Pune, May 13, 2022: The Pune Chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) the Voice of the Indian Restaurant Industry, was formally unveiled by Mr Praful Chandawarkar, Pune Chapter Head & Managing Director, Chiranjeev Restaurants and Foods Pvt Ltd and Mr Kevin Tellis, Pune Co-Chapter Head & Head of Operations, pH4 Food and Beverages Private Limited today at Malaka Spice; in the presence of SP Rajesh Bansode; Mr Anurag Katriar, NRAI Past President & Trustee, Chapter Heads of NRAI Mumbai Chapter – Ms Rachel Goenka & Mr Pranav M Rungta; Prakul Kumar, Secretary General, NRAI. The National Restaurant Association of India, founded four decades ago in 1982, represents the interests of 5,00,000+ Restaurants, QSRs, Bars,Cloud Kitchens and Catering, Industry Associates an industry valued at over INR 4,23,865 Crores.
On this occasion, Praful Chandawarkar said “NRAI has been at the forefront and leading the Indian Restaurant Industry to greater profitable growth, besides representing interests of members through advocacy, training, research and industry events. The Association, at the National level, has been relentlessly advocating changes in the laws governing the Indian Restaurant Industry at Local, State and Centre levels; providing opportunities to educate members and is playing a key role in promoting skilling and career opportunities for industry professionals through the Hospitality Sector Skill Council.
The NRAI Pune Chapter aims to place Pune firmly on the national map and shall focus on positively building the Food Service Industry. As per NRAI India Food Services Report 2019, the Organized Market Share of Restaurants in Pune is INR 7,237 crores with Standalone Restaurants market share as INR 5,583 crores and
Chain Restaurants at INR 1,654 crores.
As an Association we hope to be the voice and focal point to coordinate groundwork 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.
One of the areas, NRAI Pune Chapter intends to give strong impetus is attracting investments into the F&B sector, commensurate to Pune’s growing stature and encourage national and international brands to actively foray into this rapidly expanding city with global prominence. The Chapter will simultaneously give fillip to locally developed brands to go national and global. “Locally, the Chapter apart from helping raise service standards through training workshops, will work towards building a strong platform for right vendor management and develop social impact initiatives to ensure the industry grows with its heart in the right place, says Kevin Tellis, Co-Chapter Head, NRAI Pune Chapter.
Industry’s expectations from Government
The industry has high expectations from both the Central and State Governments, especially to revive the industry afterthe severe impact of pandemic on the Hospitality Sector. Some of the measuresthe industry expects from the Government to provide immediate succor are – Ease of Doing Business from over regulation and excessive licensing; Restoration of Input Tax Credit (ITC) under GST and to have a fair & equitable E-Commerce Policy.
Globally, the Food Services Industry was amongst the hardest hit by COVID-19 pandemic, with India being no exception. In FY21, Indian Food Services Industry contracted severely leading to permanent closure of over 25% of Food Business Operators which resulted in job losses of nearly 24 Lakh people. In FY21, the
Food ServicesIndustry in India declined by 53% and was estimated to be worth INR 2,00,762 Cr, compared to INR 4,23,624 Cr in FY2020. In FY22, the Food Services Industry is expected to recover and reach a size of INR 4,72,285 Cr. The industry employs ~73 Lakh people and is one ofthe largest employment generators for the economy.
NRAI’s CSR Initiatives
During the challenging times of the pandemic, NRAI initiated collective assistance to its Members through several CSR initiatives, especially during first two lockdowns including; ‘Feed The Needy’ Initiative -served over 67 Lakh Meals; ‘Rise For Bars’ – direct fund transfers to thousands of employees; Free vaccination camps for employees; ‘Family Ration Kit Distribution’ – served more than 25 lakh meals to restaurant employees; Blood donation camps; Provided free meals to senior citizens and COVID patients; ‘Mission Vayu’- provided Oxygen Concentrators and NRAI SOP & Safety Guidelines for COVID-proofing the Restaurants.
Congratulating the NRAI Pune Chapter Team, Mr. Kabir Suri – NRAI President expressed “I am extremely thankful to each one of the Members for agreeing to contribute their valuable time, expertise and efforts to strengthen the Restaurant Industry in Pune. With their significant contribution, I am sure Pune Chapter
will soon become one of the leading Chapters of NRAI.”
About NRAI Pune Chapter
The NRAI Pune Chapter already has members with national presence like Domino’s (Jubilant FoodWorks), McDonald’s (HardCastle), Barbeque Nation, Wow! Momo, Mamagoto (Azure Group) Olive Group, Farzi Cafe, The Sassy Spoon among others. In Pune, members like Dal Chini, Café High Spirits, Frozen Monkey, The Urban Foundry, Roots9, Kerela Cafe and many others are already members.
