of the end product is delayed by the same.”

Unlocking the growth potential

Despite all these challenges, today the maximum growth being witnessed is still in the standalone restaurant space where local taste along with uniqueness of concept is the key deciding factor.

Also, amongst the various segments within the restaurant sector, Quick Service Restaurants and Casual Dining Restaurants constitute the largest categories – combined they constitute more than 77 per cent of the overall market. Café segment emerges as the third category with the market size around INR 25,000 crore and is growing at 10 per cent year on year. Though the Fine Dine market constitutes only 3 per cent of the market, the segment is witnessing a renewed interest and a large number of multinational chains are entering the market.

“The food industry has evolved over the years and India needs to be prepared for the new importance that would be given to the sector. He added that like the developed economies, India too had begun indulging in lavish food and experimenting with new cuisines and it’s a new beginning for the sector,” added Chawla.

Meanwhile, India has a greater potential of global food brands who are one of the major contributors driving the growth of eating-out trend in the country.

Commenting on the same, Piyush Patodia, Executive Director, Grant Thornton India LLP, pointed, “Foreign brands need to ensure that although they see India as a large opportunity, there needs to be an appetite for risk taking. India is a difficult terrain to operate, with multiple taxes, complex licensing and high operating costs. In addition, tastes and preferences vary significantly based on the location within India. With correct planning and customisations, companies can see explosive growth of their concept in India.”

And bridging the gap between the industry and the government, Shilpa Gupta of FICCI asked the industry panellists to come together and participate in the government’s initiative to create more skilled labours and job opportunity, and inviting them to set a separate body for restaurant growth in the country.

However, with lots of developments taking place in the sector, where industry and the government have come together, food industry as a whole is looking at a larger share of its pie in the Indian economy.

From announcing location of new outlet, new product launch and introduction of exclusive cuisine, to responding over the never ending complaints of the consumers, the fast food brands are using social media as a never ending gamut for product placement and promotion in India. The trend has not only become the most preferred way of promotion, but it’s actually helping the biggies to reach maximum consumers in minutes.

What’s trending

To get a clear picture of effectiveness and reach of social media in tapping the target consumers, Restaurant India tracked few fast food brands that are dominating the Indian market and are efficiently reaping good returns by using social media as a marketing tool. 

US fast food chain, Burger King, which has opened its first outlet in New Delhi, has received 111,417 likes and 24 visits, much before the brand has even widely targeted the Indian market. The Miami based burger chain has effectively used social media to monitor itself in the fast growing food market in India. Not only this, the burger chain has organised competition on Twitter from where customers can redeem the BK’s coupon to taste the whooper burgers. On the other hand, KFC, which is highly appreciated among chicken lovers for its crisp fried chicken snacks, has 35,702,812 likes and 554,915 visits.

Similarly, choosing the same tricks of global food chains, Indian majors like Salt Water Cafe, owned by Riyaaz Amlani has gained over 7,921 likes while Bangalore based Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), which has changed the coffee drinking segment in India, has over 5,106,405 likes and 782,312 visits on its official Facebook page. Infact, the brand is too regular in updating its Facebook page with pictures and deals that it gets maximum page visit. CCD has also introduced a mobile app to tap tech savvy consumers.

Commenting on the growing trend of social media, Chef Surjan Sing Jolly, Director F&B, JW Marriott, Bangalore says, “Biggest trend in India is all about going social. Restaurants are all driving around social gatherings and connections on Facebook and Twitter.”

Way ahead

Social media guide the restaurateurs in defining their promotional goals and working out a strategy that works best for their branding and successful operation. According to The National Restaurant Association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast, almost one-third of consumers were prepared to follow a restaurant on social media, if special offers were available.

The study also unveiled that social media environment has become cluttered with too many different platforms and restaurant owners’ efforts that were frustrated by limited resources and understanding of how to approach social media for their businesses.

Meanwhile, experts also suggest that the restaurant should also keep a track on how the customer is responding to a particular post and comment. They were of the opinion that as a brand, the food majors need to keep a record whether a customer has tagged the brand somewhere, clicked a photo of the food being served to him and promoted the same on the social platform.

Shobita Kadan, who heads marketing at Impresario says, “My team who sits at the outlet knows more about the customers and we authorise them to reply to the feedback that comes online. The relationship here becomes direct and we get a lot of useful information as well.”

The restaurateurs should also emphasise on finding out a tool to validate and monitor the kind of people writing reviews online about the brand for making it constructive and creating business out of it.

So, if you are using social media to build the business, it is all about listening and responding to your customers. According to the researches and experts comments, we can say that major fast food brands are reaping good profits and consumer attention by using social media. Listening to what consumers want and trying their best to give them quality service, have made them customers’ favourite and most preferred choice, when planning to eat out.

Thereby, if you are using Facebook to promote your restaurant, post new launches and videos on your fan page and enjoy the smart brand positioning in the market.

According to market research firm Crisil, the Indian fast food market is set to double in size from Rs 3,500 crore in 2012 to Rs 7,000 crore over the next two years.

Witnessing great opportunity in the Indian food business, local as well as global brands are expanding their footprints in India taking the franchisee route as the local partner knows the local tastes and preferences better and thus can prove profitable.

“I think if you have an ambition to grow and if you have fund and want it to intelligently deploy then franchising is a necessity, it is no option because what really happens is when you get into franchising you are able to have inorganic growth with a faster pace," said, Dheeraj Gupta, MD, Jumboking Pvt Ltd.

The business format

The restaurant industry earlier chose to operate via single unit franchising, but multi-unit franchising and master franchising is gaining popularity for several well established global QSRs today.

Not only this, the country is increasingly witnessing the growing popularity of Area Development Model (ADM) and Area Representational Model (ARM).

In the case of ADM, partners of a chain are singularly focused on managing outlets within a specified region as well as ensuring a suitable customer experience. In contrast, in ARM, the emphasis is on expanding the presence of a restaurant via finding new franchisees.

Sharing his views on the business format, Gupta said, “Business model should be such that the franchisee makes a margin higher than he would have done in his own business (without the franchisor’s brand name).”

Deciding on location

Location is the most important aspect when one is planning to enter into a new city. And this is the part most people get wrong. In the need to expand fast they hope that the number of stores will take care of quality. But as per the experts in the industry, in the franchisee business, each store needs to be profitable, franchisees don’t average out the profits across stores, for him, his store has to make money. However, each business has a different requirement when it comes to real estate and the call on locations should be centralised and taken by the highest authority who is investing his money for expansion.

Robert Beausoleil, Director-Business Development, Barbecue Garden said, “As part of this strategy, we would provide our franchisees with training on various operational aspects, including selecting location, food preparation and service, amongst others.”

Sharing his views on the same, Sam Chopra, Chairman, CybizCorp, which has signed a master franchisee agreement with California-based burger chain, Carl’s Jr, said, “Do not over expand, preserve capital and ensure that you have enough capital for your expansion. Build a very strong management team keeping a smart marketing budget.”

Be cautious while choosing partners

As per Chopra, getting the right partner in franchising business is like getting into a marriage where you have to struggle for a few years! Many a time, people go wrong in choosing the right partner for them and hence, that leads to failure of the franchisee business. The experts in the industry believe that the selection criteria should revolve around three basic aspects, the franchise partner should be an owner operator; the investment required should be fully funded through internal resources by the franchisee, no bank loans especially on the first store should be taken and most importantly; the franchisee should have some prior business experience because business requires a lot of effort.

“When you sign a franchisee, he may or may not be a best prospect for you, but you have to play with the rules of integrity, transparency and honesty. Set the right expectation with the person you are going to franchise and you will definitely sell right,” believes Chopra.

Also, managing and working for different brands is difficult at times, therefore, each brand should have a separate P&L head (Profit & Loss) and a separate CEO so that the functioning could be done smoothly. At the same time, common functions like accounts etc may have shared resources, however, all other teams like real estate, marketing, and product development etc should be separate, share experts.

New players

While expanding geographically, western brands feel that franchising is the best model to place their brands in other countries.

Jhonny Rockets, which entered India in February 2014, has chosen Prime Gourmet Private Limited as its franchisee partner in the country. On the other hand, Burger King is entering the country by opening its outlet in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR through a partnership with Everstone Capital. Carl’s Jr, which is set to open its outlet in January 2015, has signed a master franchisee deal with Sam Chopra led CybizCorp based on his tremendous success in franchise channel. On the other hand, FatBurger has signed a franchisee deal with Vazz Foods Pvt Ltd, to operate its brand in India.

It is apparent that the market potential is encouraging home-grown and existing players to expand their footprint, while new European and US brands are charting India entry plans via franchising. 

Over the years, social media has overcome as the largest marketplace for the restaurant industry. Restaurant brands today are more convenient advertising themselves through social connect as they can connect to larger masses on this ground.

Social media guide the restaurateurs in defining their social media goals and working out a strategy that would work best for their set up. But what seems difficult for the restaurateurs is managing consumers on the social platform.

“Being a restaurateur, we need to accept all kind of feedback and reply to it timely. It’s the part of the ecosystem. We can’t get applauds all the time. Our first and basic mantra is to answer it and not to react but proact. Social media is something you cannot ignore”, says, Rahul Singh, Owner, The Beer Cafe.

According to The National Restaurant Association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast, almost one-third of consumers were prepared to follow a restaurant on social media if special offers were available. The study also found that social media environment has become cluttered with too many different platforms and restaurant owners’ efforts were frustrated by limited resources and understanding of how to approach social media for their businesses.

Experts in the sector believe that, there are about 244 million people who are online customers and India is the 2nd largest internet user country. The research also shows that 75 percent of the internet users are below 35 years of age and 86 percent of people spend time on social media

Shuchir Suri, whose three passions include Food, People and Technology, exactly in the order, believes that brands could actually leverage on negative reviews by handling them well and creating goodwill amongst the readers. “If a restaurant gets negative feedback again and again, there is something wrong with the product”, he emphasised. Adding on to the techniques to adapt for online posts, he said, “When you share a post and a photograph on Friday, there are 60 percent chances that you get more likes than on a Monday. For instagram, if you have a post with more than 250 words, 180 percent chance that you’ll get more likes.” He also suggested that user generated content is better than restaurateurs creating them and one must leverage on that as it is free of cost.

Many a times people share negative reviews to get free meals and it becomes very difficult to manage it experts believes. However, one has to address it. Like at Impresario Entertainment owned by Riyaaz Amlani, they have a policy where within 24 hrs, they respond to every single comment that is made online. And they take negative reviews to understand what went wrong with the customer’s experience.”

On responding to who should reply to the online feedback, Shobita Kadan, President, Marketing, Impresario, says, “that this business of being personal with the customer should be taken online as well. My team who sits at the outlet knows more and we authorise them to reply to that feedback. The relationship here becomes direct and we get a lot of useful information as well.”

Saurabh Sengupta, Country Head, Zomato India who himself has built the sales team in various cities and made Zomato one of the leading influencers in the industry comment by adding that, “We work on the technical angle to handle consumer feedback to track down fake and the genuine profiles. We took inspiration from twitter which brought this beautiful concept of followers. If you do not write interesting stuff, you will not have followers. And that’s what you can’t buy. You can’t buy social reputation.”

Commenting on tracking ROI through Social media, Saurabh said we need to focus on the social ROI here. “We need to keep a track of whether the consumer has tagged us somewhere, clicked a picture through instagram for building him as promoters out there”.

Hence, Social Media cannot give you a tangible return. It is for creating a personal connect. You might have thousands of likes on your page but it does not mean you will have thousands entering your restaurant on a day to day basis. Social media is a way to communicate and when you will sound like a sales person on it, no one will like it, believes experts.

Aspiring Adolescents

This Segment comprises consumers between the age group 14-17 years who are not employed and are dependent on their parents for money. Thus, they have a limited discretionary budget with which to manage day to day expenses.

This in turn lowers the incidences on which they eat out and also narrows their eating out options.

Frequency of eating out

Nearly 61% of all aspiring adolescents eat out once a week on average; whereas for 90% eating out is a more than once a week activity

This high frequency is attributed to the increase in the number of occasions celebrated, viz. birthdays, anniversaries, etc. with friends and family, greater hanging out and/ or treating friends, and also more pocket money. Approximately 30% of this group eats out more than twice a week.

The frequency of eating out is similar in metros, mini metros as well as Tier I cities. However, consumers from Tier I cities spend relatively higher amounts on unorganized formats.

Aspiring Adolescents-Frequency of Eating Out

Everyday -                         7%

2 - 3 times a week -          22%

Weekly -                             61%

Fortnightly -                       7%

Monthly -                             4%

On an average, aspiring adolescents indulge weekly in eating out.

Eating Out – Impulsive vs. Planned

For this group, eating out is a highly impulsive activity. The impulse is especially triggered when indulging in other entertainment activities like movies, shopping, catching up with friends, etc.

Eating out is also highly impulse-driven when consumers look out for accessible and convenient options, especially in the case of students residing away from home. The only planned occasions for eating out usually involve family and are more formal occasions.

Most Preferred Cuisines

This Consumer group is dynamic with exposure to international treads which elicits varied preferences and encourages consumers to indulge in unique eating out experiences time and again.

Around 86% of the consumer group has experienced, and patronizes, Italian cuisine, thus making it the most preferred cuisine option followed by Chinese food with 71% people. Other well –received cuisines, besides the Indian platter, are American and Mediterranean. Brands like Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza and Mainland China are hugely popular.

However, consumers in Tier I cities have a high preference for Indian cuisines as they lack international cuise options, Also the available options do not provide the respective cuisines in an authentic from.

With bigger opportunities in the market the restaurant industry is acquiring different HR policies to keep their employees motivated.

Mr. Nilesh Mitra, Senior Director, HR, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, says “The HR recruitment landscape is changing, typical selection processes like qualification and genuine experience is no longer enough, having the right attitude is. It is important for a person to have skills training and experience but we have always been a huge believer in putting Attitude over Aptitude. You can train someone and give them the tools but you cannot give them right attitude. For me it’s about building team for the attitude. Hire the people who –want to ‘make a mark ‘are guest oriented, understands guest point of view, anticipates guest needs, reaches out to deliver those needs and is a quick learner.”

Restaurateurs believe that consistently solid basics and resonating points of differentiation comprise the winning formula for a strong value proposition in a hospitality business when it comes to the employee and employer relations.

While Mr. Venkatraman Girish, Sr. VP- HR, Corporate Affairs & Administration, Jubilant Foodworks Ltd. says “what we expect at Domino’s is the customer experience. We have both dine in and takeaway options at our restaurants. But we are known as the company which is best in delivery. So each employee who goes and delivers the order brings back the good and bad experience with him. So when we hire an employee we look at his pleasing behaviour, his sense of energy, his drive and his growth in the organisation and his career. So I think it is not just the qualification; aptitude and attitude is also very important.

Mr. Mitra further adds “At Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, we have a perfectly niched and precise HR Strategy - catch me, grow me and keep me. ‘catch me’ is in attracting the talent, ‘keep me’ is what we do from an initiative perspective internally to retain talent and ‘grow me’ is about developing talent to meet the organisational and employee’s goal. We identify talent with, the ‘right attitude’ and have in them what we think of as the ‘hospitality gene’.”

Hiring your employee with the right attitude and then keeping them for a longer time helps in the growth of your restaurant business. Talking on the attrition rates Mr. Girish says “The industry is built in such a way that you cannot offer long-term career to everybody and many people don’t come in the industry for a long-term career. So, first of all, you need to recognise what the individual is looking for. Whether he wants to stay for more than a year or looking for growth or looking to pick up the skills or want a safe and comfortable environment or want to be respected or they want to be heard.”

He further adds “We emphasise on supervising the skills, bringing in employee engagement and fun at work and keeping in touch with employees through listening programs. It’s very important to excite them, to give them a free experience for the initial six months of their work period.”

Speaking on the same Mr. Sanjay Sethi, MD & CEO, Bergrruen Hotels says “We look for young people with a right attitude. We are ready to give them training and time but the attitude is something that has to be come as a part and parcel of what we have. We believe in making our entire employee our partner because we actually share service charge with them.” 

Social media is here to stay whether you like it or not. For businesses, social media sites provide the opportunity to engage, listen to customers and without using it as a medium to just advertise themselves.

Social media is about embracing your market – the good and the bad. It not only acts as a key to the growth for your restaurant business, but can also damage your restaurant’s brand. There have been many blunders as far as public relations and social media is concerned for promoting restaurants, as this has brought about enormous waste of restaurant’s time.

Here are some tips on how one can avoid a social media disaster.

1.       One needs to plan for the worst while expecting the best. A professional and responsible manager should be in charge of all communication on various sites and this person should be very well versed on the many risks of social media.

2.       All employees should go through social media training and be taught how to respond to negative comments posted on the social media.

3.       Employees should be guided to engage in debates positively and have a conversation, rather than preach or try to control the controversies.

4.       One has only 140 characters to express on Twitter and it gets hard to combine humour and sensitivity into the marketing message. Be careful, as sometimes the tone of your message doesn’t get through on Twitter.

5.       Never try ill conceived ideas to make a video go viral on the web. Spoof generally never works in good wonders. And try not to have multiple accounts as it shifts focus.

6.       Social media is about developing relationships and not spamming them. Apologise when you do something wrong. Use it as an opportunity to engage in conversations with those who are offended.

7.       Identify and nurture social media influencers within your target audience. Try test campaigns before they are launched.

8.       Invest in real-time social media monitoring tools that track conversations and posts about your brand.

9.       Failing to deal badly with negative online reputation can blow up in your face. Find ways to convert negative publicity into a positive one. Respond to potentially negative posts in a positive way and let the poster also know what the company is doing to fix the problem.

10.    Failing to deal with customer complaints can lead to frustrated customers taking their cause to the social media, where they often find sympathetic readers/viewers. Social media posts can go viral real quick! Brand reputation can be damaged in just few hours. So work on it...

A hit on a restaurant, for something like an anti-social media campaign, can become costly. There are a few reasons why such disasters happen – lack of corporate social media policies, lack of real-time monitoring, not responding to customer concerns, employees not trained in company policies, lack of professional social media managers, too much focus on self-promotion (lack of relationship building) and lack of due diligence before launching social campaigns. Give a thought to the reasons as that can help you build a strong PR for your restaurant.