Asmita Mukherjee 
The NRAI (National Restaurant Association of India) Hyderabad Chapter, is hosting the largest Conclave of the Indian Restaurant Industry, Indian Restaurant Conclave 2022 (TIRC) on 13th September 2022 at HICC. The prestigious one-day Conclave will be formally inaugurated by Shri KT Rama Rao, Minister for MAUD, I & C and IT,
Government of Telangana. Over a thousand delegates including all the stake holders of the Restaurant industry, prominent restaurateurs of India, Foreign Delegates, Investors and Bureaucrats from pan India, will be part of the Conclave. NRAI will be conducting its 40th Annual General Meeting during the Conclave. This is the first time ever NRAI is hosting its AGM outside of Delhi, in its four decades history.
The National Restaurant Association of India, founded in 1982 represents over5,00,000 restaurants, QSRs, Bars, Cloud Kitchens and Catering, pan India. With an estimated annual turnover of INR 4,23,865 Cr the Indian restaurant industry employs over 73,00,000 people, making it the 3rd largest employer sector in the country.
The Indian Restaurant industry, like its peers abroad, has been immensely impacted by the pandemic. In FY21 the Indian Food Services Industry declined by 53%, over 25% of Food Business Operators permanently shut their shop leading to approx. 24 lakh job losses. However with the support of Central and State Governments, the initial trends in FY22 seem to be optimistic and the Food Services Industry is expected to recover and reach a size of INR 4,72,285 Cr.
Speaking at the event Chef Shankar Krishnamurthy Chapter Head, NRAI Hyderbad highlighted, “The organized Market Share of Restaurants in Hyderabad is estimated to be INR 6,037 Cr., with standalone Restaurants market share being INR 4,657 crores and Chain Restaurants being INR 1,380 crores. Sadly, today the unorganised sector has become the ‘elephant in the room’, that is not being addressed by anyone, nor by the Government nor by the
industry bodies. It is our endeavour to fuel the increasing innovation by the organized formats, to enable a rapid shift towards the organised segment.”
He further added “Some of the additional measures we expects from the Governments to ensure immediate succour are friendly policies in ease of doing business from over regulation and excessive licensing, to challenges faced while dealing with various authorities at the state & hyperlocal level” The Indian Restaurant Conclave 2022, presents over fifty eminent industry leaders sharing their insights on topics impacting the industry. The Conclave additionally also offers over fifteen interactive F&B workshops with domain experts on diverse subjects like digital marketing, food styling, safety in food, financing, real estate, culinary, wine masterclass and more. A large exhibition area will showcase the latest technology and practices in the industry.
Hosting the event in Hyderabad is not only an opportunity to showcase “Invest in Telangana” to over a thousand delegates including all the stake holders of the Restaurant industry, prominent restaurateurs of India, Foreign Delegates, Investors and Bureaucrats from pan India but also an opportunity to felicitate Doyens of the restaurant industry from Hyderabad for their exemplary contribution to the F&B Industry With a determined resolve of giving back to society the NRAI Hyderabad Chapter, shared details on ‘Mission Khana’ and ‘Mission Kaam’ two significant initiatives successfully launched within a short span of eight months since the chapter inception.
“Mission Khana” today voluntarily provides 300 hot meals per day to the underprivileged children and homeless in the city and targets to scale up to provide a 1000 hot meals per day over the next few month “Mission Kaam” designed in sync with GOI upskilling initiative for the Indian youth, focusses on the underprivileged sections of society and helps create skilled and readily employable workforce for the restaurant industry.
Closing the press conference and extending an invite to the media and industry fraternity to attend The Indian Restaurant Conclave 2022 Mr Sampath Tummala, Co-chapter Head, NRAI Hyderabad states that “on behalf of all 250 members of NRAI Hyderabad chapter he would like to extend a thank you to Dotpe, Fodxpert, Pepsi, GMR & Food Service India along with our Hospitality partner Novotel HICC for taking the time and energy to invest in our vision and sponsoring the event -without which none of this would be a reality.”
