RESTAURANTS ON THE ROPES
Hit hard by the pandemic, India’s restaurant industry is trying hard to survive and keep its chin up
he COVID-19 pandemic has given new meaning to ‘survival’. When speaking to leaders of the restaurant business, it’s a word that gets employed often. The coronavirus has, of course, hit all industries hard, but the restaurant trade, one that hinges on people’s mobility and spending capacities, has been dealt a blow that seems altogether extraordinary. With experts predicting that 35 per cent of India’s restaurants might now shut shop, the country’s Rs 3.78 lakh crore restaurant industry is faced with an unprecedented turmoil, while the future of its seven million-plus employees is, sadly, precarious.
Little Bite Foods, a company that runs airport eating outlets and also standalone restaurants, has surely felt corona’s pinch, but Rohit Aggarwal, its co-founder, says that the virus’s effects are not even. “The market is not a level playing field, yes, but all businesses will have to adapt and evolve and change,” he says. Making the case that only “responsible” operators will regain the “trust” of customers, Aggarwal points to Instapizza. The Indian homegrown pizza brand has now introduced Crustflix, a live-stream that gives customers a 24/7 view of their kitchen. Their claims of hourly temperature checks can now be verified in real time. You can see staff wash their hands for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. To ensure that the last mile of delivery is as hygienic, Instapizza has also hired its own delivery fleet, TrustBrigade.
Though this level of attention seems novel, Zorawar Kalra believes “restaurants have always been innovative; that’s the nature of our business. If you don’t innovate, you fail”. Kalra knows a thing or two about restaurants. As founder and managing director of Massive Restaurants, he owns and operates eight iconic restaurants in the country, Masala Library and Farzi Café among them. He says, “You have to add other avenues of business. If you weren’t delivering, you will have to start, maybe look at doing cloud kitchens.” Kalra feels during these uncertain times, it’s best to get your basics right.
Many eating establishments, as Kalra prescribes, are now considering renting out their kitchens. They are working out the economics of reduced seating and negotiating new revenue-share agreements, but standalone restaurants, says chef Vineet Bhatia, “are bound to be hit hard”. Bhatia, who runs 11 fine-dining and five-star restaurants around the globe, adds, “Restaurants in five-star hotels are better placed to the extent that they don’t have to pay rent, but they will have to reduce staff strength and re-engage them elsewhere. Only the nimble will survive.” His proclamation seems prophetic. The Marriott group, for instance, is already home-delivering dishes like quinoa chaat across metros, while the Oberoi, Gurugram, is delivering in Delhi and Gurugram.
According to the Centre’s ‘Unlock 1.0’ plan, hotels and restaurants were allowed to reopen on June 8, but the respite came with several caveats—the establishments would have to be in areas that had not been designated containment zones, they wouldn’t be able to serve liquor, both social distancing norms and a 9 pm curfew would apply. Vicky Ratnani, a culinary consultant to many restaurants in the country, says, “The number of guests will be almost a third, which means that the business and sales generated will be much less.” The chef also points out that large establishments often have “astronomical” rent to pay. Added to this, there are high operating costs, licences and utility bills, too.
While Rahul Singh doesn’t discount the weight of these financial strains, he does take a step back to also consider the ramifications of public health. “We don’t know how long or how many lockdowns there will be. Will there be a second wave? Nobody knows when a vaccine will finally be a real-time solution. So, the idea is to hunker down and focus on staying healthy, safe and disease free,” he
“Very small business or businesses which were not doing as well as expected will think twice about reopening in this scenario” Vicky Ratnani, Chef and culinary consultant
“Restaurants have always been innovative; that’s the nature of our business. If you don’t innovate, you fail. So, you have to add other avenues of business” Zorawar Kalra, Restaurateur
“Standalone restaurants are bound to be hit hard. Even provenance has not proved a deterrent. Only the nimble will survive” Vineet Bhatia, Chef and restaurateur
Many restaurants are working out the economics of reduced seating and negotiating new revenue-share agreements
says. Singh, former president of the National Restaurant Association of India, is also founder and CEO of popular beer chain The Beer Café. Compared to some of his colleagues, he manages a greater optimism. He says that for centuries, the restaurant business has survived wars, plagues and recession. “This time will be no different.” Citing 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in the US, he adds, “All of New Orleans’s 984 restaurants were devastated in the deadly hurricane, but they were replaced by 1,300 new ones, an increase of 30 per cent.”
It seems somewhat surprising that at a time when corona clouds only seem to be getting darker, there are other industry insiders and experts like Singh who also see silver linings. FMCG retail consultant L. Nitin Chordia, for instance, says, “We, as humans, have started to feel the fatigue of home-cooked food, and although the frequency might reduce due to the current fears, the demand and desire to eat out will pick up sooner rather than later as we slowly limp back to normalcy. Besides, with other travel, entertainment and expenses being curtailed, eating out is almost the only entertainment that is left.”
Suvir Saran, chef-owner of Gurugram’s House of Celeste, knows he will have to strategise for a future that is becoming harder to predict but in the end, he finds hope in habit. “Slowly and surely,” he says, “patrons will retrace old steps to rediscover their comfort foods and favourite cocktails, wines and spirits; reuniting with tastes that will make them forget some of the pain, at least for a few brief moments.”