~Plans to strengthen the only National Restaurant Lobby Body by appointing reps from local chapters and all segments of restaurants~
Mumbai: Reviewing the most difficult year the industry dealt with battling issues including the Highway Liquor Ban, the National Restaurant Association of India in its 35th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today announced a major reshuffle to its Managing Committee. The meeting was held at India Nightlife Convention & Awards (INCA), Hotel Four Seasons, Mumbai.
New appointments made to the Managing Committee include: Pratik Pota, CEO, Jubilant Foodworks Ltd., Zorawar Kalra, Managing Director, Massive Restaurants, Priyank Sukhija, Director, Lazeez Affair, Kabir Suri, Director, Azure Hospitality, Varun Tuli, Managing Director, Yum Yum Cha, Nitin Saluja, CEO, Sunshine Teahouse (Chaayos) and Sam Chopra, Chairman, Carls Junior from Delhi /NCR; Anurag Katriar, Executive Director & CEO, Degustibus Hospitality, A D Singh, Director, Olive Bar & Kitchen, Mohit Khattar, CEO, Baskin Robbins, Rahul Leekha, Director, Coffee by Di Bella from Mumbai; and Manu Chandra, Partner, Olive Café South (Current Bengaluru Chapter Head), Kayum Dhanani and Managing Director, Barbeque Nation from Bengaluru.
Riyaaz Amlani, President, NRAI, while announcing the new appointments said, “Restaurant Industry stalwarts have come together to promote and strengthen the Indian Food Services Sector. I am extremely thankful to each one of them for agreeing to contribute their valuable time, expertise and efforts for bringing ease of doing business to our beloved industry.”
The new Managing Committee also elected the Office Bearers for the year 2017-19. Rahul Singh, Coach & Founder, BTB Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (The Beer Cafe) and former Honorary Secretary, was elected as Vice President. He spearheaded the fight to make bars across the highway stretches legally operational. Rahul is also the Chapter Head for NRAI Gurgaon. Amit Jatia, Vice-Chairman & CEO, Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. (McDonald’s- West & South India) was appointed as the new Honorary Secretary. He is also the Chapter Head for NRAI Mumbai. Under his able leadership, NRAI Mumbai Chapter was able to resolve many issues during the past year including removal of police permission for eating houses, permit rooms and reduction in number of licenses from 37 to 31.
Congratulating the new team, Amlani expressed, “NRAI wants to work with the Government and authorities as a cohesive unit to promote the Restaurant Industry. Valued at INR 3,09,110 Crores, our industry is the third largest after retail and insurance in the services segment according to the NRAI India Food Services Report 2016. It generates revenue that is 1.6 times of Indian railways and two times the size of IT industry and contributes over 2.1% to the G.D.P. of India, and provides employment to over 6 Million Indians. There is a very urgent need that they take note of its socio-economic impact, place it on the high priority sector list and bring in the required reliefs in order to unleash the true potential of this promising sector.”
He announced, “We’ve been successful in many of our endeavors but there’s a long way to go. The new body will persistently take up issues affecting each segment with the relevant authorities Nationally, Locally and Hyper-Locally”.
NRAI’s first ever AGM in Mumbai was attended by Rahul Singh from The Beer Café, Kabir Advani from Berco’s, AD Singh from Olive Bar & Kitchen, Anurag Katriar from Indigo, Zorawar Kalra from Farzi Café, Chef Manu Chandra from Monkey Bar, Mohit Khattar from Baskin Robbins, Nishit Pandey from McDonalds, Rohan Jetley from TGI Friday’s, Priyank Sukhija from Lazeez Affair, Rajeev Matta from The Yellow Chilli, Rahul Kumar from Red Mango, Santosh Jindal from Jade Garden, Gauri Devidayal from The Table, Varun Tuli from Yum Yum Cha, Vyoum Ghai from Suribachi along with many other prominent restaurateurs.
The AGM was followed by a grand cocktail reception.
