Interview: Top entrepreneurs join sentinel Assam to discuss the revival strategy of restaurants

INTERVIEW

The restaurant business has seen a downturn like never before. Some of the top entrepreneurs joined Sentinel Assam to discuss what should be the revival strategy, what should the proprietors do to get the customers back and put the sector back on track. Aarhi Bezbaruah, Director, Paradise, Tanai Shirali, hospitality professional, Larsing M Sawyan, MD, Centre Pont Group Enterprise and Ranjeev Lal Baruah, owner of Hot Pot shared their views. Here are the excerpts.

Sentinel Assam: What do you think is the biggest challenge? How do you address the Fear Factor among the customers?

Aarhi Bezbaruah: From our side we are trying to ensure that we are able to address this fear. We are sanitising, fumigating every point, every place inside the restaurant. All tables, all the surfaces, everything is being sanitised. We are taking precautions as restaurants but one of the major challenges we are facing in Assam, since December due to anti-CAA agitation, we have been facing losses, footfalls have gone down since then and now since March because of the pandemic. Another major issue for us has been the cost of raw materials that has shot up manifold but we have not been able to increase the menu rates.

Ranjeev Lal Baruah: These are unprecedented time. The biggest challenge for medium size business like ours, a single outlet business like ours is paying rentals of the property. How do you pay rent when you don't have revenue? How do you pay salaries to your employees is the other big concern. Just a revenue loss can wipe out the entire profit.

Tanai Shirali: Let's look at a country like Thailand. There's so much of concession, there's so much encouragement from the government but no government has ever thought about giving us any support considering that we could be contributing only 5% of the GDP. We pay GST, but we don't get input tax credit. There has to be a little give and take, I think this pandemic is just a wake-up call for us.

Larsing M Sawyan: We need to figure out the kind of a medium term, long term plan to overcome the storm. We have certain fixed costs, we have power cost and so many other overheads we need to cater to. We need to understand that its a time for survival. We just need to think of how to kind of work out a mechanism to ensure that there is food on the table for everybody.

Sentinel Assam: What should the government be doing?

Aarhi Bezbaruah: The government can help us with the fixed charges — the electricity charges, maybe they could compensate by excusing us for a certain period. Also, some tax exemptions. For local food, local cuisine they should make tax exemptions. Also consider input tax credit for the sector.

Tanai Shirali: Definitely the government should encourage ethnic cuisine and there should be some amount of concessions on this because. There's a lot that can be done and I think it just comes down to the intent of realising how important contributor the hospitality sector is. We need a hospitality expert in the Tourism Ministry who would understand the business. Government needs to look at hospitality sector as a serious revenue generator not just now but for the next five years.

Ranjeev Lal Baruah: I guess we will have to look at different models from now on because dining in is not going to be the biggest revenue earner for this industry in the near future at least. We will have to focus more on hygiene and safety, home deliveries. Maybe we also try invite diners by giving more offers to them.

Sentinel Assam: The home delivery segment is going to play a very significant role this time. Also, what about the pricing and the menu? Would we see a lot of health food on the menu?

Larsing M Sawyan: I think one thing for sure is that home deliveries and takeaways are going to be the real way forward because people are going to be more reluctant to dine out. I think home deliveries is going to be the mantra going forward and this is an area which I think all restaurants and the F&B sectors has to look at. For us also in the last one month that's what has kept us really going both in Shillong and Guwahati. The moment hotels and restaurants were allowed to operate, we started with takeaways and the home deliveries and we saw good traction. In fact things are going very well even in Guwahati till unfortunately the COVID numbers started spiking and interestingly enough the largest sales that we actually have was on the last day of the before lockdown. Restaurants are very much part of the larger fabric of the city and the character of the city, part of the whole local food scene.

Sentinel Assam: What about maintaining the hygiene and safety standards in the restaurants, the smaller ones in particular and do you think the authorities have the capacities to monitor? Also, what is the experience you are offering at your restaurant?

Aarhi Bezbaruah: Post the lockdown, we have started off with a few immunity boosters for the people. We are investing a lot in disposable cutlery. We are using everything that is disposable including the plates and everything. So that it is safe for employees as well for the consumers. The restaurant is fumigated. In fact, these are additional costs that we have come up with but we have to keep our employees and our customers safe. That is our priority. Self-service is another thing that we have introduced so that there is minimal chances of physical interaction. We are facing a little bit of a glitch because for the last 36 years, we have been functioning or operating in a certain way but we are we are getting by.

Larsing M Sawyan: In Shillong at Centre Point, we are catering to different paramedics, so we already have a platter system going. We already have a menu which has been inspired by the Eastern region,so our food is largely ch oosen from Bengal east wards right up to the Northeast and of course with other international, I mean some continental items, but generally it is a regional menu,we've already come up with a health menu prior to the lockdown. At Center Point requests came in from the paramedics that we should start serving one meal a day dedicated to local cuisine so that we are definitely going to ensure reaches our regular menus as well.

Sentinel Assam: What will be the top five that the government and the promoters will have to do to turn the sector around?

Tanai Shirali: Hand washing, using hand sanitisers in restaurants, regular temperature checks whether you are an employee, a vendor or a customer, whether they just order food online or whether they want to come to the restaurants and eat, when they know we do these regularly it instills confidence in customers. Having a health declaration form, sanitizers placed at every station, enforcing social distancing norms, cutting seating capacity to 50%, following FSSAI standards and international standard which says that you have to have a wash all cutlery and dishes at 90 degrees, cleaning of tables every half an hour, cleaning of the kitchen surfaces and flooring every half an hour, we are following all of these. Yes, they are definitely, a little more expensive but now this is going to be the norm. Life has to continue, life cannot come to stop. Food delivery is the future. Like Larsing pointed out, this is basically time for change, I mean not just right now, but for the next one year, I think dining in is going to be very different. So a lot of focus has to be on home delivery whether it is combo meals, pricing, giving discounts, choices in the menu, if you had 50 now you have to give 100 choices, what stands apart and what stands out of the crowd, the fact that your brand is a recognised brand and people know that they are synonymous with safety not just now but always, these people care about the food, they serve you properly cooked food, the staff safe, follows hygiene norms, right pricing, all these are going to be the key and the deciding factors in the coming days. Innovations, regional food - mixing it up a bit, all these is going to set you and your brand apart, these are things we are also doing at our restaurants, to ensure that we are there on top of our customers'minds.

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