Kolkata, July 02, 2019: The National Restaurant Association of India’s Kolkata Chapter along with NRAI India Food Services Report 2019 (NRAI IFSR 2019) was launched by the Addl. Chief Secretary, Home Industry, Commerce and Enterprises and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Textile, Mr. Alapan Bandopadhyay today. NRAI IFSR 2019, released once every 3 years, is the 4th edition of National Restaurant Association of India’s study to map trends, opportunities and challenges of India’s food service sector.
Mr. Rahul Singh, President, NRAI while noting contributions of the Restaurant sector said, “The Indian Restaurant Industry employed 7.3 million people in 2018-19. The organized food service sector, which is only 35%of the total market, contributed a whopping INR 18,000 crore as way of taxes in 2018-19. The number is expected to more than double if the unorganized sector becomes organized.”
He further added, “Restaurant Industry is the largest industry in the service sector in the country after retail and insurance and is 20x of Indian film industry, 4.7x of hotels and 1.5x of the pharmaceutical sector.”
Mr. Sagar Daryani, Chapter Head of NRAI Kolkata and CEO, Wow! Momo sharing the highlights of the Kolkata pullout said, “Kolkata, India’s Cultural Capital, has been witnessing exciting times with the city having 2nd highest consumption of non-home cooked food in comparison to Delhi and Mumbai. It has the 7th largest organized food service market in the country. The city of joy ranks 4th for total number of restaurants and creating employment for the food service sector amongst Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. I personally consider Kolkata to be the ‘food capital’ of the country.”
He further added, “NRAI Kolkata Chapter has put forth Restaurant Industry’s concerns with respective Government departments and it is very encouraging to receive positive response from the State Government and a warm welcome from the fraternity members. “
“Additionally, NRAI Kolkata Chapter will coordinate ground work and actions pertaining to government issues, regulations and representations, facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experience, and passing of information related to various essential compliances/requirements by conducting seminars and knowledge sessions with the industry experts. We intend to hold one session and one workshop every month on relevant topics related to the food service sector for strengthening our members.”
Mentioning that this is the only industry that offers multiple opportunities for various job roles/levels with varying education and skill levels, he said, “We will assist in conducting soft skill and food safety trainings of youth in rural areas and later provide them with employment opportunities in the sector. We also plan to provide training infrastructure for hands-on-training on food safety, hygiene and soft skills for existing and to become a platform for training and creation of new work force ready to operate resources in the food service sector”.
NRAI IFSR 2019 is a comprehensive compilation of data gathered from in-depth interactions with over 130 restaurant CEOs and 3500 consumers across 24 cities in India. Kolkata specific pull-out provides extensive data on a variety of parameters like average monthly spend per person, popular hangouts, employment and consumer’s eating out behaviour and trends. This report is crucial to garner the necessary support and recognition from the government and its agencies for providing a fillip for consistent and sustained growth for the food service industry.
The mega launch of the NRAI Kolkata Chapter and NRAI IFSR 2019 in Kolkata was attended by the who’s who of the F&B fraternity.
