An amazing conference that discussed at length about various topics to make a restaurant business successful.  The elite group from the Hospitality industry from Bangalore were part of various Panel Discussion and individual sessions.  It was an opportunity for budding Restaurateurs to learn from the stories shared by experienced people.  Topics discussed spread across various aspect including Design, Funding, Menu creation, Influencer Marketing, Licensing and many more.

The event was sponsored some brands like Towness, Akshyakalpa, Kaapi, Bluchisel Business Solutions & Comfort Kitchen.  Audience for the event were a mix bag of people opening a new café, restaurants and many who already had a successful business. The main motive was to learn something new that eventually will help in their business.

The conference happened on 2^nd Jul’19 at Taj MG Road, Bangalore.  This article will contain information regarding many topics and more topics to follow in next article.

Story Telling Through Design

This was an amazing session taken by ‘Team home Canvas’, the company that helps people design amazing house.  During the talk, the speaker shared plenty of info regarding the concepts used across various restaurant.  Every concept tells a story about the restaurant / café / eatery.  Some of the examples shown include – Social Koramangala, Burma Burma, Singapore Airport and more.  Some of the relevant questions, he did try to address.

Who is your core customer?

• Teenagers, Woman for Kitty Parties, Mobile Workers, Young Couples, Families, Corporate Clients & more.

What do want a customer to a customer to feel or experience at your restaurant?

• A slice of Paris
• To feel irreverent & footloose
• Transport him/her to a British Era Industrial vintage pub

There are also places where it become hard to explain if it’s a co-working space or a café.  A great session that gave a lot o insight to budding entrepreneurs looking to start new restaurant.

ABC’s of Starting a Restaurant & Licensing

Speaker – Satish Kumar (Director of MCORP & Mistry Consultants)

This was the first session for the day and Satish shared very interesting topics that set the ball rolling into the day

Food Licensing & Regulations

Speaker – Ramesh Agarwal (COO & Directory, Food Safety Works)

This was a very useful session to know about the various legalities that need to be taken care in Food Industry. Some of the points discussed were related to FSSAI, Type of Licenses (Manufacturing/Sell/Distributing food) and more.

More Topics

Apart from the topics mentioned about, there Panel Discussion and presentation on Fundraising.

• Panel Discussions
  • Curating Winning Menu for Bangalore
  • 10 Ideas to Turnaround Restaurants / Cafes
  • Influences of New Age Media on F&B Industry
• Fundraising for Restaurant & Cafes
• Automating Billing Solutions
• Redefining Diary Business in India – Akshayakalpa
• Latest Trends in Café & Brewing – Kaapi

Check my next article to get more information on the same.

Keynote Address: Changing phase of F&B Industry

Harish Bijoor (Brand Guru, Founder Harish Bijoor Consults)

This was one of the more energetic and amazing presentation that made everyone is audience watch with pin-drop silent.  It was filled with a lot of information regarding current trends and the future.

The first point that Harish shared was about the ‘Eating out’ trends.  Many of the millennials prefer eating out more than 3-4 times in a week.  The current generation is a Promiscuous generation always love to seek different food & experiences.

The Creases & Iron Box – This was a specific topic that highlighted the variety in Indian subcontinent in terms of food.  Global restaurant chains are looking change eating habits of people, so the variety is forgotten.  Its essential to maintain the variety so people get something unique to try.

DigiLivingToday – A Promiscuous Life that has every aspect of our life connected in some way or other.  To elaborate on the topic, he started by telling about the latest Refrigerator orders for eggs when it get over.  This triggers an order to be placed a nearby store, that charges to our credit card and we end up getting message to our phones.  All of these happens without our knowledge.  He connected more dots the Credit card, Bank, ICRA, Insurance Company, Car, Aadhaar, PAN.  It really enlightening to hear about the present the way present generation operates.

There are many more points shared in the best manner by Harish.  It’s a great session where everyone gained a lot of knowledge.

Final Thoughts

A great event that had many take-aways for budding entrepreneurs looking to open their own Restaurant/Café.  The sessions also discussed topics on aspect that are relevant to established brand as well.  Every panel-discussion had an elite panel that shared many of their personal experience. Vote of thanks for given by Amar Krishnamurthy (CEO, Town Essential).  A big thanks to Raunak Kundu (founder of Bangalore Foodies Club) and Anupam Behra for setting up an amazing event.

I specially recommend people to get hold of the video recording of the sessions and listen to the stalwarts speak.

More Information

Secret Sauce – Winning Menu, New Age Media, Fundraising and more