1Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
2 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
E d i t o r i a l
Publisher cum Editor
Rajneesh Sharma
Associate Editor
Swarnendu Biswas
Resident Editor
Sharmila Chand (Delhi)
Ashok Malkani (Mumbai)
Layout & Design
Hari Kumar. V
Narender Kumar
Advertising Sales
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Mumbai: Rajesh Tupsakhre
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Dattaram Gangurde
Director Sales
Sanjay Anand
Director Operations & Finance
Rajat Taneja
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Editorial Policy: Editorial emphasis in Hammer Food & Beverage Business
Review magazine is on educational & informational material specifically
designed to assist those responsible for managing institutional food &
beverage business. Articles are welcome and will be published on the
sole discretion of the editor.
Indian restaurant going crowd is gettinginterested in a variety of exotic cuisines, which isreflected in their rising popularity. However, thePortuguese cuisine has not yet managed togarner the pan-Indian popularity that it richlydeserves. Except in Goa, Portuguese cuisine hasbeen largely ignored by the gourmets acrossIndia, till the recent years. However, recentlyPortuguese cuisine is gaining popularity inMumbai.
With innovative marketing and promotion,Portuguese cuisine has great potential to attract
popularity in Kolkata, as fish plays major role in Portuguese cuisine. The hugevariety of seafood offerings from Portugal can also appeal to the non-vegetarianIndian palates, which are spread across the Indian geography. The variety ofdelectable vegetarian dishes and sumptuous desserts from Portugal can inducethe huge population of vegetarian eating out crowd in India, and contributeto the burgeoning bakery business of the country, respectively, only ifPortuguese cuisine manages to attract more widespread popularity across India.
Indian bakery business, which seems to be perpetually depending oninnovative products, would be enriched if Pastel da nata, Bola de Berlim, ArrozDoce, etc. began adorning the stand-alone bakery counters and as well as thecoffee café chains across urban India, with greater frequency and abundance.
However, to make Portuguese cuisine more popular in India, or to makeIndians get to appreciate the authentic tastes and flavours from Portugal in abig way, we need more enterprising restaurateurs who would be willing to takethe risk of exploring a relatively unexplored culinary realm in India. Theyshould be willing to extend the gastronomic profile of an evolving Indianpalate, rather than simply following the trends. We have attempted tocomprehensively discuss the character of Portuguese cuisine and the variedculinary influences which have helped to shape its present character throughcenturies, in our Cover Story.
India’s retail industry presents a bright scenario and a huge potential. Thetotal retail sales in the country are expected to enhance from $395.96 billionin 2011 to $785.12 billion in 2015. Even a decade back, India’s food &beverage retail scenario was almost completely unorganised in character.
Even today it may be largely unorganised, but at the same time there is nodenying the fact that the increasing presence of organised retailing throughsupermarkets and hypermarkets is supplementing our small grocery stores,which in turn is sprucing up the retail landscape of the country. The largesupermarkets and hypermarkets can also pose huge competition to the smallgrocery stores and even threaten the latter’s survival in some cases. Butensuring decent footfalls in retail business, where F&B products play a majorrole, requires careful consideration of several factors.
These factors, which are discussed in our Business Story, have morerelevance in the survival and success of supermarkets and hypermarkets/mallsthan in the unorganised retail enterprises, though in small grocery stores tootaking into account of these factors can contribute to the success of thebusiness operations.
Besides these, we have also covered a gamut of issues that may attract theindustry, ranging from increasing relevance of vegetarianism to the explorationof the possibility of a substitute for food, to the current pangs of agri-inflation,to the interesting history of burger. We hope our readers would find enoughfood for thought between the covers.
3Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTS
Cover Story 38
The Tastes and Flavours from Portugal
Business 44
Leveraging Sales From Retail
Feature 50
The Need for Sustainable Eating
Bakery 58
For Success in Bakery Business
Beverage 66
Towards Syrupy Success
Theme Cuisine 72
Globalisation of Tastes
Operations 84
Managing Food Costs in Restaurants
Departments
Event 04
News 12
Report 28
Agri 54
Product 62
Pub 68
Restaurant Review 76
Chef Voice 78
Profile 80
Hygiene 82
Product Preview 88
Business Opportunity 89
Interview 92
4 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
E V E N T
Fi & Hi India 2013:
The Right Platform for the Indian F&B Industry
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India is fast emerging as one of the mostsought after destinations for food
investments. As per a finding by the
Government of India, the Indian food industryis currently growing at an annual rate of 13
percent and is valued at 135 billion USD; this
number is estimated to reach 200 billion USDby 2015.
The impressive growth in the Indian food
and beverages industry has greatlycontributed to a broad range of leading local,
national and international ingredient suppliers
to showcase their products and solutions atFi & Hi India 2013, which was held at Bombay
Convention and Exhibition Centre, Goregaon,
Mumbai, during 3rd – 5th October 2013. Theevent was organised by UBM India. Here it
deserves a mention that launched in 2006, Fi
& Hi India has been a major driving force behindIndia’s processed food sector.
Joji George, Managing Director, UBM India,
said, “Today ’s global consumers aredemanding food and drinks which are low in
salt and calories, consisting of fibre, are
sustainably sourced and above all involve useof natural preservatives. In order to suit the
changing tastes of the consumers and to be
a platform for a varied range of productenhancements and ingredient solutions, UBM
India has presented Fi & Hi India 2013.” “This
specialised food ingredients event focuses oninnovation and consumer trends, providing a
platform for key professionals from around the
world to link to the exciting Indian market,”he pointed out.
Fi & Hi India 2013 was inaugurated by Tariq
Anwar, Minister of State for Agriculture andFood Processing Industries, Government of
India. Also part of the ceremony were
dignitaries such as Ajit Singh, Chairman, ACGWorldwide; Piruz Khambatta, CMD, Rasna
International; Chitranjan Dar, CEO, ITC Foods;
and Dr. Kalyan Goswami, Secretary General,AIFPA.
During his inaugural address, Anwar said,
“In the emerging global scenario, to meet theneeds of the booming food processing sector,
it is important that India gears itself to meet
the domestic as well as internationalstandards. The Indian food industry is currently
employing 13 million workers and the
companies in the food sector contribute 13percent of the country ’s exports. The
Government of India is setting up food testing
laboratories, storages, etc. for processing foodingredients to ensure food safety. Fi & Hi India
2013 is giving companies a platform to
showcase their innovative techniques andsolutions in the food processing industry.”
The 2013 edition of Fi & Hi India 2013 had
several features which provided both regionaland global food professionals with the
opportunity to learn about the latest industry
developments, and meet new businessprospects. This edition of the event presented
three days of premium onsite seminars,
addressed by internationally renownedindustry gurus such as Prabodh Halde (Marico),
Dalbir Wariah (ITC Foods), C.M.Reddy (British
Biologicals), and Vijayabhaskar Reddy (DaburIndia).
The eighth edition of the event was
supported by AIFPA (All India FoodProcessors’ Association), HADSA (Health
Foods and Dietary Supplements Association),
Association of Food Scientists andTechnologists of India — Mumbai Chapter
(AFSTI), Society of Indian Bakers (SIB), and
Pharmexcil (Pharmaceuticals Export PromotionCouncil of India, set up by the Ministry of
Commerce & Industry, Government of India).
Dairy Universe India &Sweet & SnackTec India
The 8th edition of Dairy Universe
India: International Exhibition on
Dairy Processing, Packaging &
Distribution Technology, Equipment &
Supplies, and Sweet & SnackTec India:
International Exhibition on Sweet & Snack
Processing and Packaging Technology,
Equipment & Supplies will be organised
concurrent to each other during 10th- 12th
December 2013 at the Gujarat University
Convention and Exhibition Centre,
Ahmedabad.
Over the years, both the exhibitions
have become two of the most important
platforms for the suppliers to the dairy,
sweet, snack & confectionary
manufacturing industry to showcase their
latest technological offerings to ‘who’s
who’ of the respective sectors.
As Gujarat is one of the major
manufacturing hubs for sweets and
snacks manufacturing, and a pioneer in
operating dairy cooperatives and as
sweets and snacks are a significant part
of the food habits of the people of
Gujarat, the state becomes the perfect
place to host these trade fairs.
Over 150 companies will showcase
latest technological offerings pertaining
to the dairy, sweets, snacks and
confectionary industry at the event. There
would be exhibitor participation from
around 16 countries. Live demonstration
of machines and equipments, concurrent
seminars on focused topics will be
highlights of the event.
The concurrent seminars at the event
will be a two day seminar during 10th-
11th December 2013, with the theme
‘Quality Initiatives in Dairy Value Chain
(from Producer to Consumer)’, which will
be organised by Indian Dairy Association
—Gujarat State Chapter and Mansinhbhai
Institute of Dairy & Food Technology, in
association with Koelnmesse YA Tradefair
Pvt. Ltd.
The concurrent seminars will also
include a one day seminar on 11th
December 2013 with the theme
‘Emerging Global Trends in Ice Cream
Industry’. It will be organised jointly by
the Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers
Association (IICMA) and Koelnmesse YA
Tradefair Pvt. Ltd.
For further details, please visit:
www.dairyuniverseindia.com /
www.sweetandsnacktecindia.com
6 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
E V E N TE V E N T
Between September and October 2013 the van of the
European Wellness Parade was again seen on the Indian
roads, with the aim of spreading awareness about the
Mediterranean diet and the qualities of the European food &
beverage products among Indian end consumers.
The caravan was stationed in Pune on the 22nd and 23rd of
September. It continued its travel to Mumbai, where it stayed on
the 28th and the 29th of September. The caravan’s tour was
culminated in Panjim (Goa), where it stayed on the 5th and 6th of
October. Visitors participated in five different and interactive
activities, each of them related to one of the five senses. Games
attracted the attention and participation of people from all ages
One can say that these road shows were innovative ways of
introducing the Mediterranean diet to the Indian consumers.
This activity, which has already been introduced in six different
cities in India, is part of the program named European Quality Food:
Eating With Your Five Senses, a programme financed by the
European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Environment and FIAB — the Spanish Food and Drink Industry
Federation.
This above-mentioned program has a double approach as it
targets both the end consumers and F&B professionals in the
country. This is a multi-product promotional programme which
begun in March 2012 with a budget of more than a million Euros for
the three foreseen years of duration. Each year five activities are
organised that target different identified consumer profiles. Here it
deserves a mention that this promotional programme has been
developed while taking into account the identified potential that
the Indian F&B market presently has.
The program has three main goals: They are to increase the
awareness about European food & beverage products in India and
emphasise on the value of the European gastronomic culture, with a
particular emphasis on the Mediterranean diet, in India. The logic of
the programme is based on the premise that a deeper familiarity
with the European gastronomic culture in India will increase the
consumption of European food & beverage products in the country
and eventually, it will facilitate the exports for the European food
and beverage industry to India.
The other objective of the program is to increase the desire to
consume European food & beverage products and create a good
positioning of the same among targeted consumers in India. The
program is also guided by the objective of increasing the
knowledge among F&B professionals in India on European
gastronomy and European food & beverage products.
Here it deserves a mention that the European Union is nowadays
one of the main suppliers of food products in India and its different
cuisine traditions have indeed a very good reputation in the country.
Spreading Awareness on
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7Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
8 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
E V E N T
E V E N T S’ C A L E N D E RE V E N T S’ C A L E N D E R○
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HBF 2013
15-17 November 2013
HITEX Exhibition Centre, Hyderabad
www.hbf.co.in
Hotel Expo 2013
20-22 November 2013
The Venetian Macao
www.hotel-exhibition.com
Sweet and SnackTec India 2013
10-12 December 2013
Gujrat University Convention & Exhibition
Centre, Narangpura, Ahmedabad
www.sweetandsnacktecindia.com
Fine Food India
11-13 December 2013
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
www.finefoodindiaexpo.com
Hotel Investment Forum India
14-15 January 2014
The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon
www.hifi-india.com
Aahar 2014
10-14 March 2014
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
www.aaharinternationalfair.com
HOSTECH by Tusid
12-16 March 2014
Istanbul, Turkey
www.hostechbytusid.com
EDT Expo
27-30 March 2014
Istanbul, Turkey
www.cnredtexpo.com
Hotelex 2014
31 March - 03 April 2014
Shanghai New International
Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
www.hotelex.cn
Alimentaria 2014
31 March - 3 April 2014
Fira de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
www.alimentaria-bcn.com
Wines From India Which Won at Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2013Wines From India Which Won at Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2013
Producer Name Sub Region Region Vintage Medal
Fratelli Wines Chenin Blanc Baramati, 2013 Commended
Maharashtra
Fratelli Wines Sette VII Baramati, 2010 Silver
Maharashtra
Grover Vineyards Art Collection Rosé Nandi Hills Bangalore 2013 Bronze
Grover Vineyards La Reserve Nandi Hills Bangalore 2011 Bronze
Grover Vineyards Art Collection Nandi Hills Bangalore 2013 Bronze
Sauvignon Blanc
Grover Vineyards Art Collection Nandi Hills Bangalore 2011 Commended
Cabernet Shiraz
Nashik Sula Zinfandel Nasik 2012 Bronze
Ritu Sauvignon Blanc Sahyadri Valley Baramati, 2013 Bronze
Maharashtra
Sula Vineyards Rasa Shiraz Nasik 2011 Bronze
Sula Vineyards Chenin Blanc Nasik 2012 Commended
Sula Vineyards Dindori Reserve Shiraz Nasik 2012 Commended
Vallonné Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Nasik 2009 Bronze
Classique
Vallonné Vineyards Malbec Nasik 2011 Bronze
Zampa Soirée Brut Nashik Bangalore NV Bronze
Fourteen Medals for India at
Decanter Asia Wine AwardsIndia has been awarded a total of 14 medals in the Decanter
Asia Wine Awards (DAWA) this year. The 2013 edition of the wine
competition received more than 2,300 entries from around the
world, with a total of 2,023 medal winners. Launched in 2012 by
Decanter magazine, this was the second edition of Decanter Asia
Wine Awards. Here it deserves a mention that Decanter
magazine is sold in 92 countries.
Decanter Asia Wine Awards is now regarded as the largest wine competition in Asia.
In the 2013 edition of the competition, there were 39 Regional Trophy winners, 45 Gold
medal winners, 369 Silver medal winners, 985 Bronze medal winners, and 585
Commended medal winners.
The Decanter Asia Wine Awards aims to recognise quality wines and to provide
consumers across Asia with a trusted source of recommendations. Co-chaired by
Jeannie Cho Lee MW, the first Asian Master of Wine and a Contributing Editor to
Decanter, and Steven Spurrier, Chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards and
Decanter’s Consultant Editor, judging took place in Hong Kong during 16 -19
September.
Over 40 top wine experts across Asia comprised the professional judging panel. All
wines were judged through blind tasting. The blind tasting of wines was organised in
flights to ensure the very best tasting conditions.
Among the 14 medals awarded to India, the country has secured one Silver, nine
Bronze and four Commended medals. The Silver medal has been awarded to Fratelli
Wines, Sette VII, Baramati, Maharashtra 2010. In the Bronze category, medal winners
from India are dominated by wines from Bangalore and Nasik.
“We would like to congratulate all winners in the Decanter Asia Wine Awards,” said
Sarah Kemp, Decanter’s Publishing Director. “All wines were tasted blind and judged
by a panel of Asia’s finest palates, and only those which represent outstanding quality
are endorsed with a Decanter Asia Wine Award medal,” she pointed out.
9Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
10 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
E V E N T
Annapoorna World of Food India 2013
was organised during 23rd-25th
September 2013 in Mumbai by
Koelnmesse YA Tradefair Pvt. Ltd. and
Federation of Indian Chamber of
Commerce & Industry (FICCI). The venue
of the 8th edition of the event was
Bombay Exhibition Center, Goregaon(E).
The renowned food & beverage trade show attracted 6334
trade visitors comprising leading food & beverage retailers and
importers from India and neighbouring countries, important
government officials and international trade delegations. The
trade visitors came from 34 countries. 177 companies from 16
countries presented their exhibits at the event.
Annapoorna World of Food India has emerged as one of the
most sought after trade fairs for a wide range of food and
beverages and as an outstanding platform for the who’s who of
the food & beverage industry for acquiring information, placing
orders and networking.
A series of live cooking sessions by a television channel
dedicated to food, named FOODFOOD, was organised on the
first two days of the fair. The sessions were well attended and
appreciated by both visitors and exhibitors. The trade fair also
had a European Kitchen Pavilion, which was part of the program
titled ‘European Quality Food: Eating with your Five Senses.’ The
program has been
organised to promote
European quality food in
India.
The 7th edition of
Food World India
conference was
organised concurrently
with Annapoorna World
of Food India 2013, in
Mumbai, during 24th -25th September 2013. Eminent speakers
like K. Chandarmouli, Chairman, Food Safety & Standards
Authority of India, Dr. Samuel Godefroy, Vice Chair — Codex
Alimentarius Commission & Director General, Food Directorate,
Health Canada, Martijn Weijtens, Chair, Codex Committee on
Contaminants in Foods & Acting Deputy Director of the
Department of Food Quality, The Netherlands, Dr. Mary Frances
Lowe, US Codex Manager, US Department of Agriculture, Siraj
Chaudhry, Chairman, FICCI Food Processing Committee &
Chairman, Cargill India, Sangeeta Pendurkar, Co-chair, FICCI
Food Processing Committee & Managing Director, Kellogg
India, Geetu Verma, Executive Director, Foods, Hindustan
Unilever Ltd., Chitranjan Dar, CEO, Food Division, ITC Ltd.,
Venkatesh Kini, Deputy President —India & South West Asia,
The Coca-Cola Company, shared their knowledge and expertise
during that conference.
The next edition of Annapoorna World of Food India is
scheduled to be organised during 24th-26th September 2014, in
Mumbai. The next edition of Annapoorna World of Food India is
expected to be still bigger and better as apart from the food &
beverage trade, the event will also focus on the food service
sector by having International FoodService India as its
concurrent fair.
A Mega Event for F&B Trade Concludes
11Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
12 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
Jazeera Recreates the Tastes of theMughal EraIn the recent past, Jazeera Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. has launched a chain of fine dining
authentic Mughlai cuisine restaurants that revisit the gastronomic culture of the
Mughal era and brings across the culinary opulence of the period, for today’s India
to savour. The launch was attended by film personalities, Raza Murad, Kirron Kher
and Huma Qureshi. Renowned politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats and other
celebrities too came to the launch party.
According to M. Zahid, the Chairman & Managing Director, Jazeera Hospitality
Pvt. Ltd., “Our recipes
have been derived
from ancient
manuscripts — the
Akbarnama, Ain-i-
Akbari, Alwan-e-
Nemat, Rukat-e-
Alamgiri and
Ni’amatnamah which
detail the culinary
preferences of the
Mughal emperors.” He informed that “As per these manuscripts, gold and silver
pellets were fed to the chickens, goats and sheep so that their medical properties
were passed on to those relishing the cuisine. And as Akbar was vegetarian three
times a week, he had his own kitchen garden wherein vegetables were sprinkled
with rosewater such that they possess fragrance when cooked.”
Now Jazeera endeavours to recreate that rich culinary history. “Taking a cue from
this, Jazeera has done backward integration and established its own livestock
breeding facilities and vegetation fields. There livestock are fed with enriched food
products and vegetables are indeed sprinkled with rosewater for enhancing their
taste and health benefits. Not to forget the ingredients and garnishing which
would be as exotic as in those times so that the exquisiteness of the dishes is not
lost in any way, form or manner. The taste is bound to stay on and will make people
come back,” explained Zahid.
Besides the renaissance of the long-forgotten culinary techniques of the Mughal
kitchens by expert Chefs, even the ambience of the outlets shall reflect the life and
times of the Mughal dynasty. In the first phase, Jazeera is coming up with ten
restaurants – three in Delhi; one each in satellite towns of Noida and Gurgaon; and
one each in Meerut, Lucknow, Agra, Jaipur and Chandigarh. In the second phase,
Jazeera Hospitality shall be increasing the count in Delhi & NCR, besides opening
branches in Mumbai and select cities of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. “A few years
down the line, our target is to come up with 100 branches. This may sound a little
audacious as of now, however I believe it is achievable. Initially, the focus shall be
on north India but eventually we shall make a foray in other regions and
international market as well,” added M. Zahid.
14 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
N E W S S C A N
Tarla Dalal (1936-2013), the renowned writer of best selling
cookery books, the celebrity Chef, and the host of popular
cookery shows on television, passed away on 6th November,
following a heart attack. She could be credited with giving
cookbook writing its much deserved respectability in the Indian
publishing industry. Within three decades, she has completely
changed the landscape of culinary writing in India.
Born in Pune, she began displaying her culinary predilection
from the age of 12, when she was helping her mother with her
everyday cooking at home.
Her professional journey in the culinary world began when she
started taking cooking classes, way back in 1966. She began
with six students at her home in Mumbai, but soon the
popularity of her cooking classes increased greatly, and young
girls and mothers were queuing up to join her classes.
The success of her cookery classes, spruced with the
encouragement from her husband who suggested her to write a
cookery book to reach more people, eventually paved the way
for her maiden book in 1974. It was named ‘The Pleasures Of
Vegetarian Cooking’ and it was a huge success, garnering sales
of over 1,50,000 copies. Since then there was no looking back for
the first culinary diva of modern India.
During her illustrious journey through the varied tastes and
flavours, Tarla Dalal penned 170 titles, several of which have
been translated in various languages which not only include
Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, but also Dutch and Russian.
The total sales from her
cookery books exceed 6
million copies.
Her renowned cookery
show ‘Cook It Up with Tarla
Dalal’ was aired weekly on
Sony Entertainment Television
for three years. Her other
famous cookery show was
the ‘Tarla Dalal Show.’ Tarla
Dalal’s visionary enterprise is
also being manifested in one
of the biggest food websites in India, and a bi-monthly
magazine named Cooking & More.
In 2007, she started her ‘Total Health Series’ of cookbooks,
which comprises health-related cookbooks with recipes and
information. This holistic series offers delicious and healthy
recipe options for all, with books such as The Pregnancy
Cookbook, Baby and Toddler Food, Delicious Diabetic Recipes,
Fast Foods Made Healthy, Healthy Soups and Salads, Exotic
Diabetic Cooking, etc
In the same year, that is in 2007, she was awarded Padma
Shri by the Government of India. She was also awarded Women
of the Year by Indian Merchants’ Chamber, in 2005. Today the
great lady is no more, but her legacy of work, which includes
more than 17,000 recipes created by her, lives on.
A Journey Through FlavoursA Journey Through Flavours
15Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
16 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
N E W S S C A N
Britannia Shows HugeEscalation in Net Profitfor Q2The net profit for the second quarter of the Britannia
Industries has escalated by 65.7 percent, as compared to the
net profit of the company during the same period of the last
financial year. The company’s consolidated net profit for the
second quarter of the ongoing financial year reached Rs.97.7
crore, whereas during the same period (during the second
quarter) of the last financial year, Britannia Industries’
consolidated net profit was only Rs.59.02 crore. The second
quarter of the current financial year (July-September
quarter) ended on 30th September 2013.
Here it deserves a mention that during this financial year,
Britannia Industries has registered a second consecutive
increase in its quarterly profit. Increase in sales and margins
could be attributed to the huge growth in net profit of the
company during the current financial year’s Q2, as compared
to the corresponding period of the last financial year.
The net sales of the food products conglomerate also
experienced an escalation of 12.82 percent during the second
quarter of this ongoing financial year, as compared to the
corresponding period in the last financial year. In the current
financial year’s Q2, the Britannia Industries’ net sales reached
Rs.1740.48 crore as compared to Rs.1542.67 crore in the Q2 of
the last financial year. All these impressive figures indicate a
good demand for quality bakery and snacks products in India.
Parle Agro Re-enters theCarbonated Soft DrinksMarketRecently, the FMCG
giant Parle Agro
has reentered the
carbonated soft
drinks segment
after nearly two
decades, with Café
Cuba. It is
probably the first
coffee-flavoured
carbonated
beverage of the
country. The drink smoothly combines the flavour of roasted
coffee beans with strong carbonated fizz. It is a soft beverage
targeted towards consumers with more evolved tastes.
The product is currently available in 250ml cans and is priced
at Rs.20. Presently, the product is present across the general
trade/retail segment and will soon be visible in modern trade
outlets, corporate and college canteens, multiplexes, airports,
bars/ clubs and restaurants. Parle Agro expects this newly
launched coffee drink to register sales of Rs 1000 crore during
the first 12-18 months of its launch. Presently, the carbonated
soft drinks market in India is Rs.15,000 crore, where Café Cuba is
likely to make an impact in the near future.
17Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
18 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
N E W S S C A N
An Award for Copper ChimneyCopper Chimney, an important restaurant chain having presence in Mumbai, Bengaluru
and Raipur, has won the award for ‘Best Indian Cuisine Restaurant Chain – National’ at
the Indian Restaurants Awards 2013, held in New Delhi recently. A venture of Pan India
Food Solutions, Copper Chimney epitomises contemporary dining experience, serving
an eclectic mix of popular Indian flavours and diverse cuisines. Instantly recognised by
the hand-crafted copper bells that adorn all the Copper Chimney outlets, over the last
four decades of its success and growth, Copper Chimney brand has managed to
recreate the rustic charm of the Northern Western province and Punjab’s famed
roadside dhabas.
KS Narayanan, CEO Blue Foods stated, “Copper Chimney brand is widely loved,
praised and has a legacy of four decades. We are excited to bag this prestigious award,
which is due to the consistent efforts put together by our team to ensure consistency in
food & service at the highest level,” while adding, “We would further strive to excel and
to provide similar & even better service for all our endeavours ahead.”
Tata Starbucks Celebrates its FirstAnniversary in IndiaTata Starbucks Limited, the 50/50 joint venture between Starbucks Coffee Company and
Tata Global Beverages Limited, is celebrating its first anniversary in the Indian market.
To celebrate its India journey, the company has created a special India sourced coffee,
aptly named India Estates Blend, as a tribute to its customers, partners, coffee
producers and roasters.
“We are delighted to celebrate our one year anniversary in India and introduce in our
portfolio for the first time a whole bean coffee that is sourced, roasted, packaged and
sold in India,” said John Culver, Group President, Starbucks China and Asia Pacific,
Channel Development and Emerging Brands. “We have a long-term commitment to
work closely with the coffee growing communities where we do business and to elevate
the awareness of high-quality arabica coffee in India. This is a proud moment for our
partners as we honour India’s long-standing
coffee heritage and commemorate this historic
milestone in the early days of our India journey,”
he pointed out.
“As a tribute to our customers, partners and
the coffee growers and roasters here in India,
we are very proud to launch India Estates Blend,
which has been developed thoughtfully along
with Tata Coffee, specifically for the Indian
market,” said Avani Davda, CEO, Tata Starbucks
Limited.
India Estates Blend captures the essence and rich heritage of the Indian coffee
history and draws inspiration from the finest arabica beans which have been carefully
selected from Tata Coffee’s estates, spread across Coorg and Chickmagalur This
country-specific blend creates a fine balance between herbal and chocolate notes;
perfect for sharing with friends and neighbours. The blend’s packaging has been
carefully created to reflect the nuances of traditional Indian designs.
Here it deserves a mention that Starbucks entered the Indian market in October 2012
and currently operates twenty five stores in India across Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Pune.
Starbucks stores are operated by the joint venture, Tata Starbucks Limited, and
branded as Starbucks Coffee - “A Tata Alliance.”
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
19Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
20 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
The Middleby CorporationAcquires CelfrostThe Middleby Corporation has announced the acquisition of the commercial
refrigeration and food service products business of Celfrost Innovations Pvt. Ltd.
The Celfrost’s business was acquired by Middleby’s newly established entity in
India, Middleby Commercial Food Innovations Pvt. Ltd. The Middleby Corporation
is a global leader in the food service equipment industry. The company develops,
manufactures, markets and services a broad line of equipment used in the
commercial, industrial processing and residential markets.
Here it deserves a mention that Celfrost is recognised in the country as a
preferred commercial foodservice equipment supplier with a broad line of cold
side products such as professional refrigerators, cold rooms, ice machines and
freezers, marketed under the Celfrost brand. Celfrost has been a leading supplier
of equipment to many of the fast growing restaurant chains and hotel groups.
Celfrost has annual sales of approximately $20 million and is based in Gurgaon,
India.
“With the acquisition of Celfrost, Middleby will strengthen its presence in the
fast growing market of India and expand our commercial foodservice product
offerings in India to include complementary cold side products alongside our
cooking and warming brands,” said Selim A. Bassoul, Chairman and CEO of The
Middleby Corporation. “Celfrost has an extensive marketing and service network
in India, including 15 brand centers that we will strategically leverage to support
Middleby’s entire portfolio of brands in the market,” he expressed.
“We are also excited about the opportunity to introduce the Celfrost brand and
portfolio of products into other emerging markets, by utilising Middleby’s existing
sales and marketing infrastructure,” pointed out Neeraj Seth, Celfrost’s Managing
Director. “This change will also allow us to tap into Middleby’s global network and
resources, enabling a further acceleration of our growth,” he added.
Arcux and Perlick Join HandsThe New Delhi-based Arcux Bar Zone has been named as the exclusive
distributor for commercial products manufactured and distributed by Perlick
Corporation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US. Here it deserves a mention
that Arcux Bar Zone is a bar specialist company providing innovative and
bespoke bar design from brief to build. Perlick Corporation is a leader in the
US market in comprehensive package bar and beverage systems
manufacturing, including custom refrigeration equipment, custom underbar
equipment, beer dispensing equipment and brewery fittings.
The agreement between the two companies emphasises their planned
cooperation and business partnership. Arcux Bar Zone will be responsible for
marketing, sales, installation and after-sales support of Perlick’s commercial
products for the Indian region. In exchange, Perlick will provide all required
training to Arcux and will extend support in creating an effective dealership
network for the entire territory.
The exclusive distribution agreement is expected to help increase the market
share for Perlick’s products and implement the needed dealership, after-sales
support and service network. Opportunities for Perlick and Arcux Bar Zone are
expected to continue to grow in the Indian market, and the two companies look
forward to great success within the hospitality industry in the region.
“Perlick’s innovative commercial products offer great solutions for
professional bars, restaurants, hotel and stadium owners and operators.
Perlick’s brand awareness in India is continually growing, and this exclusive
agreement for the Indian market will help us further market and establish
these high quality products in our territory,” says Parikshit Kakkar, Managing
Director, Arcux Bar Zone Pvt. Ltd.
“We look forward to working with Arcux Bar Zone to expand our presence in
the Indian market,” said Tim Ebner, Vice President of Marketing & Business
Development for Perlick, while pointing out that, “It is an exciting time for
growth in this market, and we feel confident that Arcux Bar Zone offers
comprehensive and competitive services, which we need to build our brand
awareness and loyalty in this territory.”
21Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
22 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
N E W S S C A N
Carat to Enhance the Feel of Chocolate
Puratos, a global player in ingredients for bakery, patisserie and
chocolatier markets, did announce Carat as the product of the
month for Oct 2013. Engineered in Belgium, Carat, a brand new
offering from Puratos, is a unique product made to give an extra
chocolaty touch to patisserie, bakery, biscuit, ice-cream and
chocolate creations. Its exquisite cocoa taste facilitates to give a
wonderful effect to the preparations it has been used in. Carat is
a compound chocolate with great taste experience, thanks to the
intense flavour of the specially selected cocoa powders.
Here it deserves a mention that Puratos India has launched
close to 75 products in the span of five years in India and will
continue to grow the portfolio. Puratos sells products in over 100
countries around the world.
“Along with Carat’s remarkable taste, the efficiency of the
Puratos India team was also responsible for its successful entry
into the Indian market. Another advantage of Carat to the Indian
consumers is reasonable pricing. To reduce the cost price,
Puratos India imports premium quality raw material and
manufactures the product locally in India at their state-of-the-art
R & D unit, while maintaining its quality,” explained Dhiren
Kanwar, Country Head, Puratos India.
By doing so, Puratos India has given a perfect solution to
those customers, who are ready to upgrade their product quality,
but are price sensitive at the same time. Also, those customers
who never compromised on the quality can get quality products,
but at a reasonable price.
FHRAI Elects its NewPresidentS M Shervani has been elected
as the President of the
Federation of Hotel & Restaurant
Associations of India (FHRAI), for
2013-14. The election took place
after the 57th Annual General
Meeting (AGM) of the
association, in New Delhi. There
was also the election of a new
Executive Committee. Shervani
succeeds Vivek Nair to the
position of President, FHRAI.
Nair has been appointed as the new Honorary Secretary of
the FHRAI, for 2013-14.
Shervani has had the distinction of being the President of
the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (2010-
12), the Vice-President of FHRAI (2010-11 and 2011-12) and
Honorary Treasurer of FHRAI (2012-13).
A highly successful hospitality entrepreneur with over 25
years of rich experience, Shervani is the Managing Director
of Shervani Hospitalities Ltd., which owns and operates a
chain of boutique hotels and the iconic ‘Rodeo’ restaurant.
He is an alumni of the Pusa Institute of Hotel Management,
New Delhi. He is also a member of the Hotel & Catering
International Management Association (HCIMA), UK.
He informed Hammer Publishers that convincing the
policymakers about the negative fallouts of subjecting a
destination to multiple taxation would be among his
priorities. Working for complete industry status for the hotel
sector is also among his priorities.
“The Indian hospitality and tourism sector today faces
unprecedented opportunities as well as some equally
serious challenges. Successfully mitigating the myriad risks
posed by an uncertain economic environment and urgently
addressing certain systemic impediments which have often
constrained our industry’s quest to achieve its full potential,
would require all stakeholders to work in unison. One of
FHRAI’s key strategic priorities will be to effectively
articulate and reflect the concerns and aspirations of our
small & medium entrepreneurs, whose vision and
dynamism are truly the future growth engine of our
industry,” said Shervani after his election to the august
position.
24 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
N E W S S C A N
Bennigan’s to Enter in IndiaSuri Hospitality International, an Orlando-based restaurant investment and
management group, has entered into a Master Franchise Agreement with
Bennigan’s. Here it deserves a mention that Bennigan’s is regarded as one of the
US’s most iconic restaurant brands. The agreement entails the opening of 50
Bennigan’s outlets throughout India. The first of these proposed outlets is expected
to be a reality in the spring of 2014, in Mumbai.
The Indian franchise agreement, which includes both the Bennigan’s and
Bennigan’s on the Fly concepts, signals the beginning of an aggressive strategic
move of Bennigan’s into the Indian subcontinent. Significant resources will be
invested in the market to build brand awareness and stimulate consumer interest.
The timing for Bennigan’s entry seems appropriate as the Indian restaurant
business is showing lots of potential towards popularity of a varied range of global
tastes and flavours.
“We are convinced that not only Bennigan’s restaurant concepts will be
enthusiastically embraced in India, but that the company’s leadership has
positioned the brand to succeed globally,” said Nik Patel, the owner of Suri
Hospitality International. ”Bennigan’s President Paul Mangiamele and his team
have done a magnificent job in leading the chain back to prominence. We are
excited to be joining them in the early stages of their global expansion,” he added.
“We simply couldn’t ask for a better partner than Nik to take our brand to
India,” articulated Paul Mangiamele, Bennigan’s President & CEO. ”Bennigan’s is
one of the few American brands that is just as popular overseas as it is at home.
That is because of extraordinary franchisees like Nik who understand the
importance of delivering memorable dining experiences to every guest, in every
meal, on every day,” he elaborated further
Here it deserves a mention that Bennigan’s is known for its generous portions
and offers a wide selection of American fare, including its world famous ‘Monte
Cristo,’ a lightly fried, triple-decker turkey, ham and cheese sandwich served with
raspberry preserves. The Bennigan’s on the Fly concept is a fast casual form of the
restaurant made for hotels, airports, hospitals, cruise ships and universities.
Besides the US, Bennigan’s has presence in Mexico, Central America, Asia and the
Middle-East.
Café Gartino Makes an ImpactCafé Gartino is the latest
gastronomical hotspot in Delhi NCR
where food is pursued with pure
passion. Nestled in the heart of
Gurgaon, Café Gartino can come
across as a preferred haven for fun
loving people. The décor of the place
is done keeping in mind the quirky
trend, with every element executed
with thoughtful precision. Artistically
moulded sophistication with modish
interiors can be seen everywhere at
Cafe Gartino.
Spread across two floors, the Cafe is divided into Bistro and Lounge with exotic
curios, mirrors, and pieces of art adorning the walls. The colour palette of the interiors
includes neon shades of yellow, green and wooden brown; which together facilitate to
create a joyful mood. Of course, all this elegance and décor is complemented with
wonderful selection of gastronomic options.
Raminder Bakshi, the hospitality consultant and the brain behind this concept turned
reality into the realm of hospitality, said, “The place offers signature dishes from the in-
house Chef, and famous cuisines from the world. The place serves European, Asian and
Italian cuisines, along with other global cuisines, which are complimented with the
finest global liquors and music.” The open sitting area of the restaurant adds to its
appeal. Succinctly, with its elegant ambience, great food and professional, attentive
and yet relaxed service, Café Gartino can come across as a welcome addition to
Gurgaon’s eating out options.
25Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
26 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
PepsiCo, Inc. has announced plans for the
company and its partners to invest Rs.
33,000 crore in India between the present
time and 2020. Making the
announcement, PepsiCo’s Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer, Indra Nooyi said,
“India is a country with huge potential
and it remains an attractive, high-priority
market for PepsiCo. We have built a
highly successful business in India over
the course of many years, and we believe
we have only scratched the surface of the
long-term growth opportunities that exist
for PepsiCo and our partners.” Since its
entry in India in 1989, the company has
till now made an investment of $2 billion
in India.
Indra informed that this huge
investment would be directed towards
manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure
and innovation. The power lady also
informed that PepsiCo’s investment plans
in India would not be affected by the
results of the upcoming elections.
Presently, PepsiCo India has eight brands
in its ambit, which has a turnover of
Rs.1000 crore in India.
Here it deserves a mention that India
currently represents one of PepsiCo’s
largest markets globally. This Rs.33,000
crore investment is expected to further
strengthen and expand PepsiCo’s
capabilities in India, in various strategic
areas, which are innovation,
manufacturing, infrastructure and
agriculture. As far as manufacturing goes,
PepsiCo and its partners plan to expand
their production capacity in India to more
than double the current levels by 2020.
Regarding innovation, PepsiCo will
continue to expand the range of food and
beverages in its portfolio to cater to the
wide and evolving needs of Indian
consumers.
On the infrastructure front too PepsiCo
has important plans for India. PepsiCo
and its partners plan to ramp up selling
and delivery infrastructure throughout
India, with a particular focus on rural
market expansion. As part of this
strategic initiative, PepsiCo will work with
its partners to deploy new technologies
designed to enhance service to retail
PepsiCo Announces Huge Investment for Indiacustomers and increase efficiency across
go-to-market systems.
Furthermore, resources will be
allocated to expand PepsiCo’s well-
known collaborative farming program,
which provides farmers with access to
good quality seeds, technical agronomic
expertise, bank loans and crop insurance.
This program currently reaches 24,000
farmers, positively impacting their
income and social standing in addition to
strengthening the reliability and quality
of PepsiCo’s supply chain.
It is estimated that this recent
strategic initiative will add more than
100,000 new employment opportunities,
as well as strengthen India as a center of
talent development for PepsiCo.
In addition, as part of this strategic
initiative, PepsiCo and its partners plan to
implement state-of-the-art technologies to
further reduce energy, packaging and
water use in their operations. PepsiCo also
intends to expand water recharge
programs to sustain positive water
balance. Presently, more than 40 percent
of the energy requirement of PepsiCo’s
company-owned food and beverage
plants in India comes from renewable
sources, which reflects on the commitment
towards environment-friendliness of this
food & beverage conglomerate. PepsiCo’s
work with Indian farmers has reduced the
amount of water used in rice cultivation,
leading to conservation of more than 12
billion liters of water in 2012 alone.
N E W S S C A N
Stresta Comes With Organic Cookies○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
fats, the cookie is a healthy option
for people from all age groups. We
hope people will like our new
product and help us bring more
such products for a healthy
lifestyle.”
“Sresta has been continually
adding healthy food items to its
kitty and organic cookie is something which we wanted to bring
for our customers since long. The ingredients have been selected
with utmost care so that we can provide a healthy food item to
our customers. Our aim is to come up with a range of organic
snacks so that people can enjoy healthy food. We also intend to
highlight the benefits of such food items so that more people
can adopt to the safer and better alternative of organic food
over conventional food products, “explained N Balasubramanian,
CEO, Sresta Natural Bioproducts Pvt. Ltd.
One can hope that these organic cookies can make the tea
time of a section of people who can afford these cookies a time
for healthy break. These cookies can be also used to satiate
bouts of hunger pangs between meals in a healthy manner.
Hyderabad-based Sresta Natural
Bioproducts Pvt. Ltd, an integrated
organic food company
encompassing farming, processing,
R&D, exports and domestic retailing,
has launched a whole new range of
organic cookies under its brand 24
Mantra. The introduction marks Sresta’s
entry into the snack category in India. 24 Mantra Organic Cookies
will be available across India at all the leading retail outlets
including exclusive 24 Mantra Organic Stores (in Hyderabad).
Made from 100 percent whole grains and totally devoid of
maida and trans-fats, the organic cookies launched by 24 Mantra
comes in four different seasoning and delicious flavors — Fruit n
Nut, Ginger Snap, Spice n Nut and Cashew Rich. Priced at Rs.90
for 150 gm, these organic cookies are endowed with multi-
grains — whole wheat, sorghum, rice, little millet, foxtail millet,
and flax, which makes them nutritious and healthy.
Speaking on the occasion of the launch of the organic
cookies, Rajashekhar Reddy Seelam, Founder and MD, Sresta
Natural Bioproducts Pvt. Ltd., said, “With no maida and trans-
28 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
The essence of life is change, and that
entails every thing in the world should
have a past and as well as a future. Any
food historian would vouch for the fact
that most of the food items have their
history of evolution, which may be either
clear or misty. Now it seems the food has
a future too. It seems to be Soylent.
Its intake, according to its developer
or inventor Rob Rhinehart — a 25-year-old
software engineering graduate from San
Francisco — and also according to many
others who have used this thick odourless
liquid, can help keep the hunger away
from you. To put it simply, according to
many claims, if you have Soylent, you
don’t need conventional food, for this
macro-nutritious shake can meet your
nutritional requirements that conventional
food intake can provide.
Soylent can be described as a
concoction of carbohydrates, fats,
proteins, sugars, vitamins and minerals. It
originally comes in powder form, but is
consumed as a drink. One package of
Soylent, mixed with water, is expected to
sustain you throughout the day, without
the necessity of any food intake. The
etymology of Soylent can be traced to the
novel named ‘Make Room! Make Room!’
by Harry Harrison. The book emerged on
the literary scene in the mid sixties of the
twentieth century. In the book, Soylent
comprises of soy and lentils and used as
an affordable food for the masses. The
potential and rising popularity of Soylent
can be gauged from the fact that
Rhinehart has already garnered $1.5
million in seed capital from venture
capital and angel investor firms.
A person named Brian Merchant from
Vice, US had the experience of living on
Soylent for 30 days, without taking any
food. According to the report of an
esteemed news daily, many Indian
techies were also found to be having
Soylent in the recent days.
One can say that given that the claims
by its many consumers(which of course
includes Soylent’s creator Rob Rhinehart,
whose 90 percent of meals from January
to August 2013 comprised of Soylent) are
not exaggerated, this drink has the
potential to revolutionise the eating
habits of people. Its popularity at a time
when people are having less and less
time to dine, is expected to increase in
the times to come, and consequently, this
can give a jolt to the global consumption
of conventional food & beverage
products.
Presently, Soylent’s target market
seems to be primarily comprising of busy
professionals for whom time spent for
shopping for food, cooking it, eating it
and then clearing up the mess take a
heavy toll on their precious time. If
Soylent gains popularity, this would
induce the food & beverage industry to
make major shifts in their production and
marketing strategy.
However, the expected role of Soylent
in development cannot be ignored
altogether. In the near future, Soylent can
play a crucial role in alleviating the
hunger problem that the world at large is
facing. In this twenty-first century world,
almost 14 percent of the world’s
population is malnourished, whereas one
in three people in the developing world
are facing nutritional deficiencies.
There is no denying the fact that
having enough food for the burgeoning
global population will be one of the most
daunting challenges of humankind in the
coming years, and in this regard Soylent
can help. But there is a rider. In order to
make Soylent alleviate the global food
problem, it needs to be made extremely
affordable and accessible to the masses,
in the years to come. Moreover, the
production of more Soylent in exchange of
production of food can lower the
environmental impacts per person, which
can be greatly helpful for our fragile eco-
system.
However, all these are only conjectures
and reality of these predictions would all
depend upon much greater, wider and
much more enduring acceptability of
Soylent in the market. Presently, the
product, all said and done, is at an
experimental stage.
Besides, going by the reports, the
nutritious shake doesn’t taste great
shakes. In fact, the drink which looks like a
milky sludge, doesn’t taste good even.
Therefore it is expected that people may
switch to Soylent to save time and stave
off hunger in the future, but many may
again return to food to celebrate their
taste buds, and also for the sake of variety.
One can say that though Soylent may not
replace food, but it is expected to emerge
as a convenient and time saving
alternative to food in the years to come.
The Future of Food?
Rob Rhinehart
By Swarnendu Biswas
The Future of Food?
28 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
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30 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
With the objective to
disseminate information
pertaining to global bakery
standards and practices, Elle & Vire
Professional conducted a training session
at Macaron School, Bangkok during 14th-
16th November 2013, where many Indian
Chefs participated. The training session,
which was conducted by Chef Eric Perez,
received excellent feedback by the
A Training to Rememberparticipants. The training session, which
was sponsored by Dabon International
and Elle & Vire France, covered several
wonderful recipes of bakery products.
Here it deserves a mention that the
Elle & Vire brand was established in 1947
by the Elle & Vire Dairy Cooperative. The
company derives its name from Elle and
the Vire — two small rivers in Normandy,
France. By 1975 the Elle & Vire
Cooperative had emerged as France’s
leading exporter of dairy products. Today,
the brand is among France’s esteemed
dairy brands, with more than one out of
two French consumers purchasing at least
one Elle & Vire product a year.
Presently, Elle & Vire offers food
service professionals a complete range of
high quality dairy products. The result of
ongoing research and innovation, Elle &
Vire products can cater to the
requirements of the most demanding
Chefs. At the international level, Elle &
Vire sells dairy products as varied as milk,
butter, cream, desserts and cheese. Elle &
Vire has presence in more than 120
countries around the globe, in both the
retail and food service sectors.
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Name of the Participants
S.No Family Name First Name Establishment name Location Type of Business
1 Poisson Brice Sweet Lavender Pune Bakery
2 Shek Moshe Moshe’s Mumbai Bakery & Restaurant
3 Anand Rishabh Leela Delhi Delhi Five Star Hotel
4 Kumar Anil Pullman Gurgaon Five Star Hotel
5 Kumar Arvind ITC Bangalore Five Star Hotel
6 Kadam Vivek Hyatt Mumbai Five Star Hotel
7 Karkhanis Nilesh Rolling Pin Mumbai Bakery
8 Srivastav Vikas Le Meridian Delhi Five Star Hotel
9 Fernandes Lawrence Sahara Star Mumbai Five Star Hotel
10 Panwar Anand Dusit Devrana Delhi Five Star Hotel
R E P O R T
31Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
One of the several recipes explored at the training session is given below:
Dome Exotic
I. Pâte à savarin:
Ingredients
500 gm flour
150 gm Elle & Vire All Purpose Butter
50 gm sugar
15 gm sel
20 gm dried yeast
10 eggs
Method
1. Soften the butter
2. In the mixing bowl add all the
ingredients with the paddle attachment
and add the eggs little by little
3. Let rest for an hour and mould
4. Let rise and bake at 180 degree
centigrade
II, Syrup
Ingredients
1000 gm water
450 gm sugar
250 gm caraibean puree
Method
1. Heat up all ingredients together to
a boil
2. Soak the babas at70-75 degree
centigrade
III. Almond coconut dacquoise
Ingredients
125 gm desiccated coconut
125 gm almond powder
250 gm icing sugar
300 gm egg whites
100 gm sugar
Method
1. Whip up egg whites and sugar
2. Fold in the flours and spread on
flexipat and bake at 180 degree
centigrade
IV. Cremeux ananas/mangue
Ingredients
100 gm pineapple puree
50 gm mango puree
55 gm eggs
45 gm egg yolks
35 gm sugar
2,5 gm gelatin
55 gm Elle & Vire All Purpose Butter
Method
1. Boil the pineapple puree first. Then
add the mango puree
2. Blancher the eggs, egg yolks and
sugar together
3. Temper with
the purees and
bring to a full boil
4. Cool down to
40-45 degree
centigrade and
add the sofetend butter
5. Emulsify with the blender and pour
onto flexipan
V. Coconut mousse
Ingredients
500 gm coconut puree
135 gm egg whites
175 gm sugar
15 gm gelatine
500 gm Elle & Vire Excellence
Whipping Cream
Method
1. Cook the sugar to 118 degree
centigrade and pour it on the egg whites
and whip until volume.
2. Softened the gelatin in cold water
and melt into the 125gm of the coconut
puree. Then add the rest of the puree
3. Incorporate the egg whites and
then the whipped cream.
One of the several recipes explored at the training session is given below:
32 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
R E P O R T
It seems the current economic slowdown
has little effect on the quick services
restaurants (QSR) market. According to a
report by CRISIL, in the next three years,
the Indian QSR market is estimated to
get more than doubled, which will be
largely fostered by demand from smaller
cities of the country. According to the
report, QSR sector has managed to grow
amidst the environment of economic
slowdown.
Presently, according to CRISIL, during
2012-13, the Indian QSR market was
Rs.3400 crore, which according to the
global analytical company providing
ratings, research, and risk and policy
advisory services, is estimated to reach
Rs.7000 crore by 2015-16.
“The Indian QSR market will more than
double to reach around Rs.7,000 crore by
2015-16 from Rs.3,400 crore in 2012-13,
driven largely by new store additions,”
the report observed, while
noting that most of the new
stores will emerge in the
smaller tier cities.
“In tier I cities, we expect
the annual QSR spend per
middle class household to
surge by over 1.5 times
during the next three years,
to reach around Rs.6,000 by
2015-16 from about Rs.3,700
in 2012-13. In tier II cities,
currently the annual QSR
spend is around Rs.1500,
which is less than half that of
in the tier I cities. However,
growth is expected to be
much higher in tier II cities,
at about 2.5 times, to reach
an annual QSR spend of
Rs.3700 by 2015-16. This
quantum jump in QSR spend in urban
areas will be propelled by the increase in
nuclear families and working women,
steady growth in incomes, changing
lifestyle and eating patterns and,
importantly, by greater accessibility of
QSR outlets,” explained Prasad Koparkar,
Senior Director, Industry & Customised
Research, CRISIL Research.
According to the report, global brands
currently have an aggregate market share
of 63 percent of the domestic QSR market
and will continue to grow on the back of
expansion into smaller cities. These
players have been successful in adapting
their menu and products to local tastes.
Indian players who serve domestic cuisine
too will grow, but not as fast as the
global players.
These findings can give an impetus to
the bakery business in the country, as
most of the multinational QSRs like KFC,
McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, etc. extensively
deal with products pertaining to the
bakery industry, such as pizzas, burgers
and sandwiches, etc.
Impressive Growth of the QSR Market
According to Frost & Sullivan’s recent
study titled Analysis of Indian Food
Additives Market, from $484.2 million in
2012, the market revenues of the Indian
food additives market are expected to
reach $897.7 million in 2017.
The study notes that “Changing
lifestyles and hectic work schedules have
spawned a large market for processed
and packaged convenience foods. The
booming organised retail sector further
extends the reach of processed foods.”
According to the study, change in
eating habits and the frequent
introduction of new products and
product lines, particularly in the
functional food and beverage market
for low-fat, low-calorie products, spells
growing opportunities for the food
additives market in India.
The study covers the food additive
classes of flavours, colours, preservatives,
emulsifiers, stabilisers and sweeteners.
Among these segments, flavours account
for 47 percent of the market; sweeteners
contribute the least, by growing at the
rate of 25 percent. However, sweeteners
market is expected to become
increasingly popular in the coming years.
“The additives industry in India is
veering towards natural emulsifiers and
nature-derived colours,” said Frost &
Sullivan’s Chemicals, Materials & Foods
Research Analyst, while adding that
“This change in preferences emanates
from the increasing health
consciousness among Indians.”
However, natural food additive
manufacturers in India find it difficult
to source raw materials due to the lack
of centralised supply chain system and
presence of multiple sourcing points.
The study finds that participants can
forge partnerships with cooperatives
and invest in contract farming to
counter this issue. Such strategic
alliances and joint R&D could also
lower the prices of nature-derived
products and lead to customsed pre-
mixes with application specific
combination of flavours, colours and
other additives for clients.
“Ironically, certain government
policies could stifle innovation,” noted
the analyst. “For instance, the Prevention
of Food Adulteration Act (PFA), which
governs the food additives segment,
permits only certain colours that are
certified by the Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS),” the analyst observed.
A Bright Future for the Indian Food Additives Market
32 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
34 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
R E P O R T
A Platform to Recognise
The 10th Annual Chef Awards 2013 was being held at The Ashokhotel, New Delhi, on 23rd November 2013. The event was
organised by Indian Culinary Forum (ICF), in association with IndianFederation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) and World Associationof Chefs’ Societies (WACS).
The World Association of Chefs’ Societies is a global network ofChefs’ associations, first founded in October 1928 at Sorbonne, inParis. Today, this global body has 93 official Chefs’ associations asmembers that represent over 10 million professional Chefsworldwide.
Here it deserves a mention that the Indian Culinary Forum is anIndian association of professional Chefs. It was formed in NewDelhi in 1985, under the stewardship of Chef Arvind Saraswat as
an exclusive non-profitorganisation, dedicated toadvancement of the culinary artsof India. The forum’s objective isto act as a link and a platform forthe promotion of the nationalcommunity of Chefs.
Indian Federation of CulinaryAssociations (IFCA) was createdwith the objective of enabling thedevelopment of the culinaryprofession in the country. Theprimary focus of IFCA is thepromotion of the culinaryprofession in the country throughvarious exchanges and innovations.Indian Culinary Forum is thenorthern regional association of
Indian Federation of Culinary Associations.Coming to the above-mentioned mega event, it attracted the
presence of the Minister of State for Human Resource Development,Dr. Shashi Tharoor. The awards were given out across 17 categories.Rajeev Bakshi, Managing Director, METRO Cash &Carry India,conferred Chef Satish Arora of Taj Hotels with ‘METRO LifetimeAchievement Award.’
A galore of Chefs from north India participated at the event,with a competition being held amongst participants from the tophotels, restaurants, bakeries, confectioneries and cateringbusinesses of the country. The competition was held at theBanarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and CateringTechnology last month.
Speaking about the awards, Bakshi said, “Chefs are thebackbone of the hospitality sector, and we are extremely proud tobe here to honour their culinary skills and contributions to theindustry. METRO is committed to supporting exceptional culinarytalent from an industry that caters to some of the most discerningpalates across the country.”
Top Chef
Chef Satish Arora’s single most important contribution to the
development of Indian cuisine was to impart world class
presentation techniques and rid it of the ‘curry powder’
syndrome. An idol to many young aspiring chefs, he was
appointed the Executive Chef of the The Taj Mahal Palace,
Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1972, being the youngest Chef in
the world at that time to take over a five-star hotel kitchen.
Chefs’ Expertise
Dr. Shashi Tharoor
35Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
T h e A w a r d e e sT h e A w a r d e e sT h e A w a r d e e sT h e A w a r d e e sT h e A w a r d e e s
Student Chef of the Year
Megha Agarwal from International Institute of Culinary Arts
Kitchen Artist Award
Chef Chittaranjan Jena from Fortune Park Lake City, Mumbai
Master Baker Award
Chef Javed Alam from Country Inn & Suites, Sahibabad
Master Chef International Confectionery
Chef Pawan Saxena from Old World Hospitality
Master Chef Indian Sweets
Chef Dharmender from Old World Hospitality
Master Chef Kebabs
Chef Govind Ram Arya from Le Meridien
Master Chef International Cuisine
Chef Kishan Singh Rawat from Country Inn & Suites, Sahibabad
Master Chef South India Cuisine
Chef FP Girish Kumar from The Ashok Hotel, Delhi
Master Chef North Indian Cuisine
Chef Saurabh Sachdeva from Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar
Chef of the Year
Chef Pankaj Kumar from The Lodhi, New Delhi
Best Food Writer
Hoihnu Hauzel
Master Chef Oriental Cuisine
Chef Anand Rawat from Old World Hospitality
Silver Hat Chef
Chef Sabyasachi Gorai from Olive Culinary Academy
Lifetime Achievement Award
Chef Satish Arora
R E P O R T
Earlier in the week, METRO organised a Chefs’ Day Out at theMETRO wholesale distribution centre at Shahdara, Delhi, where apanel discussion amongst top Chefs was conducted. At the event,Chefs exchanged their views on the importance of supply chainefficiency and witnessed the vast product assortment along withcustomised services offered to HoReCa customers at METRO DC, inNew Delhi.
The Chef Speaks
At the 10th Annual Chef Awards 2013, Food &
Beverage Business Review got the opportunity to
have a brief interaction with the renowned culinary
artist Manjit S. Gill, Corporate Chef, ITC Hotels and
the President, IFCA. According to him, Indian
Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) is providing
yeomen service to the Indian food service and
hospitality industry of the country by disseminating education and information
among the Chefs and also by increasing their exposure levels through seminars
and by encouraging their participation in international competitions.
According to Gill, still “the rich and varied Indian cuisines have the maximum
popularity among the Indian eating out crowd”, and exotic cuisines despite all
the media hypes associated with them, “are only catering to niche clientele in
India.” He also affirmed that “Indian regional cuisines are gaining popularity,
not only within India but also in abroad.”
On the evolution of changing societal perception of Chefs across the
country, Gill said that “Today, due to greater visibility and exposure of Chefs
and also due to greater knowledge about the nuances of food among the
people at large as a result of the influences of globalisation, the Chefs in our
country are attracting much greater social prestige and popularity than they
had enjoyed say two decades ago.”
36 Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’13
37Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1338
C O V E R S T O R Y
Portuguese cuisine is probably one of the least known European culinary arts in India. But it is steadily gaining ground
in Mumbai and it is sure to become popular in Kolkata, where people have a preference for fish; for Portuguese
gastronomic fare consists mostly of fish. As far as meat is concerned, pork is the favoured meat for the Portuguese
people.
Influenced by diverse contacts with many different cultures from centuries of maritime exploration, Portuguese cooking
has become rich with flavours of spices from the far east, seafood culled from the Atlantic Ocean, as well as with
vegetables from rich farmlands. Ashok Malkani who takes a peek at the Portuguese cuisine, observes that fire and
passion could be said to be the hallmarks of this gastronomic fare, as most of the traditional cooking in Portuguese
cuisine is done over hot charcoals. The cuisine comprises of simple dishes using few ingredients, but it exudes strong
flavours as is seen in the famous Portuguese charcoal chicken.
Portugal
The Tastes and
Flavours from
39Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
C O V E R S T O R Y
Gifting roses hasbecome ahackneyedexpression offeelings for thelovers. Now you can
take your girlfriend to a Portugueserestaurant and offer a Rosé (traditionalPortuguese drink), instead of a rose.Chances are she would love this changein expression.
Portuguese food and wines havebeen overlooked by foodies and wineaficionados in India for a long, longtime. But it is now changing.Portuguese food is becoming the talk ofthe town, in Mumbai. Yes, it even hasthe potential to gain countrywidepopularity.
This probably explains the reason
why Goa Portuguesa (a restaurantserving Goan-Portuguese cuisine},which started in 1988, has spread itswings throughout Mumbai by havingbranches all over the city. Nandos PeriPeri is another restaurant chain that isproving popular with three restaurantsin the city – including one in NaviMumbai. It has branches in other partsof the country too. Yes, Portuguesecuisine is not just becoming popular inMumbai; it is beginning to tickle thetaste buds of the entire country.
The Culinary InfluencesPortuguese cuisine, has over thecenturies, been shaped by severalinfluences. One can say that traditionalPortuguese recipes include influences ofan array of flavours and culinary
techniques of many other cultures Anycountry’s or a region’s cuisine isinextricably linked with its culture andhistory, and Portuguese cuisine is noexception to this cardinal principle. Thehistory of Portugal is not only ofimperial conquests it also includesgetting occupied by Romans andMoors. Therefore the varied culinaryinfluences in Portuguese cuisine are notonly external, but also internal. TheRoman conquest of the region whichwe now know as Portugal enabledPortuguese to get introduced to wheat.Romans wanted Portugal to become thegranary of Rome. Introduction ofolives, grapes, garlic and onion inPortuguese cuisine can also be traced tothe Roman influences.
The influences of the Moor invasionin Portugal in 711 AD also contributedin giving shape to the Portuguesecuisine. Moors maintained theirstronghold in the southern part ofPortugal’s geography for manycenturies. Almonds, figs, and dessertswith the influence of egg were Moorishinfluences on Portuguese eatingpatterns.
However, there is no doubt that themost major influences on the modernPortuguese cuisine as we know todayhave been because of Portugal’s legacyin maritime exploration and ascolonists, which began in the beginningof the 15th century. The exploration ofthe African coast by Portuguese shipsintroduced coffee, peppers and peanutsto the cuisine of Portugal, and their
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1340
C O V E R S T O R Y
forays into the east introduced themand eventually the rest of Europe, tovaried spices, curries and even tea.
At the same time, Portuguese alsoexplored into south and their explorersdiscovered Brazil in 1500. This led tothe introduction of the Portuguesepeople to pineapples, tomatoes, cornand potatoes through the Portuguesesailors. As the centuries passed, all theseglobal influences became part ofPortuguese cuisine. In fact, toPortuguese goes the credit ofintroducing herbs and spices likesaffron, pepper, ginger and coriander,and also of introducing pineapples,potatoes and coffee to the Europe.
Today the influence of Portugal’sformer colonies can be easily observedin the culinary character of Portugal,especially in the wide range of spicesused in the Portuguese cuisine.Similarities between Portuguese canjaand Asian congee cannot also be ruledout, which shows oriental influences onPortuguese cuisine.
Succinctly, the culinary traits fromits former colonies in Africa, India andFar East have made impacts on thePortuguese cuisine, thereby making itdifferent in character than theMediterranean cuisine of itsneighbours. For example, though thePortuguese and Spanish people havemany common ingredients in theirtraditional food preparation, theirdistinct histories and geographies haveendowed them with different cookingstyles and dishes from each other.
Portuguese cuisine was influenced by
various culinary legacies and foodproducts across the globe, and at thesame time, it influenced various othercuisines. For example, the Braziliancuisine has a strong Portugueseinfluence, where Brazil’s own versionsof Portuguese dishes like feijoada (astew of beans with beef and pork)and caldeirada (fish stew) find place.
Goa’s pork vindaloo is inspired fromPortuguese culinary influences. In1543, Portuguese trade ships sailed toJapan and there the Portugueseintroduced refined sugar to theJapanese. Portuguese explorers andmerchants to Japan were followed byPortuguese missionaries. Here itdeserves a mention that tempura, atraditional Japanese dish comprisingseafood and vegetables, was introducedto the Land of Rising Sun by thePortuguese missionaries, during theNanban Trade period.
The Essential Character
Traditional Portuguese dishes oftencomprises of simple ingredients, basedon regional produce. The Portuguesecuisine also has an emphasis on fish. AsPortugal is a sea faring nation with adeveloped fishing industry, it is naturalfor the fish to play a crucial role inPortuguese dishes. Portugal hasEurope’s highest fish consumption percapita. No wonder, many of the dishesof Portugal are fish-based. InPortuguese cuisine fish comes in boiled,grilled, fried, deep-fried, stewed androasted forms. Cod is the most commonfish consumed in Portugal.
However, Portuguese cuisine is notonly about fish. The Portuguese cuisineincludes not only seafood and pork butalso meat, cheese and vegetables. AsPortuguese cuisine doesn’t involvemuch challenges to prepare, and oftenneeds the application of very basicequipment, it is many a time termed aspeasant food. Even a single pot over anopen fire is sufficient to create manypopular Portuguese dishes.
Piri piri or small fiery chilli pepper,black pepper, saffron, vanilla, andcinnamon are some of the spices used inPortuguese cuisine. The olive oil is oneof the bases for cooking and flavouringmeals in many Portuguese dishes.Garlic, coriander and parsley also attractwide usage in Portuguese dishes.
Food From the Waves
Popular Portuguese seafood consists ofnot just cod but also fresh sardines(especially when grilled as sardinhasassadas), squid, crabs, shrimps, prawns,lobster, spiny lobster, shellfish, clams,oysters and many other crustaceans.
A famous fish stew of the Portuguesepeople is Caldeirada, which comprises avariety of white fish and shellfish, alongwith potatoes and tomato, onions andpeppers. It is better to infuse somewhite wine and lots of herbs into thedish. The dish entails the right layeringof various ingredients, which enablesthe flavours to mix well.
Sardines have been popularPortuguese delicacy since centuries.They used to be preserved in brine forsale in rural areas of Portugal. Thiseventually paved the way for thedevelopment of sardine canneries alongthe Portuguese coast. Canned tuna isalso popular in Portugal.
Grilled sardines have become quitepopular in Mumbai. Seasoned with salt,popped on the grill and then served upwith a tomato salad and new potatoes –tasty and healthy! Wash it down with achilled Vinho Verde and you may feel
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1342
C O V E R S T O R Y
the bliss near your senses. You can havethe sardines like the Portuguese do, thatis by using your fingers, and on a sliceof bread, and you may absorb all thoseOmega 3 juices.
Arroz de Tamboril (Monkfish andRice) is another popular dish ofPortuguese cuisine, which is worth agastronomic exploration. The Monkfish(having very broad, depressed heads –as wide as the fish is long, with femalesreaching approximately 39 inches) ischopped into chunks and mixed withrice, tomatoes, spices and a range offresh herbs to get a filling andsumptuous dish.
Camarão (prawns) is another popularseafood of Portuguese cuisine. It can behad boiled, fried, peeled or with headsand all. Prawns are always a greatoption at a restaurant servingPortuguese food. Piri piri prawns arehard to beat. Tiger prawns grilled overcharcoal are also no less delicious.
Tasty ChickenChicken dishes are also an integral partof Portuguese cuisine. In Portuguese,chicken is known as Frango. Frango noChurrasco or chicken on grill is adelicious chicken dish from Portugal. “Awhole chicken is butterflied open andput in a typical marinade mixture ofolive oil, white wine, garlic, bay leaf,lemon juice and paprika. Whenordered, it is taken out of its marinadeand placed on a rotating spit over aflaming hot coal pit, basted with a
sauce similar to the marinade, with atouch of butter and a hint of piri-piri added,” explained an expert onPortuguese cooking,. while describingthe preparation of Frango no Churrasco.Frango da Guia is another specialchicken dish of Portugal. The dish isnamed after the town of Guia inPortugal, where the dish is believed tohave originated. Salad with just tomatoesand raw onions is the idealaccompaniment with these chicken dishesof Portugal. For Frango da Guia, Frenchfries are the ideal addedaccompaniment, whereas for Frango noChurrasco go for potato chips asaccompaniment.
Green OptionsPortuguese cuisine is not only aboutflesh and spices. Enterprising Indianrestaurateurs can not only introducenon-vegetarian Portuguese cuisine withheavy influences of fish and seafood inIndia, in a big way, they can alsointroduce vegetarian dishes fromPortuguese cuisine to cater to the hugenumbers of Indians who want to tryexotic food but are vegetarians.
Yes, it may delight the vegetariansand the lovers of vegetarian food thatPortuguese cuisine has in its ambit somedelectable vegetarian soups. Mostvegetarian soups from Portugal arequick and easy to make, and they aredelicious. Their increasing presence inIndian restaurants can help the busycorporate crowd to have a quick and
healthy meal.The Portuguese soup is thick with a
vibrant orange colour, derived frompureed carrot, pumpkin, potato andonion. These soups are made by addingvegetables and garlic into a pressurecooker for about 20-30 minutes andthen passing them through a food mill.Now add a touch of salt to create yourvegetable soup, the Portuguese way.
Many build upon this base byadding cooked green vegetables such asnabicas (kale), espinafresi (spinach)feijão verde (long green string beans)and couve (cabbage), which is usuallypaired with feijão (red kidney beans). Abig bowl of any of these heartyPortuguese vegetable soups can makefor a delicious meal anytime! They cansatiate a busy person’s hunger pangswhen she/he has to skip a formal lunchfor lack of time.
And the vegetarians need not worryfor the Portuguese vegetarian cuisinedoesn’t end with soup. Neither does itbegin with soup by the way.Vegetarians wanting a bite of thePortuguese delicacies can have Tremoco,which happens to be a great beer snackin Portugal, and is usually enjoyed byPortuguese people during socialisingover drinks. They are big butter beans,salted and tasty. The beans should betaken out from the skin before enjoyingTremoco, as beans can provide bitternesson biting. Accorda and Migas are someof the many other delicious vegetarianofferings from Portuguese cuisine. Bothare bread-based dishes.
Just DessertsThe dessert delicacies of Portuguesecuisine are also varied. There are overtwo hundred varieties of sweets foundin Portugal, which an Indian baker canexplore. The rich egg-based custards ofPortuguese cuisine are out-of-the-world. In several desserts the Portugueseuse cinnamon.
Pastel de nata is a well-knownPortuguese dessert. It is essentially anegg custard tart in filo dough that isideally served warm, fresh out of theoven and sprinkled with cinnamon andpowdered sugar. Bola de Berlim, LeiteCrème, Arroz Doce or Portuguese sweetrice pudding are some of the otherimportant dessert creations from theland of Portugal, which can find goodmarket in India. �
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1344
B U S I N E S S
Leveraging Sales From RetailRapid urbanisation and increase in disposable incomes has led to retailing in India undergoing transition. Along with the
fragmented local markets, we are seeing large centralised wholesale markets. In the processed food and packaged
goods the advent of organised retailing has been more rapid than in the fresh food markets. Supermarkets, hypermarkets,
discount grocers have been growing in India. Now is the right time for the entrepreneur to enter into organised multi-brand
retailing.
Ashok Malkani takes a look at the intricacies involved in maintaining and enhancing the footfalls in a food retail enterprise.
One of these is the organised and attractive display of the merchandise to attract the customers into making impulse
purchases, which can result in increasing sales.
and as well as in rural areas is expectedto take a long time.
The Trend of Organised RetailingIn the recent years, urban India iswitnessing steady growth in organisedgrocery retailing. Future Value RetailLtd (FVRL) and Reliance Retail Ltd. aretwo major players in the realm oforganised grocery retailing in thecountry. Now we are witnessing aninterest by many foreign players to enterIndia’s retail market. Global retail giantslike Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Tesco arewaiting to enter the Indian retail sector.
So how does one enter the Indianretail market? Current entry options forforeign players are as under:
Franchise Agreements Most widelyused entry channel by multinationalretailers Fast food retailer Domino’sentered through master franchise whilePizza Hut entered through regionalfranchise
Cash and Carry WholesaleTrading100 percent FDI is allowed in wholesaletrading which involves building of alarge distribution infrastructure to assistlocal manufacturers. Wholesaler dealsonly with smaller retailers and not with
Today, retailing is the fastestgrowing sector in the Indianeconomy. The total retail sales
in the country are expected to enhancefrom $ 395.96 billion in 2011 to $785.12 billion in 2015. With over 13million retail stores, India has moreretailers than any other country in theworld. Yet, most of these retailers aretiny and unorganised. However, inurban India large supermarkets andhypermarkets/malls are supplementingthe traditional retail stores. But theshift from local kirana shops toorganised retail in tier II and III cities
45Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
B U S I N E S S
consumers.Strategic Licensing Agreements Foreign company enters
into a licensing agreement with the domestic retailer.
Display to Get Market EdgeHowever, simply entering the multi-brand retail sector ingeneral or a grocery business in particular is not enough toachieve success in these endeavours. A consumer-firstmindset is more important than years of experience forsuccess in the retail business. Planning about which goodsshould adorn the shelves and in what quantities is essential,so as to prevent goods gathering dust on the shelves. And ofcourse, you need to get the most affordable deal that ispossible for the products that you would be retailing,without compromising on good quality so that the profitsand prospects of enduring business are complemented. Yes,there are several other factors than these which can influencesuccess in organised retail business.
The consumer behaviour in organised retailing acrosssupermarkets and hypermarkets/malls is somewhat differentfrom that of the consumer behaviour in unorganised grocerystores. Along with service retailing in small kirana stores,where the customer asks for specific items which the retailerfetches, we are also witnessing self service retailing in urbanIndia, across supermarkets, hypermarkets/ malls, wherecustomer herself/himself scouts for the products of her/hischoice and then places them at the counter for billing.
As in organised retailing across supermarkets andhypermarkets/malls consumers get the opportunity to see thedisplay of goods for quite some time, while scouting for their
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B U S I N E S S
Supermarkets and
Hypermarkets
One can say that the supermarkets
are an extension of the grocery
stores. Supermarkets are large
self-service grocery stores that
offer customers a variety of food
and household supplies. Here the
merchandise is displayed into an
organised aisle format, where each
aisle is numbered or labeled and
has only similar goods placed
together. The supermarket houses
fresh food products, poultry as well
as canned and boxed goods.
However, supermarkets are smaller
than hypermarkets or big-box
markets, which are basically
supermarkets combined with
departmental stores.
purchases, the visual appeal of theproducts is likely to make a greaterinfluence on the consumers’ buyingpreferences in organised retailing, thanin unorganised retailing across kiranastores.
Moreover, the organised F&Bretailing in India now entails hugecompetition, with a plethora ofsupermarkets and hypermarkets/mallsmaking their presence felt in the urbanretail landscape of the country. In manycases, the goods or product ranges ofone supermarket or hypermarket are notmuch different from the other.
Therefore, in order to attractconsumers, the organised retailers notonly need to keep a plethora ofproducts, which also includes an arrayof food & beverage products, but thedisplay of products also needs to beattractive so as to induce the consumersand the potential consumers of thoseproducts. The arrangement andshowcasing of the goods has to behandled extremely carefully. A player inorganised retailing must be aware of thecustomer profile visiting her/his store.
Normally, in urban areas, thecustomer profile of the majority of thepeople visiting the supermarkets andhypermarkets/malls can be described asgiven in the figure below.
The supermarkets and hypermarkets/malls in India should have their productprofile and display tailored in a mannerwhich would interest this clientele. Astheir consumer profile is often similar,the ranges of products on display in agroup of supermarkets or in a group ofhypermarkets/malls also tend to be
similar to each other in many cases.When the product ranges are similaracross various supermarkets andhypermarkets, their display oftenbecome a major deciding factorgoverning their purchases and thusprofits or loses. Creative displays alsoplay a role in facilitating business inunorganised grocery stores, but their roleis more important in supermarkets andhypermarkets/malls.
Creative Store DisplaysBy using creative store displays you aremaking a certain visual connection withbuyers and potential buyers of yourproducts, a connection that can easily bean enduring one. However, visualmerchandising is not only aboutattraction; it is also about awareness.Good visual merchandising helpsshowcase the product and educate thecustomers about its features in amemorable way, and thus helps theproduct enter the mindshare of theconsumers. Thus the consumers arelikely to become more inclined to make apurchase of the given product.
For promoting items that are on saleor those which required to be soldquickly, end aisle displays endowed withcolourful signs can be intelligentrevenue enhancing options. Placing theimpulse purchases like candies andinexpensive chocolates near the cashregister can attract the customers or theirkids to these items while the consumersare waiting in line to pay the bill. It ispreferable to have the ‘impulse buys’ assomewhat inexpensive to the shopper’sbudget.
Different products in a supermarketand hypermarket/mall should ideally bedisplayed in different ways. Forexample, seafood displays can be madecreative by draping a fishnet around theside of the refrigerated unit. This wouldmake the consumers and potentialconsumers of sea food quickly get theidea that the unit contains fresh catchesfrom the sea. And it is better if therefrigerated unit where sea food arebeing kept is coloured blue. The caseswhere fresh meats are being kept shouldbe lined with green mesh. The colourcontrast is expected to make the meat’spackaging more attractive to itsconsumers and potential consumers.
Similarly, displaying apples andmangoes in bushels, and keeping thevegetables under a white light will addto their attractiveness. However, if youkeep the greens under a yellow lightthey will appear less fresh than theyactually are, so avoid that.
Canned and boxed goods oftencomprise the majority of displays inorganised retailing. These displays havegreat scope of creativity. Use the cans orboxes as building blocks and you cancreate structures like pyramids and cubesout of them.
Themed displays can also beemployed to club together variousproducts that can be relevant purchasesfor a given season or occasion, such asChristmas or Valentine’s Day. However,
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Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1348
B U S I N E S S
themed displays which correspond to agiven festival or occasion, should beintroduced only a few days before thatspecific festivity or occasion, so to reaprevenues by exciting the popular mood.
Besides creativity in display, somebasic facts need to be kept in mind.Shelves should be properly arrangedand goods must be systematicallylabeled so that consumers do not haveto spend the whole day for makingtheir desired purchases. If they have todo so, chances are they will not visitthe store again. For first impression is alasting impression as far as consumerbehaviour goes.
Location Needs IntrospectionBesides product quality and productdisplays there are other importantfactors behind the success of retailoperations. Location is one of the mostimportant factors behind the success ofa supermarket or hypermarketoperations. Ideal location of a storedoesn’t only mean that the store issituated in an area where its targetconsumers reside or are expected tofrequent, or in an area from where thetarget consumers of the store’s productsare likely to make their purchases.
Whether the retail store is located onthe main road or in an alley is also thedeciding factor in consumer preferencestowards the store. Therefore beforeopening a store this factor also needs tobe considered upon. Whether there areother similar stores in the vicinity, or
whether there can be aparking problem are otherfactors to be weighed uponbefore choosing the locationof the multi-brand retailstore. There are instanceswhen people have expressedtheir interest about goods ina given store, but chose notto visit it because of theparking problem or due toheavy traffic around thelocation of the store.
Wise PricingOne of the sure shot ways of keepingyour organised retail businesscompetitive and successful is to keepthe prices as affordable as possible.Nothing is more appealing to thecustomer than finding that the goodsshe/he purchased at your shop werelower priced than another shop downthe road. This can be done in severalways like having special sales, or buy-one-get-one-free offers. But don’tcompromise on the quality to a greatdeal in order to lower the price range.This step can be counterproductive.Another way of attracting customers isby having a wider range of a given typeof products (say mangoes and apples)and brands (say of coffee) than othermulti-brand retail stores.
Managing the InventoryOf course, the well-stocked shelves alsofacilitate success of organised retail
operations, where the impression of theconsumer plays a huge role in revenues.For example, a consumer is thinking ofbuying a particular brand of fruit juice.She/he is more inclined to buy it from astore where the shelves are stocked withthat brand of fruit juice, along with hugepresence of its competing brands of fruitjuice, than from a store which showcasesonly one or two cartons of the givenbrand of fruit juice, with no presence ofcompeting brands of fruit juice.
Therefore stocking inventory on aregular basis is necessary, and it is alsoextremely important to place newproducts behind the old ones in case ofperishable products like fruits andvegetables. However, at the same time, itis also prudent for the store manager/owner to evaluate which products are
experiencing brisk sales at her/his store,and which products are experiencingnegligible sales, and then tailor theinventory accordingly, so that wastage isminimised.
Though many of these abovediscussed principles seem to be morerelevant for the success and as well assurvival of organised retail businesses,but they can also be useful for the smallgrocery player, in the unorganised retailsector. It may be stated that managingstore operations for a retail business ofany size or complexity, ranging from theneighbourhood grocer to themultinational retail chain, is achallenging task. It entails integrationamong various functions in the store.When all the functions in the store areperformed in an integrated manner andin perfect coordination, the storeoperations are likely to run smoothlytowards sure success. ■
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F E A T U R E
The Need for
Sustainable EatingIn the backdrop of incessant
environmental degradation,sustainable lifestyles have garnered
considerable mind and media share.Sustainable lifestyles also includesustainable eating. One of the ways theidea of sustainable eating can be fosteredinto reality is through the practice ofvegetarianism or through abstinence ofmeat products, or at least through lesserconsumption of meat than before.
Vegetarianism has had always beenfairly widespread in India, primarily forreligious and cultural reasons. But nowopting for an exclusively vegetarian diet isgaining popularity across the developedworld, and this trend is thankfullyrunning parallel to the growing meatconsumption in the developing countries.It may be argued that going forexclusively vegetarian diet is gainingpopularity in the developed worldprimarily for personal health reasons,which may include the objective ofhaving lower risk of obesity and heartdisease, having lower risk of cancer, andattaining greater longevity.
Health of Us and the Planet
But there is no denying the fact that
vegetarianism can also positively influencethe sustainability of the planet. It is simplybecause growing agricultural produceresults in less carbon emissions andinvolves less usage of water on an average,as compared to raising of livestock formeat.
Yes, complete abstinence from non-vegetarian food may be quite difficult formany regular non-vegetarians. If notvegetarianism, at least regular adherence toa diet with vegetarian food items, fish andfruits, with no role of meat products canbe helpful in solving the global hungerand water crisis and the continual threatsto our fragile environment, which wewould discuss below. There is no denyingthe fact that huge consumption of meatby humankind is leading and can lead tosevere problems for our present andfuture.
Livestock and Deforestation
The plethora of meat eaters requires thecontinuous breeding and maintenance ofa huge livestock population, which needhuge amounts of land and water, andwhich produce huge quantities of waste.In fact, the huge livestock populationoften leads to deforestation, for growing of
feed crops and grazing, and deforestationis one of the reasons for endangering ourenvironment.
It may sound unbelievable but likemany unbelievable facts it is true that overthe centuries millions of hectares of treeshave been decimated to present meatbefore the forks. We can very well imaginewhat would be the situation after say fivedecades, if meat eating populationcontinues to increase across the developingnations as it is doing now.
Water and Land
Besides deforestation, the maintenance ofhuge numbers of farm animals for meatproduction has effect on our watersources. According to an expert,production of one pound of beef requiresalmost thirty times more water than it isneeded to produce one pound each ofpotato, wheat, maize and rice. If the samedietary pattern continues across the globe,it would lead to severe water scarcity inagriculture by 2050, when the worldpopulation is expected to reach 9 billion.
More than 25 percent of earth’sterrestrial surface is used for grazing.According to FAO’s report titledLivestock’s Long Shadow - Environmental
By Swarnendu Biswas
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F E A T U R E
Issues and Options “livestock productionaccounts for 70 percent of all agriculturalland and 30 percent of the ice-free landsurface on the planet.” This land could bebetter utilised for agriculture to feed thehungry millions.
Meat of the Food Crisis
Besides, in a world facing severe foodcrisis, with approximately 1 billion peoplegoing hungry every night, the fact thatlivestock population consume majority ofthe crops of the world may soundshocking, but sadly it is true.
And it is not surprising also for thereare more than 56 billion animals raisedacross the globe each year for slaughterand consequently, for food; which is anumber much more than the globalpopulation of humans And the sustenanceof these animals for slaughter needs hugeamounts of food.
A significant proportion of farmanimals are used for meat, and they areoften slaughtered when their othereconomic utilities are exhausted. It is notonly cruel, but also sheer uneconomical asfar as the food crisis of the planet isconcerned. Grains fed to farm animals can
feed many, many people and thereby savethem from hunger, only if we do not haveto maintain such a huge stock of animalsfor the meat eating population.
If the meat eating human populationcontinues to increase rapidly in thedeveloping world, as it is doing presently,the food crisis is expected to aggravatefurther in the years to come, and this canbe perilous to the future of humankind.By turning vegetarians we non-vegetarians
can potentially place more food before theworld’s hungry population in the future.
Besides the land and food crisis,rampant meat eating can lead to otherenvironmental problems too, besidesdeforestation. The unimaginable quantityof livestock population on earth, which isa prerequisite for meeting the dietaryneeds of non-vegetarians across the globe,generates enormous greenhouse gasemissions, which we all know are harmful
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F E A T U R E
for our blue planet.
Greenhouse Emissions In fact, in FAO’s report named Livestock’sLong Shadow - Environmental Issues andOptions, which was published inNovember 2006 and is very muchrelevant today, seven years after itspublication, it was estimated that thelivestock were responsible for 18 percentof greenhouse gas emissions, a biggershare than that of transport. The reportalso estimated that livestock accountedfor 9 percent of anthropogenic carbondioxide emissions, 37 percent ofanthropogenic methane emissions, and65 percent of anthropogenic nitrousoxide emissions. Here it deserves amention that methane’s capacity toinfluence global warming is 25-30 timesmore than carbon dioxide.
Many environmentalists believe thatthe major source of climate changeduring the last two centuries wasprimarily due to increased greenhouse gasemissions. Greenhouse gases, whichinclude carbon dioxide and methane,trap heat in the atmosphere. Theseexcessive greenhouse gas emissions arecontributing towards global warming,which is in turn is leading to melting ofglaciers, rising of sea level and can alsofrequent the occurrence of floods and
droughts. Unchecked greenhouse gasemissions can jeopardise the existence ofour planet.
Air pollution is not the only pollutingeffects of the livestock population rearedfor meat. The huge livestock populationfor meat also generates huge quantity ofwaste, which leads to land and waterpollution. Moreover, animal waste haspathogens like salmonella, E coli, andcryptosporidium among others, whichhas the potential to transmit to humansthrough water run-off or throughmanure. Thus mountains of animal wastefrom livestock can make us prone todiseases, besides playing a role in ruiningthe land and water.
If only more and more people resort tovegetarianism or at least skip meat asmuch as possible, the livestockpopulation would drastically reducewithin two or three generations (for theirneed would be reduced), and thus thestrain on environment would be muchlesser than it is today, thereby helping tosave the future of earth. In fact, manyexperts believe that changing your dietfrom meat eating to vegetarian is moreenvironment-friendly in effect thanchanging from incandescent tofluorescent bulbs. If we collectively donot make a conscious choice to switchover to a more predominantly vegetariandiet today, tomorrow it may be too late.
Vegetarian Eating outThankfully, along with the sharp rise indemand for meat in the developingcountries, more and more people in thedeveloped world are also seen adopting tovegetarianism. The food service businessof our country can play a major role inaddressing these above-mentionedchallenges to our environment and ourfuture survival, by opening up morevegetarian and as well as veganrestaurants for the eating out crowd.
The five-star hotels can also make it apractice to have one exclusivelyvegetarian restaurant in their ambit.Royal Vega restaurant of ITC GrandChola, Chennai can serve as a pertinentexample in this regard. Royal Vegapresents a sumptuous offeringof delectable vegetarian food from themagnificent royal kitchens of India.Featuring a fine collection of signaturevegetarian dishes from across India, RoyalVega showcases the classical grandeur ofthe vegetarian repertoire of the sub-continent and beyond.
The Country Inn & Suites byCarlson, Sahibabad is a unique five-starhotel where dining options are onlyvegetarian. These are some of thepraiseworthy initiative in the hospitalityindustry towards vegetarian dining.
And finding the clientele forvegetarian food in restaurants would notbe a problem in a country where stillmore than 30 percent of the populationis vegetarian, and where abhorrence ofnon-vegetarian food often has religiousand ethical sanctions.
Our Regional GreensIn order to convert many lovers of non-vegetarian food like me to vegetariandishes, the restaurant business inmetropolitan India should go beyondvegetable biryani and vegetable kebabs.They should bring to the forefront themany wonderful vegetarian specialtiesfrom India’s rich treasure-trove of regionalcuisines, on the national platter.
Some examples could be Aloo Posto andMochar Ghonto from Bengal, Litti Chokhafrom Bihar, Sadya from Kerala and Pohayand Vada Pav from Maharasthra amongothers. There is every chance that timelesstastes of these and many more regionalvegetarian dishes could soon waft fromregional to national popularity throughcreative marketing endeavours. ■
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A G R I
Tackling
By Swarnendu Biswas
Agri-inflationAgri-inflation
Presently, in India the prices of vegetables have simplyskyrocketed, causing great disturbance in the budget ofcommon people of the country. Though onion price
rise is garnering more media focus, but that doesn’t mean thatprices of many other vegetables are not subjected to severeinflation during the recent months.
Onions may have experienced an almost unbelievable 278percent hike during 2013, but the prices of other vegetablesare also not at all pocket-friendly for the common men andwomen in India. Even the prices of tomatoes and potatoeshave become unmanageable. Cereals are also out of reach formany as are fruits. The soaring cost of Basmati rice in therecent times, deserves special mention in this context. In fact,the food prices in India have enhanced by 18 percent ascompared to the last year, and agricultural products areplaying a crucial role in this back-breaking food inflation.
However, the continuation of this recent escalation ofvegetable prices can not only enhance misery in middleincome and lower income households, which it is alreadycausing, but it does have the potential to affect the restaurantbusiness in the country too, especially those restaurantbusinesses which operate on small margins or are serving onlyvegetarian dishes.
Potential to Affect Eating OutIf the prices of fruits and vegetables continue to remain at the steeplevel, or increase even beyond to where they are at presently, it is
likely that there would be marked enhancement in the prices offood products in restaurant business, in the days to come. This inturn may negatively effect the eating out culture; which in therecent years was gaining momentum because of certain conducivesocio-economic and demographic factors.
Overall, the continuation of the agricultural inflation thathas been recurring in India in the recent years, may result inIndian restaurant business suffering a setback in demand, notonly because of increased prices of food products inrestaurants, but also due to the fact that middle incomepeople would now have lesser disposable income afterspending on their day-to-day fruits and vegetables than theywere having say six months or one year earlier. Succinctly,these huge prices of fruits and vegetables are likely to leavethem with lesser discretionary spending, which also includesthe spending channeled on eating out.
Those restaurants which would steadfastly refuse to raiseprices despite the high prices of some of their chief ingredients(rice, fruits and vegetables), may have to compromise on thequality or portion size. This will be more true for the vegetariandishes. In all the three cases (increase in prices, loss in quality ordecrease in portion sizes within a short span of time) therestaurant business in India is likely to suffer a setback indemand.
Ready to Eat?However, the exorbitant prices of fruits and vegetables can
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induce the consumers to opt for affordable pre-cooked andready to eat products in a big way, which is likely to give a boostto this segment of the food & beverage industry. Already such atrend is getting evident.
According to a survey by ASSOCHAM, sharp price rises infruits and vegetables have compelled over 55 percent of middleand low income group people in the country to shift to pre-cooked and ready-to-eat food items to maintain their kitchenbudget. However, the nutritional value of many ready to eatoptions in the market can hardly match that of fruits andvegetables.
Such a Huge WastageMany blame the exorbitant price rise of onions for our lowrate of economic growth this year, and some blame the lastyear’s drought for it, and some for the excessive monsoons thisyear. They say that excessive rains in onion producing stateslike Maharashtra and Gujarat is responsible for the shortfall inonion production. And some others blame the middlemen andthe hoarders. All of these reasons are true but these reasonsdon’t reveal the complete story.
It should be remembered that besides onion prices, manyother vegetables, fruits and cereals have also been subjected tosevere inflation this year. In fact, price rise of vegetables andfruits is not a new phenomenon in the Indian economy, thoughthis year the effect of agri-inflation has been particularlystinging. There are various other reasons for the recurring agri-inflation in our economy besides the weather fluctuations andbottlenecks in economic growth, and the influences of themiddlemen and hoarders. Unless we find effective andcomprehensive solutions for these reasons, we cannot solve therecurring challenge of agri-inflation from our economy.
In a recent study, ASSOCHAM has highlighted that Indiaincurs post-harvest fruits and vegetable losses worth overRs.2lakh crore each year, largely owing to the paucity of foodprocessing units and modern cold storage facilities, and a callousattitude towards tackling the grave issue of post-harvest losses.
West Bengal is leading the pack in this regard with annualpost-harvest losses worth over Rs 13,657 crore followed byGujarat (Rs 11,400 crore), Bihar (Rs 10,700 crore) and UttarPradesh (Rs 10,300 crore). Moreover, according to the sameASSOCHAM study, only about 22 percent of fruits andvegetables produced in India reach the wholesale market. This isa pathetic statistics by all standards. “Developing wholesalemarkets together with enhancing the cold storage capacities inlocal and regional markets are key for reducing post-harvestfruits and vegetable losses and enhancing their market arrival,”observed the ASSOCHAM study.
If only the huge post-harvest wastage of our fruits andvegetables could be tackled by more widespread and exhaustivepest control measures, and by building up a comprehensiveinfrastructure of food processing units and cold storage facilities,greater quantity of fruits, vegetables and cereals would haveentered the market. Their increased supply could help theadministration to better tackle their huge demand, therebyinducing a relatively better stabilisation of agricultural prices inthe country.
Direct Marketing by FarmersUrgent actions to prevent further increase in the current prices
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of fruits and vegetables in India are necessary. In fact, it isalways preferable to reduce their present unmanageablerates, which would not only benefit the retail consumer,but also the entrepreneur in the food & beverage industryseen struggling with spiraling costs of production.
The corrective steps include drastically curtailing therole of middleman in agriculture. It is common knowledgethat the middlemen often not only prevent the farmersfrom getting their due price for their produce, but also areoften responsible for inflated prices of fruits and vegetablesin the market. It is because they often purchase the farmproducts from the farmers at very less price and sell themat the market at exorbitant rates. Thus both farmers andthe retailers and as well as the food & beverage industrysuffer.
The Indian’s government’s passing of the AgriculturalProduce Market Committee (APMC) Act for the purposeof regulating the functioning of wholesale agriculturalmarkets throughout the nation is a desired step in thisdirection. This law has the potential to help prevent theoperations of middlemen. Rythu Bazars in the state ofAndhra Pradesh is a very good example of direct marketingof agricultural produce from farmers to consumers. Moresuch examples must become reality soon.
If our state governments(since agriculture is a statesubject), along with the help of some corporate players,become proactive in presenting the farmers producedirectly to the urban retail and institutional consumersfrom a plethora of huge supermarkets, the present scenarioof exorbitant fruits and vegetable prices could becontrolled to certain extent in the future. Otherwise, thistype of maddening agri-inflation may occur again…andagain, in India.
Farmers’ cooperatives can also be treated as an effectiveanswer to keep the agricultural prices in check, while at thesame time facilitating to give farmers a good value for theiragricultural produce through direct marketing ofagricultural produce. State governments should supportand promote more and more farmers’ cooperatives toeliminate the scourge of middlemen in agriculture. Farmers’cooperative societies have been successful in MadhyaPradesh and Maharashtra. At the same time, a close watchon the hoarders of fruits, vegetables and cereals andstringent prevention of their nefarious activities by thestate governments is also the need of the hour.
Infrastructure DevelopmentOf course, these steps need to be supplemented with moreand better irrigation facilities, so that farmers’ produceeven in this twenty-first century India do not have tooften entirely depend on the vagaries of monsoon. Thediesel and petrol prices need also to be kept in check forthey play a crucial role in the costs of food products to theend consumers.
Moreover, both the Union and the state governments,along with the support of private players, should jointlyendeavour to vastly improve our bleak scenario in terms offood processing facilities and cold storage infrastructure.More effective pest control initiatives in warehouses storingfood grains are also needed. ■
A G R I
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Today with the Indian bakery industryshowing impressive growth, bakerybusiness has great possibilities of success inthe country. And in the unorganisedsector, which accounts for 65 percent ofproduction of bakery products in India,the investment required for this business isalso not that high. Neither is professionaltraining mandatory for success for anentrepreneur entering the bakery business.One can start the bakery business evenfrom one’s home. .
But does in reality a bakery business,especially if it grows beyond a home-basedenterprise and necessitates the renting orpurchasing of a commercial space andhiring of a team, is that simple as itsounds? No it is not, in most cases. Simplyknowledge of ingredients and judgementof the right proportion and temperaturewould not be enough; though absolutelynecessary, to run a successful bakeryenterprise in most cases. Various factorsneed to factored in for making a success inthis highly competitive business. Ofcourse, creativity and sustained hard workare the essential perquisites of bakeryoperations, but they are necessaryconditions for success in this business, andnot sufficient ones.
The entrepreneurs toying with the ideaof entering bakery business or expandingits area of operations into the realm of
bakery business should be aware of theongoing trends in the Indian bakeryindustry in order to tap their businesspotential in this area in a better manner.And they should also be endowed withsome essential skills and attributes, and beaware of some essential market realties.
Location and Costs
First of all, an entrepreneur thinking ofstarting a bakery enterprise (whether as astand-alone bakery or a franchisee outlet)should be sure that her/his location ofbakery is correct. That is she/he should besure that the location where she/he isthinking of starting her/his bakeryenterprise has a need for a new bakeryoutlet or not, or whether the consumerprofile there is suited for the kind ofbaked products which she/he has in mindor has expertise in producing or not. If theanswer to any of these questions is no, theentrepreneur should proceed to anothersuitable location that is within her/hisbudget, without thinking twice.
Before starting a bakery operation, thetotal costs involved in running the bakerybusiness should be calculated in detail,which should include both fixed andvariable costs, and then the entrepreneurshould make a very conservativeestimation of the expected revenues of thebakery unit during the first six months or
For Success in
B A K E R Y
By Swarnendu Biswas
The Indian bakery business isgoing through an impressivegrowth phase. According to a
report with Research and Markets, themarket size for the Indian bakery industrywas pegged at 4.7 billion USD in 2010,and it is expected to reach 7.6 billionUSD by 2015. The report notes thatwith rapid growth and changing eatinghabits of people, bakery products havegained popularity among the masses ofIndia. The bakery industry of India hasalso achieved the third position ingenerating revenue among the processedfood sector.
Considering the fast changing socio-economic profile of the society, bakeryproducts are likely to be in great demandin the near future. In urban India, familiesare having less time to cook, and oftenbusy schedules are inducing snackingoptions to replace main meals. This trendis expected to increase the demand forbreads, biscuits, burgers and pizzas inurban India even more in the near future.The low price and high nutrient value ofmany bakery products can also enhancetheir demand in the market. Many of thebakery products are already items of massconsumption in urban India. Thiseventually can make the bakery business alucrative option for many enterprisingbakers or would be bakers.
Bakery Business
59Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
one year of its operations.If the latter exceeds the former, then
only the entrepreneur should initiate her/his bakery business. Two examples offixed cost are the rent of the outlet(assuming the entrepreneur doesn’t ownthe property where she/he decides tocreate a bakery) and the depreciation onthe bakery equipment or the lease costs onthem; two examples of variable cost arethe cost of ingredients and humanresources or labour.
Though salary is often regarded as partof fixed costs, but since most of thebakeries in India operate in theunorganised sector, it is more realistic toassume that human resource costs or staffor labour costs as variable costs, which canfluctuate according to production needs.
It is also very important to realise whichcosts to cut and which costs should be leftuntouched. For example, unheededreduction in costs of ingredients andhuman resource with the objective tobreak even or earn profits in very quicktime may be counterproductive for a start-up bakery operation in these competitivetimes, when people are expecting
innovation and quality in their bakeryproducts.
This step may lead to lowering thequality of the products, which may in turnget your start-up bakery business beingswept away by the harsh and biting windsof competition, to the oblivion. Besidesthat one must remember that in bakeryoperations, creativity and ingredients canbe distinguishing factors from itscompetition, and thus their costs shouldn’tbe unduly curtailed if the entrepreneurwants to succeed in the business, in thelong-run.
Ingredients and EquipmentsIn this context, it is necessary to add thatan entrepreneur venturing into a bakerybusiness should have a sound knowledgeof those ingredients and bakeryequipments, which are to be used in her/his business. Otherwise she/he has lesschance of delivering quality products thatcan withstand or surpass the competition.
Even if she/he has staff to manage theday-to-day operations, she/he must have asound knowledge of ingredients andequipments, or else the entrepreneur can
be taken for a ride by the staff, resulting incompromise in quality.
Fresh Products and Waste Control The bakery business should alwaysemphasise on fresh products, and onminimising wastage. The aroma of freshlybaked products can play a great role ininducing the customers to a given bakeryunit, and can easily convert a potentialcustomer into a real one.
Furthermore, creative display of freshlybaked goods would help shape the firstimpression among the bakery’s consumersand potential consumers, and in bakerybusiness, like in other facets of life, firstimpression though not certainly is the lastimpression(a succession of badperformances may eventually erase thegoodwill earned through initial goodperformance), can easily be a lastingimpression.
For minimising waste in bakeryoperations it is necessary to keep a tab onthe items which the bakery is selling themost, and the items which are attractingunimpressive sales. The inventory must beadjusted accordingly, so that precious
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expenditure is not misallocated towardspotential waste. This is especially crucial fora start-up bakery with very limitedinvestment, for there waste can be a greatwaste of scarce money, whose continuationcan soon lead to a cash crunch and therebycompromising on necessary investments.
Careful Pricing and PromotionThe right pricing of your products is alsovery crucial. It is always better to priceyour bakery products judiciously, whiletaking into account of not only your costof production, but also the prevailingprice range of your competition nearby. Itis because you need to cover your costsand make a healthy profit, but before thatyou need your products to be sold at thefirst place.
At the same time, it is wise andprudent to give greater weightage onpromotion/showcasing of those bakeryproducts whose profit margins are higherin the bakery over those bakery productswhere the profit margin is comparativelylower in the given unit.
It is a business savvy step to display theproducts whose profit margins are higherin a much more attractive way in thebakery as compared to other products inthe given bakery’s portfolio. This mayhelp the entrepreneur/baker to earn quickrevenues and eventually decent profits bypassing through break-even very soon.
Customers’ ProfileMore than the national trends, theproduct range of a given bakery shouldgive more importance to the local tasteswhere the given bakery is located. Forexample, designer dessert is an emergingtrend in the Indian bakery business, butits consumers are still largely confinedamong the upper echelons of the society,in big cities of India. So if your bakery isnot located in an upmarket locality in abig city, too much of your creativity andmoney invested in designer desserts arenot likely to yield the desired revenues.
However, that is not to say that if youare a bakery owner in a middle class area ofa tier-II city, you shouldn’t experimentwith designer desserts. You can, but youcannot afford to give too much focus onit. Ideally, the focus should be onmainstream bakery products likeconventional cakes, biscuits, breads, etc.At the same time, you can create somethemed and customised cakes with exoticingredients as experiment and be sure not
to price them very high.
Good Range, Health and TasteThe product range of bakeries should notonly be comprehensive, but should try tomerge health and taste well, as health isemerging as an important factor behindF&B purchases. Bakeries which can comeup with innovative, tasty and healthysnacking options to satiate the suddenbouts of hunger pangs between lunch anddinner have a good chance to succeed inthese times.
Bakeries should not only have whitebread, cakes, biscuits, patties, pastries,burgers, sandwiches, etc. Eventuallybakeries should also have products likemuffins, baguettes, croissants, varioustypes of healthy breads and other bakeryproducts, to which urban Indians aregetting familiar with the maturity ofglobalisation.
Themed Offerings, Ambience andDecorTo stand out from the competition,during celebrations like Diwali, Holi, orChristmas, producing of specially themedbakery products which reflect the spirit ofthese celebrations can be a savvy option togarner business. For example, rose shapedcakes on Valentine’s Day or crackers’ andcandles’ shaped chocolates during Diwalican generate interest among the crowd.
The other important factor thatinfluences the success of bakery operationsis the ambience and décor. These aspectsshould also depend upon the locality ofthe bakery or the clientele that it primarilycaters to. For example, if your bakery islocated in an upwardly mobile or posharea of a metropolitan city, the ambienceand décor should be sleek and somewhatunique, but if your bakery is located in a
traditional middle-class area and if youintend to target the consumers withmoderate means and old-fashioned tastes,it is advisable not be too funky with yourambience and décor; for it may prove tobe counterproductive and your would beconsumers would be reluctant to come toyou by perceiving you to be too costly orhigh-end. In that case it is better if youkeep your bakery’s ambience and décorsimple and straightforward.
HR and HygieneGood quality human resource with theright expertise and also the right attitudeto go the extra mile, maintenance ofimpeccable hygiene standards in thebakery unit are some of the other measureswhich need to be taken care of if oneneeds to write an enduring success story inthe Indian bakery industry.
Incompetent personnel or the personlacking the right attitude to succeed in thebakery industry, and rampant untidinessin the atmosphere of the bakery can determany potential guests.
Franchising RouteThese days many retail bakery chains areopting for franchise route, which can bean opportunity for the entrepreneur toenter the bakery business with theadvantage of instant brand recognition.
For a franchisee bakery operation someof the above-mentioned factors forrunning a successful bakery operationneed alteration. For example in afranchisee bakery outlet, pricing of theproducts will not be dependent upon thecompetition in the locality concernedfrom stand-alone bakeries or bakerychains, and neither does the outlet shouldhave any individualistic appeal in terms ofambience and decor. Instead the ambienceand décor of the franchisee bakery outletshould ideally simulate the ambience anddécor of other franchisee bakery outlets ofthe franchise so that brand recognitionprocess is facilitated.
But to become a franchisee of arenowned brand, the entrepreneur oftenneeds to have a tidy sum of money and adecent real estate area with her/him.Moreover, if the product quality of thefranchisee fails, the hard-earned brandreputation of the franchise company is atstake, which may result in cancellation ofthe arrangement.
The feature has been done with inputsfrom Ashok Malkani, Mumbai.
B A K E R Y
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These days, burger has emerged asa very popular snack in theIndian fast food space. The huge
crowd at McDonald’s, KFC’s and Nirula’scounters reflects that the burgers havecaught the imagination of not only theyoung college going generation, but alsoof the urban middle-aged and middleclass section of our society at large. Itspopularity is a part of India’s growing fastfood culture, which again is fostered bygrowing disposable incomes in select butsizeable pockets of the Indian society,influence of global tastes, fast-pacedlifestyles, and growing nuclearisation ofurban families.
McDonald’s is of course synonymouswith high quality burgers, but thepresence of burgers in urban India is farmore widespread than the ambit ofMcDonald’s in the country. Nirula’s andKFC India have their burgers and in therecent past Dunkin Donuts did come outwith a range of burgers for the Indian
market. Not only the organised fast foodchains, but nowadays, we are seeing aplethora of bakeries and other eating outoutlets in the unorganised sectordisplaying burgers on their shelves.
Simple and DelightfulThe global popularity of this simple anddelightful fast food is complemented byits over hundred-year-old legacy.However, all said and done, the history ofburger is not very old as compared tomany other famous food items of theworld. The name burger is derived fromhamburger, and is a short form of thelatter.
A burger can be simply andcommonly defined as a one or morecooked patties of minced goat meat,chicken, beef, pork, potato, etc.,sandwiched between two bread buns.The patties and bun package can bespruced with green vegetables, lettuce,tomato, onion, cheese, as part of the
contents. The burgers are usually servedwith condiments like sauce, mustard,ketchup and mayonnaise, which areeither added to the burger or presentedon the side of the dish.
German Influence, US MarketThough the term hamburger is derivedfrom the word Hamburg, a city inGermany, but modern burgers wereprobably not presented to the world bythe Germans, as is being commonlybelieved. The burger could possibly haveits origins in the US, though the Germaninfluence on burgers could not bediscounted. Here it deserves a mentionthat during the mid- nineteenth century,a plethora of immigrants from variousparts of northern Europe were beginningtheir voyages to the United States fromHamburg, with the objective of settlingin the ‘New World.’ They eventuallyintroduced their culinary legacies andcustoms to their host country, one or
By Swarnendu Biswas
Burger
Biting into the
63Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
some of which probably led to the creation of burgers.During that period, New York was the most common
destination for ships cruising from Hamburg, and variousrestaurants in the vibrant city began offering the Hamburg-style steak in order to attract German sailors and immigrantslanding there. During the late 19th century, Hamburg steak,which can be regarded as precursor to hamburger, wereserved in many restaurants located in the port of New York.The dish was a lightly salted and often smoked beef mincedby hand, which was usually served along with onions andbread crumbs. This dish was similar to minced beefpreparations found in Hamburg in those days and helpedto create nostalgia among the huge exodus of German andother European immigrants to the US. And nostalgia isoften channelised into healthy revenues.
It is believed by many food historians that the firsthamburger (which is also referred to as burger) was createdby a Danish immigrant named Louis Lassen of Louis’Lunch — a small lunch wagon in Connecticut — in 1900.Though bread and meat were consumed separately or as asandwich much before the invention of hamburgers, but itis believed that they were first presented between two slicesof bun only in the beginning of the twentieth century.However, there are other claims to the invention of burger.
Many claim that Charlie Nagreen used to sell pork meatbetween two slices of bread at the Seymour Fair (nowknown as Outagamie County Fair), Wisconsin, USA, wayback in 1885, which enabled his consumers to eat whilewalking along. The Seymour Community Historical Societyof Seymour, Wisconsin has credited Charlie Nagreen withthe invention of hamburger. He is also known as“Hamburger Charlie.” But according to the research ofWhite Castle, an US-based fast food hamburger restaurantchain, hamburger was first created in Hamburg, Germany,by a German cook named Otto Kuase, who came up withthis fast food option in 1891.
However, the most popular among these and many otherclaims towards the origins of hamburger or burger is that ofLouis Lassen’s of Louis’ Lunch, who incidentally is believedto have come up with this singular combination, which inthe later half of the next century was going to foster the fastfood revolution, to cater the need of a patron who was in atearing hurry (yes, in those days too time was scarce). Beingtoo busy to sit and dine, he asked for something to eat onthe move, and the ingenuous Lassen came up with the firsthamburger, whose filling was a broiled beef patty.
The Rise of White Castle
If to McDonald’s credit should go for popularisinghamburgers across the globe, to the White Castle goes thecredit of making hamburgers an integral part of the palateof the US people. White Castle was founded in 1921, byWalter Anderson and Billy Ingram, in Wichita, Kansas, US.Presently, the fast food hamburger chain is headquarteredin Columbus, US. Credited to be first fast food chain in theworld, the company is known for its small, squarehamburgers, which are also known as sliders. In theaftermath of World War-I, probably due to widespreadanti-German sentiments in the US at that time, burgers’popularity received a setback in the country. But the sliders
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from White Castle revived the popularityof burgers in the US.
The impeccable hygienic standardsfollowed at White Castle outlets alsomanaged to dispel US people’sapprehension at that time regardingeating ground beef, which was caused byUpton Sinclair’s novel named TheJungle(1906) that showcased the poorsanitation practices of the meat packingindustry. Moreover, White Castle’schain-wide standardised method of foodpreparation instilled confidence amongthe consumers that they would receivethe same quality of offerings from anyWhite Castle outlet.
Besides, as the concept of fast foodwas unknown at that time in the UnitedStates (and elsewhere too), there wasabsence of infrastructure to support thebusiness. The company therefore createdits own infrastructure, which includedcentralised bakeries, meat supply plants,and warehouses to meet its supplyrequirements.
However, the company’s refusal tofranchise or resort to loan has probablylowered its growth potential. Despitepioneering the concept of fast food andthe nationwide popularity of burgers, allof White Castle’s 420 outlets are locatedwithin the US, which doesn’t soundimpressive in front of other huge QSRchains, which begun much later but haveemerged as global forces in the QSRbusiness.
An Inspiring StoryWithout reference to McDonald’s nostory of burger can be complete. Thesuccess of this largest hamburger chain inthe world speaks volumes of theentrepreneurial genius of Ray Kroc, whofashioned its phenomenal growth. Thegenesis of the company can be traced to1940, nineteen years after White Castlecame into being. It begun as a barbecuerestaurant in San Bernardino, California,that was being run by Richard and hisbrother Maurice McDonald.
They produced a limited menu,focusing on just a few items—burgers,fries and beverages—which facilitated orrather enabled them to emphasise onquality at every step. Here it deserves amention that in 1948, the brothersreorganised their business as a hamburgerstand by introducing production lineprinciples. When Kroc, who was amilkshake machine salesman at the time,
visited the outlet for a business purpose,he was impressed by the bothers’ effectiveoperations, and pitched his vision ofcreating McDonald’s restaurants all overthe US to them. Kroc was the first torealise the huge business potential thatthe restaurant did embody. However,eventually the reality of McDonald’s wasto even surpass this initial vision of RayKroc…
The brothers and the visionaryjoined hands in 1955, when Krocbecame the franchise agent of theMcDonald brothers. In 1955, Krocfounded the McDonald’s Corporation.He opened the very first restaurant ofMcDonald’s Inc. in Des Plaines,Illinois, USA. The Des Plaines outletgarnered hundreds of dollars on itsopening day, and soon more eagerfranchisees were lining up. Krocfranchised scores of restaurants tofranchisees. By 1958, McDonald’s hadsold its 100 millionth hamburger…andthat was just the beginning of the story.
The brothers, however, didn’t feel the
pressing need to expand their business ona nationwide basis. Kroc eventuallypurchased the chain from the McDonaldbrothers in 1961. He soon madeMcDonald’s burger not only a nationalfavourite but a global success story inmarketing. The edifices of McDonald’ssuccess story, which created globalpopularity for burgers, were probably thestringent consistency of quality acrossoutlets located in different geographies,and successful franchise operations.
Ray Kroc believed in theentrepreneurial spirit, and rewarded hisfranchisees for individual creativity.Many of McDonald’s most famous menuitems—like the Big Mac, Filet-O-Fishand the Egg McMuffin— were createdby the franchisees. At the same time, theMcDonald’s operating system insisted
franchisees to follow the coreMcDonald’s principles of quality, service,cleanliness and value.
Catering to Indian TastesToday, McDonald’s has presence in 130countries across more than 32,000outlets, and the fast food chain serves58 million customers, on an average,each day. In India, where McDonald’sbegun its journey in 1996, the burgerchain has a network of over 300restaurants. India is the first country inthe world where McDonald’s does notoffer any beef and pork items.McDonald’s have also made earnest andsuccessful endeavours in catering to theIndian tastes.
More than 70 percent of McDonald’smenu in India has been locally developedwith complete segregation of vegetarianand non-vegetarian products right fromthe food processing plants to the point ofserving the customers. McDonald’scommitment to its Indian customers isevident even in development of specialsauces that use local spices and chillies.
Today, burger, a fast food productwhich originated from the other part ofthe planet, has became favourite ofmiddle class urban Indians. Besides theabove-mentioned socio-economic factors,which were mentioned in the firstparagraph of the story, the growingIndianisation of burgers has alsocontributed to their popularity amongIndians, many of whom favour globaltastes with local flavours. McVeggieburger, McSpicy Paneer, McAloo Tikki,Masala Grill Veg burger fromMcDonald’s, and KFC’s Veg Zingerburger, and its recently launched PotatoKrisper — a crispy potato patty, toppedwith tangy sauce and served up in a soft,warm bun — are only some of theplethora of burgers catering to thenuanced Indian tastes.
However, the burger offerings of theQSRs should be more sensitive to theregional flavours of India, and thesechains need to come up with morepocket-friendly burger options thanbefore, if they want the taste and flavourof their burgers to permeate deeper intothe realm of tier-II cities and even thehuge untapped rural India. Probably theQSRs selling their burgers in India thesedays need another genius like Ray Krocto make burger’s popularity a pan-Indianreality in true sense. �
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Towards
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By Swarnendu Biswas
Syrupy SuccessSyrupy Successstand-alone restaurants, a part of therestaurant chain, or restaurants in hotels,and coffee cafes comprise Monin’s majorclientele in India. The family-ownedcompany caters to the professionals in thebeverage industry, which include high-range cocktail makers and barmen amongothers.
Here it deserves a mention that Monin,with its presence in 144 countries, is aglobally renowned producer of premiumflavourings for beverage and culinaryapplications. Monin, which has wonseveral esteemed awards during its fluidjourney through global success, alsohappens to be an important player in theevolving syrup market of India. Thecompany entered the Indian market in2003, where it has been floating 120flavours.
“Green apple, water melon, peach,mojito mint and passion fruit are some ofour popular flavours in India, which areused to enhance the feel of cocktails andmocktails,” observed Martin. Strobos, theBeverage Innovation Manager at theMonin’s newly built studio at Gurgaon.For coffee bars, the caramel, hazelnut andcinnamon flavours from Monin can createheavenly drinks out of latte, cappuccino,and mocha.
Monin’s range of flavours can not onlyplay a facilitative role in cocktails andcoffees, but also in teas. In fact, theMonin’s flavoured tea concentrates are a
According to ASSOCHAM, thealcohol consumption in India willgo beyond 19,000 million litres by
2015. The fact that in 2011 the alcoholconsumption in India was only 6,700million litres, speaks volumes about thegrowing popularity of alcoholic beveragesin the Indian food & beverage industry.According to the estimates ofEuromonitor International, during 2012-17, the spirits volumes in India wouldgrow at a 7 percent compounded annualgrowth rate.
The rise in disposable incomes andgreater openness in the society due tomaturation of globalisation could beattributed to this trend. India happens tobe the third largest global spirits market in
the world by volume, with only Chinaand Russia ahead of us in this regard.
Along with the growing popularity ofalcoholic beverages, the popularity ofcoffee café chains are also on the rise inurban India and its reasons for growth arealso somewhat similar to the reasons forgrowth in consumption of alcoholicbeverages in general, in the country.
Both these trends are inducing variedcreative concoctions of syrups to gaincurrency in the Indian beverage industry,for these syrups are playing crucial roles inbars and coffee bars by making assortedalcoholic beverages and coffee concoctionsmore appealing to the tastes of theirconsumers. One can say that syrups canplay a hugely facilitative role in the bar
and coffee café business of thecountry, in the near future.
For Bars and Cafes
In fact, the varied usage thatsyrups can be put through toaccentuate the beverage appealof bars and cafes can make oneawestruck. “Our syrups playtheir role in alcoholic beverages,which also include beers, incoffees, in whipped cream, andalso in ice creams as topping,”informed Olivier Monin, thePresident of Monin. He toldthat bars in restaurants,irrespective of whether they be
67Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
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refreshing blend of all-natural fruit juices,plant extracts, and gourmet teas. ThoughMonin’s flavours are uniform across theglobe, for the Indian market, Monin hastailored a unique concoction named Chai.The ‘Chai’ from Monin is a spicy tea-based concentrate that combines ginger,cinnamon and clove touches for versatileusage. “Besides continually adding valueto the drinks, we also develop completelynew beverage menu on request, for barsand coffee cafés,” informed Strobos.
In the recent past, Monin has come upwith trendy frappe powders in fiveflavours — chocolate, coffee, non-dairy,yoghurt and vanilla. All these frappepowders, which are Monin’s internationallaunch, are now available in the Indianmarket.
Monin and the Market
Presently, after wisely gauging the growingpopularity of its syrups in an evolvingIndian market, the French company withmore than a hundred-year-old legacy(thecompany was set up by a 19-year-olddynamic entrepreneur named GeorgesMonin, in 1912), has envisaged todeepen its distribution network in India.“At present we have presence in 45 cities
of India but our major focus is inMumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai,Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Butconsidering the growing demand for oursyrups in the country, we also want todeepen our distribution network acrossvarious tier-II cities of India,” explainedOlivier Monin.
According to him, the post-modernand globalised India of twenty-firstcentury has a huge potential for syrupsacross its restaurants, bars and coffee cafes.
Monin has recently come up with aproduction plant in Malaysia, which isexpected to facilitate the company to tapits South Asian markets, which include theIndian market too, more vigorously.
Studio for Awareness
Of course, despite their increasingpopularity in the country, the market forsyrups in India is at a nascent stage.Therefore exploring the full potential ofsyrup concoctions in alcoholic beveragesand coffees need sustained awarenessbuilding exercises in the Indian food &beverage industry by the syrupmanufacturers in India.
The newly developed studio of Moninat Gurgaon serves this purpose, besides ofcourse conducting R&D activitiespertaining to the development of newrecipes and menus of Monin. “We areplanning to have more such studios inIndia, in the near future, in order toenhance the spread of awareness of ourproducts across the industry, throughdissemination of useful information,”proffered Olivier Monin candidly. Moninhas also conducted road shows in India togenerate market awareness for the usage ofits products. �
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By Swarnendu Biswas
Get Heady with
Nysha
Varun Khera
At a first glance, the Nysha Bar &Grill, located at the poshmarketplace of Sector 18 in
Noida, came across as a combination ofstyle and substance. Further observationconfirmed or rather reinforced the firstimpression.
The 80-cover pub-cum-restaurant,which includes a 30 cover privatedining area within its ambit, exudes acasual yet formal ambience that is likelyto encourage both the fun lovingyoungsters as well as the graying on thetemples corporate honchos visiting orworking at Noida to have a heady timeat the place, after the sun sets on thehectic day. Of course, that doesn’t meanthey need to visit the bar at Nysha Bar
& Grill only after the dusk descends onDelhi NCR, for the place is open from12 am to 12 pm, daily.
The People’s PlaceAt the same time, thefamily crowd or a couplethinking of having aromantic rendezvous maynot mind enjoying theoutlet’s diverse anddelicious multi-cuisineoptions after a tiringshopping spree at Sector18, with or without theaccompaniment of assortedalcoholic beverages. In fact,the private dining area of
the restaurant is targeted at couples,families and friends.
The décor of the place, which isspread across an area of 2500 sq. ft.in
the basement, reflects anamalgamation of Indian andTurkish influences, with asprinkling of Mediterraneantouch in the alcoves.According to Varun Khera,the Managing Director ofNysha Bar & Grill and oneof the four business partnersof Bean Tree Coffee Pvt. Ltd.the décor of the place isgoing to be renovated soon,and the renovated restaurantwill reflect an erstwhile royal
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aura of medieval India, through itsambience and décor. Khera has madequite an eventful journey from his daysas a cabin crew with Jet Airways, but hisunassuming behaviour didn’t betray anyheadiness of success.
Going BackNysha Bar & Grill is one of the threeofferings of Bean Tree Coffee Pvt. Ltd., acompany which was set up in 2005 byfour enterprising men wanting toexplore new horizons in the Indian foodservice industry. The other threefounders and business partners of BeanTree Coffee Pvt. Ltd are ManasWadhwa, Sachin Maharia, and CharuRalli. The other two expressions of thecompany in the restaurant business areDesi Vibes, and Kaffiiaa. Desi Vibes is amulti-award winning Indian restaurantwhere you can get delicious north
Indian and Mughlai food, and Kaffiia isan Italian café and lounge.
“Nysha Bar & Grill was launched inOctober 2011 to cater to the need of anelegant and well-stocked pub whichcould also provide a global gastronomictrip to the guests with spirits to match;here in the heart of Noida,” explainedKhera. The beverage choices at the pub-
cum-restaurant can not only impress anoccasional drinker of alcoholic beveragesbut also a connoisseur.
Raising the BarThe bar truly raises the bar in terms ofits varied offerings. In the realm ofwhiskies, the exotic scotches in RedLabel, Black Label, Gold Label and BlueLabel are complemented with renowneddomestic brands like Black Dog, 100Pipers and Blenders Pride. The singlemalt section has globally renownednames like Glenfiddich, Laphroaig andTalisker adorn the beverage menu. FromBeefeater to Baccardi, the gin and rimsection is also decent enough.
If you like to grin and beer it, thenchances are you would get floored withfrothy choices ranging from Kingfisher,Tuborg, Carlsberg, Budweiser, Coronaand Stella. I could discern that thevodka selections at the exhaustive baralso included the names of importantbrands like Smirnoff, Absolut and GreyGoose. adorning the shelves.
“Our list of beverages alsoencompasses a range of liqueurs, cognac,
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Charu Ralli
Sachin Maharia
Manas Wadhwa
tequila, shooters, bubbles, classiccocktails and innovative martinis, andwines, including champagnes. For thosewho are not interested in alcoholicbeverages, we have a wide gamut ofmocktails to feel in high spirits withoutspirits. We think this exhaustive list ofbeverages can cater to the increasinglydiversified drinking preferences ofmodern urban India, whose microcosmcan be found in Noida,” explainedManas Wadhwa. “Besides the regularcocktails, we also have champagne-basedcocktails on offer, which are liked by ourdiscerning crowd,” added Khera.
Sachin Maharia also joined theconversation. He informed us thatbesides the “evergreen cocktails like Mai-Tai, Bloody Mary, Margarita,Manhattan, etc. Nysha Bar &Grill has some innovativemartinis on offer likePomegranate Martini, Passion& Cranberry Martini,Serpent (a concoction ofvodka, sandal wood, applejuice, lime juice, brown sugarand lemon grass) on offer.”
The Gastronomic JourneyMe and my colleagueDebnath began with 100Pipers, which was accompanied withcrispy risotto with exotic vegetables, andTriple Chicken Sampler Platter. Yes, likethe readers to me also the name of thesecond dish seemed a bit out of theordinary, and I enquired Khera aboutthe contents of the dish. “In the TripleChicken Sampler Platter, we have threestyles of chicken preparations on a singleplatter. It includes chicken satay whichis a Mexican preparation, chickenpentagon which is a Chinesepreparation, and chicken Lebanese,which as the name suggests, is aLebanese preparation,” elaborated thedynamic entrepreneur.
The food anddrink thatfollowed gelledwell with thesoulful Bollywoodnumbers beltedout by the in-house DJ. Themusicalenvironment atthe outlet keepschanging with the
days of the week.The culinary offerings at
Nysha Bar & Grill canwonderfully complementits heady offerings. “Theexhaustive array of headybeverages at Nysha Bar &Grill are complementedwith a gamut of cuisines onthe menu, which includetastes and flavours fromMexican, Italian,Mediterranean, Lebanese,Turkish, Chinese andMughlai cuisines,” assertedKhera.
Whether one would prefer to beginone’s gastronomic journey with acharipaneer tikka or a Lebanese platter, or forthat matter with a non-vegetarian kebab
platter, she/he would not bedisappointed here. Similarlymutton barra kebab, murghmalai tikka and ajwaini fishtikka are not out of placewith herbed chicken lasagneor a crispy whole pomfret inginger chilli sauce at themenu world of Nysha Bar &Grill We found the MuttonRoganjosh and Dal Makhaniextremely sumptuous to our
tastes.Khera stated that the exhaustive
menu also has a section on sumptuousSouth Indian delights which includeitems like Chicken Chettinad andMalabari Parantha among others. “Ourvariety of snacking and fine diningoptions at affordable rates induces manyguests staying at Radisson Blu MBDHotel Noida to dine here,” observedKhera.
In order to meet the needs of adiversified palate, there are three trainedChefs who are exclusively engaged with
Nysha Bar & Grill. One ofthem is trained in an array ofglobal cuisines, another hasspecialty in Indian curries,while the third is a Tandoorexpert.
Intelligent PromotionsThe resto-bar did came upwith some interestingpromotions in the recent past.One of the recent promotionsat Nysha Bar & Grill was theoffer of three pegs of 100Pipers whisky of 12 years old,
for the price of one. This offer was validduring August-October of this year. Thepub-cum-restaurant also offered fourbottles of Kingfisher beer at Rs.549during the summer months of this year,which no doubt, was very wellappreciated by the leisure as well ascorporate crowd visiting the outlet.
“As far as other promotions go, wehave introduced special packages forcorporates, have started ladies night onWednesdays with free cocktails, and alsodid invite upcoming and talented sufisingers to perform at the pub-cum-restaurant,” pointed out Charu Ralli,who heads the operations and brings hisexpertise of event management to thecompany. He added that the outlet hasbeen attracting a crowd of 150 peopleon an average on a daily basis, with thefootfalls going up to 200 people on anaverage, on a given weekend.
Ralli also confidently asserted thatNysha Bar & Grill, which involved anapproximate initial investment ofRs.3000-3500 per sq.ft,. is expected tobreak even by 2014. As far as the brandextension goes, “We are also envisagingnew Nysha Bar & Grill outlets in Delhi,from 2014 end onwards,” profferedKhera. ■
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Creole rice to Teriyaki Lamb, shamikebab to mezee platter, sushi tobiryani, pan fried duck breast in
African style to Napoletana allePronto (fresh pomodoro basilica saucewith broccoli, pine nuts and olives) – thenew generation restaurants are presentinga menu encompassing diverse culinarygenres.
Not very long ago, risottos and paellas,au gratin and steaks were dishes meant tobe savoured at five-star hotels’ coffee shopsand restaurants, in India. There were hardlyany other options to enjoy them. But intoday’s India, you can have them at variousmulti cuisine restaurants too, which are notwithin the ambit of five-star properties.
This is an exciting time for the F&Bindustry, which includes the F&Bindustry of India too. However, the
increasing popularity of various globalcuisines in India reflects diners’sophisticated palates, their quest forgastronomic adventure and their desire toexplore unheard and unconventionalcuisines from the world.
For example, there is a growingdemand for cuisines like Peruvian cuisine(yes, it is from Peru, located in other partof the world), for its unique take onfamiliar ingredients such as corn, potatoesand chilies. Moroccan cuisine, Koreancuisine, and the exploration of Japanesecuisine beyond the familiar option of sushiare also getting vogue in India.
One of the global cuisines which isgetting very much popular in urban Indiais the Italian cuisine. Now there are a largenumber of discerning Indian restaurantvisitors who have knowledge and taste of
the rich treasure-trove of Italian dishes,that go much beyond your regular pizzaand pasta.
But the exciting trend is that alongwith the individual popularity of variouscuisines from the world which have beengetting witnessed in the post-modernIndia’s culinary map since a decade,intermingling of various cuisines fromacross the globe is also taking place inmany restaurants of metropolitan India, inthese recent times.
The matured palate of increasingnumbers of Indians is embracingamalgamation of divergent flavours,which is encouraging many innovativeChefs’ new-age culinary creations.
An interesting trend in the Indianrestaurant business these days is theinnovative way of synthesising theculinary culture and flavours fromdifferent geographies. It is no longergreatly surprising to have an Italian pizzaspruced with South-east Asian flavours, ora galouti kebab filled with foie gras. Chefsare giving global fusion food a newmeaning altogether.
Well, multi-cuisine is emerging as thepragmatic choice for many restaurantsdotting across Indian metropolitan cities.Leave no chance, let the guests be happyon a worldwide gastronomic adventureseems to be an emerging current ofbusiness logic in the high-end restaurantbusiness, in metropolitan India. For theguests, whether you hanker for acontinental or home-style fare, it is time tostep out and eat out. It is because there isa world of tastes waiting for the guests toexplore…
By Sharmila Chand
Globalisation of
Tastes
43Jan-Feb ’13
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1374
T H E M E C U I S I N E
This above-mentioned proclivitytowards having a variety of global cuisineson the platter may be more evident in thehigh-end restaurant business acrossmetropolitan cities of India, but it ispercolating across tier-I and tier-II cities ofIndia too. Here I present some restaurants/restaurant chains, which have successfullycome up with creative multi-cuisinecombinations to satiate the continuallyevolving palate of their guests.
Global Flavours at ProntoFor example, Pronto, the café chain inMumbai famously known for its pastasand pizzas, has now added a wide range ofnew mouth-watering dishes including thedelectable Cayenne Chicken Salad (ahealthy mix of grilled cayenne chicken,romaine lettuce, sautéed onions, cherry
tomatoes and corn tortilla strips served in atangy chipotle dressing) & the TunaSalad made with tuna flakes, apples,mixed greens, jalapeno, basil, carrots andcucumbers, and served with a mustardand dill dressing.
The pastas include a wide variety ofvegetarian as well as non-vegetarian fare.There are some new favourites on offertoo which include Napoletana allePronto (fresh pomodoro basilica sauce withbroccoli, pine nuts and olives), Panna EFunghi (a creamy concoction ofmushrooms, fresh basil and parmesancheese), and Calabrese (pepperoni, hotsalami, paprika, olives, spring onions andfresh tomatoes).
Adding on to the Pronto’s list of pizzasis the must try Best Ever Supreme pizza, acomplete and wholesome treat for everymeat lover. This mouth-watering pizzaconsists of grilled chicken, roast beef, porksalami, caramelised onions and grilledpeppers.
“Most of our guests are loyal repeatcustomers and are like family to us. Toprovide them with the level of service
and comfort they have come to expectfrom us, and rightfully so, we constantlyinnovate and add to the menu so thatthere is always something new for themto try. Our new menu takes inspirationfrom different parts of the world andgives our guests a chance to try fromsouth-west American to mainlandEuropean to oriental dishes,” explainedAditya Parikh, Director, Pronto.
Set’z Celebrate Culinary VarietySet’z in Delhi is the perfect example ofmulti-cuisine gastronomic fare.European, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,Thai and Indian flavours have foundtheir one-stop destination at Set’z. With20 expatriate Chefs working on theirspecialties, being on this restaurantsimulates the experience of being on a
stage with the skilled Chefs performingfood theatre.
Set’z’s exceptional open kitchensincorporate seven main cooking sections,each complete in all respects, be it thewood-fired Peking duck oven or thegigantic stone cladded pizza oven or thechar griller for kebabs.
With the emphasis on the very best,freshest ingredients, Set’z’s menu featuresuncomplicated, seasonal dishes,highlighted with classic favourites fromeach kitchen. At the restaurant, dinerscan fascinatingly watch as meats, seafoodand vegetables are being prepared andcooked to perfection before being served.
American Legacy, InternationalAppeal The recently opened The CaliforniaBoulevard at Rajouri Garden, NewDelhi, brings together the deepunderstanding of food from across theseas, and rinses this knowledge andunderstanding of tastes with thewonderful wines.
The restaurant named after the iconic
American landmark, presents a picture offlamboyance through Hollywood, music,fashion, design and brilliant service.There is a lot more that goes beyond thename; its multi-cuisine menu along witha curated collection of fine wines exaltsthe sense of taste, while the poshambience and décor, manifested throughposters of leading ladies from Hollywood,designer furniture and serving ware,western music and aroma of luxuriousperfumes together creates a magicaldesigner ambience, making a wonderfulimpression on the other four senses. Aclassy Harley Davidson parked near theentrance of the restaurant accentuates theambience.
The brainchild of restaurateur RajanSethi, the restaurant even has a woodenpizza oven — a testimony to the
attention paid to details when it comes toan authentic multi-cuisine experience.One can say that The CaliforniaBoulevard promises to transport itspatrons to a world that smells likeAmerica, speaks like America, feels likethe ‘American Dream’ but tastesinternational.
From doing survey of these and manymore high-end multi-cuisine restaurantsin the recent times, and gauging theirincreasing popularity notwithstandingthe current lean phase in the Indianhospitality industry, I think that it is thetime to welcome ourselves to an era ofglobal cuisines, an era where Chefs areproducing a plethora of dishes catering toexperimental tastes; bringing together thevery best of east and west. Theglobalisation of tastes and flavours is anemerging trend in the Indian food &beverage industry.
And the perfect complements to avariety of global cuisine offerings on asingle platter are an excellent array of finewines, good coffees, and a wide selectionof popular Continental desserts. ■
75Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1376
A bold new epicurean adventure isthe best way to define the newlyopened Uzuri Deck and Dining
restaurant in the capital. Here theEuropean cuisine is being offered withthe scrumptious taste from the dark andbeautiful Africa.
Uzuri is a Swahili word for ‘the stateor characteristic of being good.’ Themenu has been conceptualised to
present a memorable gourmet experienceto the guests by beautifully minglingthe modern European cuisine with therustic flavours of Africa. The beveragelist includes extensive wine selection andsignature cocktails.
The restaurant, located at M block ofGreater Kailash-II, New Delhi, is spreadover two levels. At Level 1 you can getan intimate dinning space along with
chic décor. It has a seating capacity for40 guests at a time. The Bar and Deckon Level 2 of the restaurant has anequally complementing décor with well-appointed indoor and outdoor space,offering a perfect place to enjoy andrevel drinks with friends and family.
The Interiors
The décor of the restaurant reflectsexotic Africa. Warm, exotic woodsand earthy materials such as stone andterracotta have been used, intricatelycarved with African motifs. The moodybar, overlooking the deck, with loungeseating and palm trees completes thehedonistic experience.
The idea was to present the interiorsthat complemented the cuisine. Tribalpatterned fabrics were designedexclusively for the restaurant. Everyelement of décor of the restaurant isbespoke, from chairs to tables and someof the artworks; all handmade at thestudio.
Preeti Knowles of Hidden Gallery
TastesBy Sharmila Chand
R E S T A U R A N T
from Two Continents
77Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
R E S T A U R A N T
fame has done the interiors. She has astring of quality restaurant interiors toher name and is famed for her greataesthetic designs as well as great quality.
The Creative Chefs
Two young and extremely talented Chefslead the kitchen at Uzuri Deck andDining. Guy Clark has joined the teamfrom South Africa and is a celebrated namein the culinary world of the same country.
Rishim Sachdeva of Indian origin is atrained Chef. Being a globetrotter at ayoung age, he has gained tremendoustechnical skills and work experience inEurope with some renowned andcelebrated Michelin Star Chefs andrestaurants like The Fat Duck by ChefHeston Blumenthal and Chef MatthiasTaubert.
The Menu
The Chefs intend taking their guests on
a gastronomic journey across continents,spanning from Europe to Africa or fromAfrica to Europe for that matter.Collectively, the creative Chefs haveconceptualised a menu that beautifullymingles the flavours of the twocontinents and have presented it to theglobal Indians.
The beverage list boasts of anextensive wine selection to complementthe food, combined with selective spiritsand signature cocktails which are nativeto African palates.
The Promoters
The promoters of Uzuri Deck andDining, Aanshul Rastogii and GauravParwani have on board a team oftalented and experienced people in thetrade, who have joined hands on thisproject. Aanshul Rastogii is a hospitalityprofessional specialising in operationaland commercial finance, having headedfinance division at premiuminternational hotels in London. GauravParwani is a hospitality professional fromLondon with hands on experience infood & beverage operations in premiuminternational hotels.
“We aimed to introduce a restaurantconcept that hasn’t existed inDelhi. Our target guest profile is a well-travelled Indian/expat within the agegroup of 30-60. We decided ona European cuisine infused with theculinary touch of Africa, whichentailed hiring the right Chefs. Wehave on board Chef Rishim Sachdeva,who is bringing on the table technicalskills and knowledge of European
Project Consultancy by
Skill Smith Hospitality
Consulting
Bikram Singh is a seasoned
hospitality professional with a
passion for restaurants and hotels.
He has fourteen years of hands-on
experience in setting up and
operations of food and beverage
establishments.
At present, he heads a boutique
consulting firm named Skill Smith
Hospitality Consulting that offers
solutions to hotels & restaurants in
concept development, technical
planning and operations. Singh has
provided crucial support to the
overall concept development, as well
as to the technical and operational
planning of Uzuri Deck and Dining.
Signature Dishes
• Crispy Cocoon Prawns, Mango
& Mint Salsa, Summer Vodka
Dressing with a side of Parma Ham &
Melon.
• Trio of Beetroot & Goat’s
Cheese with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
and Warm Bread.
• Pan Fried Duck Breast, Crispy
Confit Leg, Citrus Mash, African
Style Beetroot & Wilted Spinach
with Port & Madeira Jus.
• Home Smoked Confit Salmon
Fillet with Pickled Koirabi, Sesame
Seeds and Horseradish Vinaigrette.
• Kenyan Coffee and Paprika
Tenderloin with a Smoked Truffle
Compound Butter, Fondant Potato
with Chargrilled Vegetables.
flavours which he had acquired inEurope, and Chef Guy Clark, apassionate cook with knowledge ofAfrican spices,” Rastogii explained,while talking about the restaurant’starget profile and its unique culinarycharacter.
“With the young generationtravelling worldwide and having beenexposed to the international cuisines,they are now welcoming and open toexperimenting new food trends withdemanding standards,” pointed outParwani, while explaining the businesslogic behind this amalgamation offlavours in their restaurant. �
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Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1378
C H E F V O I C E
and to achieve your goals.
What would you like to say onyour work?
I believe that I am fortunate to be aChef. My profession involves so much oflearning from various perspectives. I get tomeet so many types of guests and the peopleI work with come from different walks oflife. I like to focus on the basics and thenbuild upon.
What is your philosophy of work?It is never say die.
Who is/are your source ofinspiration?
There have been so many Chefs who haveinfluenced me and have inspired me. Thereare GMs who have been very good leaders,and there have been hoteliers, who have helpedme to grow and learn. They are toweringpersonalities in the hospitality industry. In thisregard, I would like to mention about our ownCMD, Dr. Jyotsna Suri, whose energy andleadership are exemplary.
What is your definit ion ofsuccess as a Chef, and how do you
Born and brought up in a small town in Jharkhand, Chandra Shekhar
Pandey, Executive Chef, The LaLiT Golf & Spa Resort Goa, always
has had a love for good food.
At the same time, he was endowed with a good memory of how a
particular dish tasted and also was armed with the ability or rather
the quality to discern and differentiate various flavours and tastes.
These attributes are of course, still with him, only further honed by
experience.
Pandey begun his culinary journey from IHM Mumbai and later he
went on to train under the Kitchen Management Training Program at
the Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development. “The program,
which laid an equal emphasis on culinary knowledge and skills, gave
me an opportunity to work under the best Chefs of India at that time,”
recollected Pandey.
He developed his skills in Indian cuisine from working in restaurants
like Kandahar at The Oberoi, Mumbai and at Soma at Grand Hyatt,
Mumbai. “I picked up my knowledge about western cuisine from
Frangipani at Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai, and from working at
Grand Café and Celini, at Hyatt. My exposure in oriental cuisine is
due to my tenure in quality restaurants like Baan Thai, China House,
and India Jones,” expressed Pandey, quite candidly.
All these exposures in varied forms of culinary arts have helped
Pandey in gaining a broad perspective in various cuisines and in the
application of various culinary techniques. The excerpts of the
interview follow:
How do you define yourself?I am a student of life. I believe in attaining
perfection with continual improvements. Iam spiritual yet rational. I try to be humbleand to learn from everyone. I have an appetitefor knowledge. I believe that unless and untilone does not become a good human being,she/he cannot become a good Chef.
What is the meaning of life foryou?
For me, life is an exciting journey on aroller coaster with its own ups anddowns. Every day is an opportunity to learn
Being Passionate
About PerfectionBy Sharmila Chand
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1378
79Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
define success at a personal level?Success for me is the satisfaction of my guests, satisfying their
varied demands and expectations, and achieving our businessgoals and success with my team. On personal level, my definitionof success is happiness and peace with my family.
What are the things you are passionate about?They are food, music, cricket, books and my family, not
necessarily in that order.
How do you rate yourself as a Chef?I think I would give myself 8/ 10.
As a professional what are the things you arevery particular about?
I am extremely particular about training and cleanliness. Iam also obsessed with perfection.
What is your favourite cuisine?My favourite cuisine is the Bengali cuisine.
And what is your favourite spice? It is turmeric.
And what would you rate as your favourited i s h ?
Chicken biryani is my favourite dish.
Whom would you consider as your favouritediner/s?
I love to feed the kids the most.
What do you consider as your hot selling item?It is Flambe Gulab Jamun with Rose Petal Ice cream.
What is your favourite equipment and favouritegadget?
Hot plate is my favourite equipment, and my favouritegadget is kitchen thermometer.
How would we see you ten years from now?You are likely to see me as an entrepreneur or a General
Manager.
What are your future plans?I am looking forward to write a book on my culinary
knowledge and experience.
What is the position of Chefs in India, thesedays?
In the recent years, Chefs have gained a lot of recognition inIndia, thanks to the media and changing lifestyles. Todaybecoming a Chef has become a career of choice for many youngaspirants. Nowadays, being a Chef in India provides so manyavenues to showcase your talent and art.
What are the problems and challenges faced by
Chefs, in India?Logistics and supply remain a challenge for a resort like us.
The rising cost of food commodities is also a big concern.
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1380
P R O F I L E
Flavours
of ChinaBy Sharmila Chand
Aashita Relan, the Owner and Managing Director of ANI Hospitality,
is one of the youngest restaurateurs in Delhi. She is the daughter of
Ajay and Mala Relan, the owners of the Relan Group of Industries.
She did her graduation from The University of Warwick in England,
in business management. After that she did her post-graduation in hotel
management from Les Roches, Switzerland, where she graduated with
a first class degree.
At the age of 24, she successfully ventured into the hospitality
arena with her first restaurant — Royal China — which is an authentic
Chinese cuisine restaurant in Nehru Place, New Delhi.
”Our motto is to serve authentic Chinese food while keeping in mind
the constantly evolving and emerging trends and tastes from around the
world. With Royal China, we have tried to create a destination
restaurant where we take great pride in ensuring that all the ingredients
that we use are extremely fresh and authentic; they are imported from
China,” stated Aashita.
The restaurant has also got a number of awards in the recent past.
While commenting on the galore of awards won by Royal China in the
recent times, Aashita pointed out that “2013 has been a very lucky
year for us. We have won over 10 awards this year. “
The restaurant has also expanded into outdoor catering, which has
become very popular. Royal China’s Chefs visit outdoor sites/homes and
cook everything from start to finish. The food provided through the
outdoor catering tastes exactly as it does at the restaurant. Moreover,
Aashita makes sure that she is present there at every outdoor party
which Royal China takes up, in order to ensure that everything runs
smoothly!
Royal China has also recently started home delivery. Aashita aims
to cover the whole of Delhi through her home delivery business. So far,
the restaurant is delivering all over south and central Delhi. The
excerpts of the interview follow:
Presenting the Authentic Q First and foremost, pleasespell out some key challenges of
opening a new restaurant? Opening a restaurant is really a tough challenge
to achieve fruition. You have to consider severalfactors and sub-factors while opening a restaurant,starting from the location, which of course is anextremely crucial factor. A potential restaurateurneeds to analyse what area has a market for the typeof cuisine that she/he wants to serve. Is it safe, isthere parking, etc. are other factors to be taken intoaccount while choosing the location of the restaurant.What dishes to include in the menu, staff training,what type of atmosphere to create in the restaurant,etc. are some of the other important challenges to beweighed upon or factors to be considered beforeopening a restaurant.
Q What would you like to sayon the current restaurant business
scenario in Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore?
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Flavours
of China
81Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
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I think Mumbai has the best marketfor restaurant business right now, in thecountry, though Delhi is not far behind.Bangalore has a growing market forrestaurant business too. Soon it is expectedto catch up with Delhi and Mumbai.
Q Please comment on howthe food trend has changed
over a period of time, in thecountry
Food trend in the country has changeda lot from what it was a decade ago. Dinersare now exploring new international andregional cuisines in a bigger way.
Q What has helped you themost in the image building
of your brand? I believe the quality of food is what
has helped us build our brand. People haveenjoyed the food and we have tried to beconsistent in our food, prices and service.
I don’t believe in changing the menuevery six months. The dishes we had onthe first day are still the dishes that onewill find in our menu.
Q What do you enjoy themost about being in this
business? I love the fact that we can contribute
towards making our diners’ evening morespecial. I feel happy when someone smilesafter a good meal at Royal China.
Q What kind of pressureshave you encountered at
work?We have to face a lot of pressure. The
hours are long and run into late night.Moreover, we need to follow the policythat the customer is always right.
Q What kind of specificchallenges did you face, at
the initial stage? I mean thechallenges which are germane tothis restaurant and notnecessarily to the Indianrestaurant business in general
To start an authentic fine diningrestaurant has not been easy. It took us alot of time to educate people to try ourauthentic menu.
Q How important is it to havegood interiors in the
restaurant?Good interiors and ambience are very
important in a restaurant. When peoplego out to eat they desire to have anatmosphere that peps up their mood. Thatis why we have created a very cosy, pleasantand warm ambience.
Q What are the top threetraits or skills you look for
in your Head — Food & BeverageManager?
She/he needs to be a people’s person.Moreover, the person shouldn’t think thatshe/he is always right. And of course, theperson should have knowledge about thecuisine/s on which the restaurant isfocusing upon.
Q Is it getting difficult to hiregood trained manpower
these days?Yes, with the plethora of restaurants
opening these days, there is a huge shortageof trained staff in the industry.
Q Anything else you wouldlike to say?
I would like to say that we invested alot of time and tailored strategies to getpeople to develop a liking for our authenticChinese cuisine offerings.
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1382
H Y G I E N E
Smart Cleaning of
Vegetables By J S Dhingra
Vegetables have the potential topresent bountiful nutrition tohumankind. Vegetables are
necessary for our day-to-day needs ofenergy and are among the basic fooditems for most of us.
With the increase in globalpopulation the need for vegetableskeeps getting higher day after day,which induces steps to increase theirproduce. The use of pesticides,fungicides, growth hormones, etc. isbeing frequently adopted to preventinsect attack on vegetables, therebyfacilitating to increase their yield. Butunfortunately these pesticides andfungicides are used incessantly, oftenwithout discretion, which can causesevere side effects on humans, animalsand the environment at large. Theirindiscriminate usage in agriculture cancause deadly diseases such as cancer,hypertension, skin ailments, and manyother fatal diseases.
However, it is a knee-jerk reaction toadvocate complete banning of pesticidesfrom agriculture since they are necessaryfor increasing the productivity ofagriculture, which is in turn extremelynecessary to meet the ever increasingdemand for vegetables. But their usageneeds discretion and restraint.
The Challenge for Food ServiceInstead it is necessary to get to the cruxof the problem. In our country, the useof pesticides is regulated by the
government authorities and theirdosages are also educated to the farmer.But unfortunately the farmers/growersare less sensitive towards the long-termeffect of excess use of pesticides and inorder to reap maximum possible profitsfrom their crop they ignore the adversehealth effects on the consumers ofvegetables grown by them.
Many of these vegetables with excesspesticide influence also reach therestaurants and other avenues of thefood service industry. They are oftenladen with myriad surface contaminants,which not only include pesticides, butalso handling residues, and othercontaminations piled on the vegetablesduring their journey from farm to thefood service business via mandi.
They together pose a huge hygienechallenge for the food service business.In fact, for any industry engaged in foodservice business, be it a stand-aloneeatery, a restaurant/restaurant chain, ahotel, a catering business, a foodprocessing unit, etc. the knowledgeabout cleaning their vegetables ofpossible contaminants is necessary.
Now the food service business needsto tackle this issue comprehensively, inorder to facilitate presenting healthyfood to its consumers. The guests/consumers not only expect but alsodeserves good quality food, and goodquality not only entail taste andinnovativeness, but also the crucialfactor of health. The restaurants/eating
outlets and other players in the foodservice business should use a qualitywashing agent to eliminate or at leastmarkedly reduce the surfacecontaminants from vegetables andfruits. Reducing contaminant load willreduce chances of ill-health to theconsumers of those vegetables andfruits.
Now what is a quality washing agent?There are a few chemical options likepotassium permanganate, oxidisingchemicals such as chlorine, hypochlorite,chlorine dioxide, peracetic acid,hydrogen peroxide and ozone whichhave been routinely used to reducemicrobial contamination on fruits andvegetables. The oxidising chemicals bydefinition oxidise organic molecules onfruits and vegetables as well as oncontaminating microorganisms. Thusoxidising process kills microorganismsbut it may create by-products whichmay be unsafe.
Chlorine and OzonizersLet us examine the comparativeadvantages and disadvantages ofchlorine and ozone on treating ofvegetables.
(i) Chlorine Compounds – Chlorineis effective on some bacteria. It isexcellent and cheap for sterilising waterbut for sanitising vegetables chlorine isonly partially effective and has issueslike leaving after-taste in leafyvegetables. Moreover, it is volatile and
83Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
H Y G I E N E
needs continuous monitoring while inuse. Also chlorine is ineffective inremoving pesticide residues and someother contaminants. In fact it leaves itsown odour and by-products. Chlorineon reaction with organic matter createsby-products called THMs (Tri HaloMethanes) which are associated withcausing bladder cancer and hardening ofarteries.
(ii) Ozonizers – Ozone is a highlyreactive gas. It rapidly reacts with allorganic matter on the vegetable surfaceand either kills them or reacts andconverts them into by-products. Ozoneis not so safe in high concentrations forhumans. To be effective in treatingvegetables it must have a concentrationof 200mg and an exposure of minimum15 - 30 minutes. Whereas the MAC(Maximum Acceptable Concentration)for ozone is 0.30 ppm / 15 min. forhumans. Exposure of ozone in highconcentration above 15 minutes maydamage human lung tissues.
If ozone is used in over the prescribedconcentration, it will damage thevegetables. At the same time if ozone isused in low concentration, it will not be
effective in treating vegetables. Usingthe right concentration of ozone onvegetables is needed for effectivelytreating them and this requires expertiseand high precision. Hence continuousmonitoring by a qualified person isrequired for cleaning vegetables withozone.
Moreover, ozone reacts and createsby-products which can be highlyhazardous to human health. Seldom dataabout the possible health hazard of theseby-products are being supplied.
Ideally, before using ozonizerscommercially or even on an individuallevel, an elaborate study should be doneon each chemical (which includepesticides) to be treated with ozone.Also the study of all by-products ozonecreates and their possible health hazardto humans should be known beforeusing ozonizers.
Without Side Effects
There is also a natural option named VegFru Wash, which is patented for human-safe washing of vegetables and fruits.Veg Fru Wash can be construed as anew-age solution to the nagging
problem of surface contaminantsincluding pesticide residue, bacteria,wax, dirt, grime, etc. on vegetables. It isnon-volatile and can be stored all day ina container for batch wise washing ofvegetables.
Veg Fru Wash is based on sorbitolwhich is edible and is being used inmany food products. Hence Veg FruWash is completely human-safe.Moreover, the usage of Veg Fru Washdoesn’t require any specific know-how.Any person with normal understandingcan easily use Veg Fru Wash.
About theAuthor: J SDhingra is aseasoned experton health andhygiene issues.He presentlyheads JegsonInnovativeIndustries andis responsiblefor newinnovations which are safer for humansand environment.
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1384
O P E R A T I O N S
Food costs play major role in anyrestaurant’s success or failure. Forexample, it is wonderful to have
foie gras in the menu, but think twice(or more) if it has a chance of affectingprofits.
Without making a carefulconsideration of food costs, perhaps norestaurant (which include restaurantsin hotels, of course) can have enduringsuccess in the business. With moreprecise food cost management, one caneliminate or at least reduce excessinventory and decrease waste, thereby
increasing margins and businessgrowth.
Deciphering Food Cost We talked to F&B professionals acrossthe hotel industry and found what arethe steps they take or are taking, inorder to keep food costs’ percentage atmanageable levels.
According to Sudeep Sharma, Food& Beverage Manager, Jaipur MarriottHotel, “Food cost surely is one of thehigh costs in any F&B operations.COGS(Cost of Goods Sold) is a key
calculation whenever we fix pricing ofdishes on the menu. All the elementslike procuring costs, stocking costs andpreparing costs are added to reach thefinal figure, which is called the foodcost of any item.” The formula forcalculating total food cost of arestaurant is simple — net foodpurchases divided by net food sales(here net means after the change ininventory).
Pragmatic Steps“Many measures put together help in
By Sharmila Chand
Managing Food Costs in
Restaurants
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1384
85Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
maintaining the food costs incommercial F&B operations. Forexample, constantly checking theinventory to ensure minimum wastage,maintaining standardisation of recipesand portion size and consistentlydelivering on the standards, trainingour Chefs on a continual basis tomanage food storage and process likeFIFO (first in first out), and throughpricing the menu items based on theirproduction costs,” added Sharma.Many a time, Chefs need to bebusiness savvy too in order to checkthe food costs.
According to Neeraj Balani,Director, Food & Beverage, RadissonBlu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar,“Controlled store requisition, keepingthe perishable food items at the righttemperature so that their shelf lives arenot compromised, ensuring FIFO(First in First out) for all perishableitems, controlling the portion size ofthe dish, establishing yields of therecipes and checking they are beingachieved though production,minimising waste in the kitchen andtracking of waste, organising thestorage room and keeping inventory toa minimum, and by ensuring stockrotation to avoid spoilage,” are some of
the effective ways to manage food costsin restaurants.
Sandeep Panwar, Executive Chef,The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa NewDelhi, emphasises that right ordering isessential for keeping the food costs incheck. “The best way that we cancontrol food costs is by orderingcorrectly.” He further outlined somemore points to keep the food costunder control. He believes in followingstandard recipes, which includesstandard portion and sizes forvegetables, meats, cheese, etc. “Besides,receiving needs to be checked for bothquality and quantity, which entailscompetent person for taking care ofreceiving. Daily checks of fridges andcold room are also needed as this willfacilitate in first in first out process, inmaintaining rotation and decreasingwaste,” Panwar explained.
Balani also stressed on placing foodorders as per requirement. “Trainingand briefing the restaurant employeesto care about the food costs andplacing food orders as per therequirement, especially for banquetfunctions are important steps to keepthe food costs in restaurants in check,”pointed out Balani.
Panwar also recommendedcontrolled production. “Do notoverproduce. This will serve manypurposes; it will save costs, facilitatepresenting fresh products to the guestsand will entail less wastage/spoilage,”
Controlled production is a must. Do
not overproduce. This will serve
many purposes; it will save costs,
facilitate presenting fresh products to
the guests and will entail less
wastage/spoilage.- Sandeep Panwar,
Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa
New Delhi
Ensure FIFO (First in First out)
for all perishable items.
- Neeraj Balani,
Director, Food & Beverage, Radisson Blu Hotel
New Delhi Paschim Vihar
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1386
O P E R A T I O N S
Panwar pointed out.“Taking advantage of seasonal
produce, ordering perishable items inbulk but receiving in small batches,monitoring waste tracking sheet,monthly evaluation of top 50 productsin spend value, monitoring receiving andissues from stores on a daily basis,forecasting revenue and orderingaccordingly,” are some of the relevantsuggestions by Suresh Thampy,Executive Chef, Courtyard by MarriottMumbai International Airport, forsuccessful management of food costs in
commercial eating out establishments.Sharma justifiably gives a lot of
emphasis on training for managingfood costs. “Training, training andmore training to the food handlers onprocesses and cost optimisation isneeded to keep the food costs in check.A well aware individual will alwaysmake efforts to ensure food quality andcosts are as per defined standards,” heasserted.
Sharma also opines that “Seniorpersonnel like the Head Chefs shouldlead by example in driving qualitywhile maintaining food costs.”However, he stresses on nevercompromising on quality. “Insteadmanage your resources wisely,” Sharmapointed out.
Balani advised that dishes atrestaurants should be priced keepingtheir cost in mind “while at the sametime ensuring a high value for moneyfor guests.” He also calls for planningthe menus around seasonal availability.“Use more of seasonal fruits &vegetables in the menu as they arecheaply available and are likely to be intheir best quality during the givenseason,” he advised.
In fact, almost all industryprofessionals whom I conversed withstressed on ordering as per therequirement, maximising the use ofeach ingredient, and cooking whiletaking into account of the seasonalproduce. The industry professionalsalso suggested restaurants to have morethan one vendor to keep the food costsunder control.
Training, training and more training
to the food handlers on processes
and cost optimisation is needed to
keep the food costs in check. A
well aware individual will always
make efforts to ensure food quality
and costs are as per
defined standards.- Sudeep Sharma,
Food & Beverage Manager, Jaipur Marriott Hotel
Ordering perishable items in bulk
but receiving in
small batches is a wise
thing to follow.- Suresh Thampy,
Executive Chef, Courtyard by Marriott
Mumbai International Airport
Tapping the Technology ToolsUsing technology to check food costs isthe happening trend in the food &beverage business. “We use Prolific as astore requisition software wherein therequisition detail of the day/week/month can be viewed and controlled.Any item which is less in stock can beseen through and ordered,” informedBalani.
“We are using WINHMS softwareto manage food costing. This softwarekeeps the record of all items beingimported in the hotel, helps inordering food products, and inestimating product records. All theseattributes help in managing foodcosting,” concurred Panwar.
“We use menu engineering tool tofind out the most selling, most popularand profitable items on the menuwhich helps to eliminate the non-profitable and non-popular itemswhenever a new menu is launched,”said Thampy.
However, employing sophisticatedtechnology to keep the food costs incheck is not the option for everybody.“At Marriott Jaipur we do not use anysoftware to manage food costs. A Foodand Beverage Controller is employedfor carrying out these calculations, whois accountable for food cost controland ensuring minimum food wastage,”explained Sharma. �
87Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
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P R O D U C T P R E V I E W
The information published in this section is as per the details furnished by the respective manufacturer/distributor. In any case, it does
not represent the views of Hammer Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Designer Cutlery & TablewareEstablished in 1982, Neeti Udyog is a leading manufacturer and exporter of
designer cutlery and tableware. With decades of experience in manufacturing
and delivering quality products which are creatively designed, the company
has carved out a niche for itself
in the hospitality industry
across the globe.
The USP of Neeti Udyog is
that it can deliver custom made
products. With its motto ‘You
Sketch We Craft’ the company
can fabricate all items as per
the specifications/dimensions of
the customers and can also develop the existing designs in silver-plated
wares, stainless steelwares, copper wares, and brass wares. The range of
cutlery and tableware of Neeti Udyog are immensely popular across leading
hotels, restaurants, and other food service outlets.
Neeti Udyog
HACCP Manager KitThe HACCP Manager Kit provides the
software, hardware and PC interface for
the collecting, reporting, analysing and
storing of product temperature records
and checklist documentation. The
Handheld is a data-collecting instrument
designed to simplify the gathering of
temperatures and the documentation of
corrective actions as well as managing
standard checklist processes. The
database software allows for
customising up to 300 menu items and
the Handheld can store
up to 3000 temperature
readings. The handheld
also holds up to
1500 checklist
records (150
questions)
with yes/no or
numeric
answers, and
corresponding
corrective
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The HACCP Manager software is the
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of your HACCP Manager system. Data
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Handheld and a PC. The database is fully
customisable. Critical control points and
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ensure a detailed and solid HACCP
workflow tailored to your facility.
Mittal International
Adding to the Drinking PleasureClean glassware is essential for beverage service. A glass free of soils and residue is needed to
maintain aroma and flavour. Using clean, ‘beer-ready’ glassware is expected to increase a
restaurateur’s profits and his customers’ satisfaction.
The glass washers from Krome Dispense can make the beer-ready
glasses a quick and easy process by effectively cleaning the glasses from
inside as well as outside. These glass washers, which are designed in
Germany, can clean all types of glasses. They require no electricity, and
no involvement of plumber/s for their installation. Moreover, they entail
low investment and facilitate a high degree of hygiene in glass cleaning
operations. The Krome Dispense has two models of glass washers in
its portfolio, which the industry can use.
Pacific Merchants
Eco-friendly and Fuel-efficient SolutionNavshakti — the innovative bio-mass gasifier cook
stove from Navitas Green Power (Fuel
Management) Pvt. Ltd. can bring big savings to the
fuel bill. This eco-friendly, low cost, easy to use
cooking solution with flame intensity equivalent to
LPG, and with heat output with flame control
similar to that of LPG, is suitable for a
comprehensive range of bulk cooking exercises.
The equipment has a running cycle time ranging
between 2 to 3 hours.
Navitas Green Power (Fuel Management) Pvt. Ltd.
89Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
B U S I N E S S O P P O R T U N I T Y
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1390
91Hammer Food & Beverage Business ReviewOct-Nov ’13
B U S I N E S S O P P O R T U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E R ’ S I N D E XCOMPANY PAGE NO.
A D V E R T I S E R ’ S I N D E XCOMPANY PAGE NO.
* BC - BACK COVER * FIC - FRONT INSIDE COVER * BIC - BACK INSIDE COVER
Regd. Off.Mobile:
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Four Door Refrigerator Hot Bain Marie Stainless Steel Sink
AKSAI 05
ALIMENTARIA 2014 83
ALLIED METAL WORKS 31, 79
ANOUSHKA GOURMET PVT. LTD. 67
APPLE BAKERY MACHINERY PVT. LTD. 20
ARCHII 61
ARCOROC GLASSWARE 53
ASHOKASHA EXIM PVT. LTD. 27
BMS ENTERPRISES 41
COSMIC HEALERS PVT. LTD. 43
C&S GLASSWARE 11
DABON INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD. 07, BC
FCML DISTRIBUTORS PVT. LTD. 47
FHA SINGAPORE 2014 81
FIDELIO INDIA PVT. LTD. 73
FINE FOOD INDIA 91
FnS INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD. 15
FOOD HOSPITALITY WORLD EXPO 2013 65
GENNEXT LOGISTICS PVT. LTD. 16
HOSTECH TUSID 2014 87
HOTREMAI 33
HUGHSON NUT ALMONDS 25
IFB INDUSTRIES LTD. 49
JEGSON INNOVATIVE INDUSTRIES 55
KANHAIYALAL TANDOOR PVT. LTD. 85
K.I. GLASSWARE INDIA PVT. LTD. 59
KING METAL WORKS 09
LOOM CRAFTS FURNITURE (INDIA) PVT. LTD. 36, 37
MAHTO KITCHEN CARE 91
MANISHA INTERNATIONAL BIC
McCAIN FOODS (INDIA) PVT. LTD. 19
METAL AVENUES 21
META INDUSTRIES (UNIVERSAL CHEF) 17
MITTAL INTERNATIONAL 35
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PRODUCT PREVIEW 88
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Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1392
I N T E R V I E W
4Ps and F&B SuccessBy Sharmila Chand
Satish Fernandes, Executive Assistant F&B Manager, Sun-n-Sand, Mumbai, has been
in the industry for over 15 years, with varied experiences in the hospitality sector. He
has worked as a flight attendant too for a short span.
In his words, “The one thing that I have learnt is to have faith in your team, gain the
team members’ trust, and their respect will follow automatically. At the same time, give
them freedom and also give them your undivided attention when they come to talk or
share anything with you, be it in meetings or in a personal session.”
He believes in the cardinal principle of 4 Ps. “The 4Ps that I focus on are people, profit,
product, and process and I think they are the fundamental pillars of any operations,” he
asserted, while adding, “I try and focus on these 4Ps as much as possible, which in
return guarantees my success and the success of my F&B team.” The excerpts of the
interview follow:
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4Ps and F&B Success
Hammer Food & Beverage Business Review Oct-Nov ’1392
Q What are the top threetraits or skills every Food &
Beverage Manager must have toexcel?
Savvy PR skills, strong financial acumen,and know-how of operations are the threetraits which can get you places in thisprofession. The F&B Manager also needsto know how to explore the social mediaand other relevant online portals, in orderto be able to attract and connect with thegeneration next. The human resource skillsof acquiring, training, developing andretaining the right talent for the operationsare also extremely important in today’scompetitive market scenario.
Q What do you enjoy themost about your role of
being the Executive AssistantF&B Manager?
The ability to create memories for people,which they are likely to cherish for a lifetime,is what I like the most about my job. Thefact that total strangers become friends afterinteracting with us and entrusting us withthe responsibility of creating those pictureperfect moments, is a role that I strive toexcel on, on every day. In our business noday at office is the same day.
Q What do you dislike themost?
It discourages me greatly when anevent or activity does not garner the kindof returns we projected despite no faultfrom our end. The other thing I dislike inmy job is sometimes my inability to fulfill
a guest’s desire to 100 percent, because ofsome autocratic compliance or policy that Ihave to adhere to.
Q Is your job challenging?Can you point out some of
these challenges? Perhaps no F&B professional would
ever say that her/his job is not challenging.We are expected to create a ‘wow’ factor forevery guest, and it seems that each has her/his own bar that she/he has set up mentallyabout what is good, what is excellent, andwhat is over the top for her or him. Andwe, as the deliverer of those expectations,are expected to know or decipher that andmust strive to reach and surpass that bareveryday.
To be able to adapt to changing tastes,trends, and clientele and to come up witha solution at the spur of the moment iswhat makes our jobs exciting as well aschallenging. If you go to specifics then Iwould say that retaining a skilled talentpool is the biggest challenge which everyF&B Manager faces right now.
Not being able to deliver 100 percentsatisfaction to my guests due to statutoryregulations that I am bound by can also befrustrating. In this currently inflatedeconomy, the taxation levied on thehospitality industry is also something thatdenies us to operate with open arms,which is one of the challenges of ourprofession in the present times.
However, with all these years ofexperience I have come to realise that thereis no issue or challenge in my profession
that cannot be handled or resolved. Eachproblem or setback has an answer, justthat we as frontline managers have tocome up with alternative approaches tosolve the same kind of problem.
Q Finally, how has beenyour experience at the
present job?It is a privilege and a great
opportunity for me to be associated withone of India’s legendry hospitalitybrands, and to be working along withsome very experienced seniors likeGulshan Arora as my Senior Vice-President, who has been in thehospitality industry for over fourdecades, and also with the rest of theexecutive team, which is very helpfultowards addressing any operational needor adversity I might face at my job. We allwork as one unit, which is a great thing.
Q Throw some light on theproperty
We have many loyal guests spanningacross generations that not many hotelscan boast off. It is a well-maintainedproperty affording scenic sea views andthe changing colours of the sea, and theowners extend full support and freedomfor its operations. All the suite rooms wererefurbished in the recent past, and theF&B outlets have been renovated duringthe last three years. Our tag line, ‘Smallenough to listen, Big enough to serve’ iswhat we strive to practice as an ideologyand inculcate among our team members.
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