Wanna get our awesome news?

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Subscribe!

Actually we won’t spam you and keep your personal data secure

As the voice of the Indian restaurant industry, we represent the interests of 500000+ restaurants & an industry valued @ USD 4 billion. Whether a chain or independent restaurant, the NRAI is here to help every step of the way. Join us!

News

NRAI’s # FeedTheNeedy initiative crosses the 50 lakh mark

By

on

Even as the hospitality and food and beverage industry braces for the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has pitched in to ensure that a large section of society does not go hungry. In keeping with that the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) started the #FeedTheNeedy, (an initiative that leverages NRAI’s kitchen infrastructure to feed the poor daily wage earners, migrants and other underprivileged sections of society).Largely crowd-funded, this initiative has so far served over 50 lakh meals in the last one month.


Catering to the poor and needy during the lockdown
Anurag Katriar, President of National Restaurant Association of India, CEO and Executive Director of deGustibus Hospitality Pvt Ltd shares, “The idea behind the initiative was to leverage our food production abilities and infrastructure to help serve the poor during the lockdown. We chose six cities and four leaders to lead in each city. Operationally, we bifurcated this into three parts, i.e., demand, supply and logistics. On the demand side, each of these heads coordinated with the local municipal authorities, disaster management agencies and local admin (plus NGOs in some cases) to evaluate/assess the demand. These were then coordinated with them area-wise with respective timings for supply.” Anurag goes on to share that based on demand, supply was organised through member restaurants with large kitchens. The menu was kept simple yet wholesome. Problems like packaging were also handled by this team.

Corporates and individuals crowdfunded this initiative On the logistics side, members first helped each kitchen to procure permissions for movement of personnel and material, with support from the local admin. They also managed transportation of food to the intended beneficiaries. In case of any extraordinary issues, the local leader would intervene and resolve it. The initiative received generous support from many corporates and individuals both in cash as well as raw material supply. The balance was funded through individual resources.

Recommended for you