Fast Food & Cafe Convention: India’s Leading Cafe & QSR Platform Concludes Another Great Event

The Fast Food & Café Convention presents a unique platform for QSRs, cafe and restaurant owners, chefs and F&B industry veterans across the country to come together to share ideas and knowledge, at the talk and dialogue classes to discuss new trends in the F&B industry. The third edition of FF&CC was held on October 30, 2018 at The Leela Ambience, Gurugram and successfully brought together food industry leaders, renowned chefs and successful restaurateurs, all under one roof to share their ideas and their views on a wide range of topics. including technology that drives industry trends and innovation, solves customer challenges, optimizes profitability, builds out-of-the-box sourcing strategies and approaches in the home delivery industry.

“I attended FFCC 2018 for the first time. Previously, I attended several retail forums, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the deep focus and concentration of QSR industry stalwarts and coffee at the event. There were great ideas, experience sharing, networking and the community left happy after a day well spent running their business better,” exclaimed Subhajit Mazumder, Director Customer & Channels, KPMG Rahul Singh, Chairman of NRAI and Founder/CEO of Beer Cafe shares, “The FFCC showcases the best India’s QSR and coffeehouse industry has to offer. It recognizes and celebrates resilience, leadership enlightenment, success and brilliance, while providing a platform for industry stalwarts to mingle and soak up a sense of brotherhood.Having made its mark over the past two years, FFCC 2018 proved to be bigger and better. NRAI is proud to be associated with this exceptional event.

The event saw panelists including Rahul Singh (NRAI Chairman and Founder/CEO Beer Café), Samir Chopra (Chairman, CybizCorp), Ranjit Talwar (South Asia Country Director, Subway), Saransh Goila (Founder, Goila Butter Chicken) , Tarun Bhasin (CEO, Keventers), Prashant Gaur (CBO, Pizza Hut), Gerald Dias (Director – Operations, McDonalds, West & South) and Vikrant Batra (Co-Founder, Cafe Delhi Heights) among others who spoke about the various aspects of running a successful restaurant or chain of restaurants.

Fast Food & Café Convention focused on discussions around the following concerns that could have a direct or indirect impact on the business:

1. Is the F&B industry ready for the new industry standards set by the influx of technology?

The panel focused on how technology continues to drive industry trends and innovation, leading customers to expect more from a dining experience. At the same time, are customers ready for a full shift to automation or do they prefer a mix with age-old counter service options? The use of technology is not only limited to the customer experience, but also to other aspects such as inventory management, payments and titles.

2. How to stand out from the crowd? Is meeting people’s challenges the solution?

As service becomes more and more of a differentiating factor, how can you increase the restaurant’s chances of success? Having skilled restaurant staff who can meet the challenges of delivering a great dining experience is key to keeping the business healthy. Where do restaurateurs focus to achieve an unforgettable wow effect? The panel discussed what works best for customers; is it personalization or empathy? In order to improve the customer experience, it is important to ensure that you understand and react quickly to customer complaints.

3. The delivery dilemma – different approaches to staying relevant

Delivery is a big part of the restaurant industry and it’s only getting bigger. The discerning consumer continues to have less patience for wait times and expect more customization options. How are brands looking for ways to leverage delivery innovations for efficient operations? The panelists concluded that the customer not only needs less wait time, but also a good delivery experience. Moreover, they need quick action on their grievances which might usually be missed in some cases.

“It was an amazing event and there were so many great ideas and such learning. In my opinion, all industries today live in an age of creativity and innovation. Being creative is the need of every business. And the only way to innovate is by deeply engaging with and understanding the lifestyle of your customers. Only empathetic brands would be more profitable today than ever,” said Vikrant Batra, owner from Cafe Delhi Heights.

Experts discussed optimizing restaurant profitability, new age locations and developing a sourcing strategy for the business during the breakout session. The event ended with a conversation with Rahul Singh, Chairman of NRAI and Founder/CEO Beer Café of NDTV Food. The interview focused on how the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) plans to provide its member restaurants with effective solutions to their concerns and its accessibility to partner with new restaurants.