The Hospitality Purchasing Managers’ Forum (HPMF), founded in 2010, completed 15 years this week, drawing attention to the rapid evolution of hospitality procurement in India at a time when supply chains, cost pressures, localisation and skilling are redefining hotel purchasing functions.
What began as a Mumbai-based professional forum has scaled into a multi-chapter procurement network spanning India, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. Industry observers describe the growth as one of the more structured attempts to formalise purchasing leadership within Indian hospitality, at a time when procurement heads increasingly influence categories such as F&B sourcing, operating supplies, vendor compliance, FF&E buying, contract negotiations and supply standardisation.
HPMF’s central mandate over the years has included knowledge-sharing between purchasing teams, supplier grading, ethical sourcing frameworks and sustainability protocols—functions that were historically fragmented across the Indian hotel ecosystem. The organisation has also positioned itself alongside national economic directives aimed at strengthening domestic supply manufacturing and SME competitiveness in hospitality-linked product categories.
Under the Forum’s Make in India alignment, member hotels and purchasing teams have been consistently encouraged to prioritise domestic manufacturers in active procurement cycles. Through Atma Nirbhar Bharat, HPMF has expanded its focus to onboarding MSMEs and regional suppliers into structured buyer pipelines with an emphasis on self-reliance and market competitiveness. The Forum has also driven conversations around procurement skilling through workshops, conventions and digital learning platforms mapped to the Skill India Mission.
IHG, IHCL, Hilton, ITC Hotels and other large branded hospitality companies have in recent years been vocal about empowering local supplier bases—an area where HPMF has played an ecosystem-level convening role. Purchasing leaders remain one of the Forum’s most active cohorts, especially as procurement digitisation accelerates under Digital India, where HPMF-backed discussions have centred on automation, transparency, SKU digitisation, reorder intelligence, and vendor data compliance. Sustainability conversations under Swachh Bharat and supply chain responsibility have included waste reduction, ethical vendor frameworks, reusable sourcing logic, and greener purchasing models.
In 15 years, the Forum has hosted 12 national conventions across major Indian hotel markets and built a content library that includes industry partnerships, panel-led purchasing discourse, training modules, and periodically published white papers focused on procurement standardisation. It also continues to maintain buying-network ties with Indian manufacturers, hospitality startups and MSME suppliers looking to scale into the hotel and leisure-resort procurement pipelines.
Project 100: 1,000-Day Procurement Charter
At 15, the Forum launched “100 Activities in 1000 Days” (Project 100), a procurement-wide mandate that will run focused workstreams on purchasing capability building, supplier competitiveness, category standardisation, sustainability protocols, digital procurement guidelines, structured vendor onboarding, and youth skill enablement for hospitality purchasing roles. The initiative is being framed internally as a legacy roadmap for next-gen procurement talent entering Indian hospitality buying functions.
Mohan Deshpande, Chairman, HPMF, said at the Foundation Day, “HPMF’s 15 years reflect a powerful narrative of collaboration, ethics, and growth. What began as a small initiative has now become a movement that shapes the future of hospitality procurement in India. Our members are the backbone of this journey, and together we will continue to create value, promote innovation, and strengthen our industry’s commitment to excellence.”
Sanjay Goyal, Vice Chairman, HPMF, added, “HPMF has been instrumental in transforming procurement into a knowledge-driven, technology-enabled, and sustainability-focused discipline. Our alignment with national initiatives like Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Make in India has helped empower countless Indian suppliers. As we celebrate 15 years, we reaffirm our commitment to developing global-standard procurement professionals and contributing to India’s economic vision.”
Nitin Nagrale, Founder & General Secretary, HPMF, said, “This 15-year journey is a celebration of our collective strength. HPMF was created to unite procurement professionals, enhance industry capabilities and bring respect and recognition to the fraternity. Today, we are proud to see how far we’ve come—supporting national initiatives, empowering local industry and setting global benchmarks in the hospitality procurement ecosystem.”
The Foundation Day gathering in Mumbai saw participation from directors of procurement, purchasing managers, supply-category leaders, vendor partners and hospitality buyers across key hotel and leisure circuits.
