Express Food and Hospitality (Vol.1 No.3) June, 2019

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To know more about us please meet us at Booth No# B40D, Express Food & Hospitality Show, Bengaluru during June 12-15, 2019 For more details visit: www.usapples.com or reach out to our country representative Peush Narang at antaradvisors@gmail.com

EDITOR’S NOTE

Tech with a human touch

E

arlier this month Amadeus and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) released a research paper, Drivers of Change in Hospitality, produced in collaboration with Foresight Factory and Cornell University. The paper identified three trends that the sector must respond to meet the needs of the consumer of the future: The Rise of Tech-Augmented Hospitality; Achieving Cult Status at Scale and The Beginning of the End for Room Types. There is no doubt that the hospitality industry has sort of lagged behind other industries in terms of technology. But that is changing. The industry is quickly adopting technology that will help it offer seamless guest experiences. Like Japan’s Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay staffed entirely by robots or the Alibaba group’s new FlyZoo hotel in China using facial recognition in lieu of room keys. However, being a service industry, striking the right balance between human interaction and automated solutions is the tricky challenge. Hoteliers should focus on using technology to empower staff to enhance the stay experience but at the same time keeping the service human. They must not lose the

EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY NATIONALFOOD,HOSPITALITY& BEVERAGE SALES WEST Datta K +91 9821580849 | datta.kandalkar@indianexpress.com

NORTH Prabhas Jha +91 9899707440 | prabhas.jha@expressindia.com

SOUTH Sreejith Radhakrishnan +91 88675 74257 | sreejith.radhakrishnan@expressindia.com

Sanjay Kumar +91 9711099079 | sanjay.kumar@expressindia.com

OPERATION AND SALES Satish Dange +91 9821876620 | satish.dange@indianexpress.com

Satish Dange +91 9821876620 | satish.dange@indianexpress.com

EAST Debnarayan Dutta +919051150480 | debnarayan.dutta@expressindia.com

Ziyad Tungekar +91 9820512718 | ziyad.tungekar@expressindia.com

Ajanta Sen Gupta +919831182580 | Email: ajanta.sengupta@expressindia.com

Venkatesh Subramaniam +91 9892512644 | venkatesh.subramaniam@expressindia.com

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“Hoteliers should focus on using technology to empower staff to enhance the stay experience but at the same time keeping the service human. They must not lose the art of welcoming the guest”

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art of welcoming the guest, or thanking them when they leave. It is this differentiation that will build customer loyalty. As Seema Roy, area MD - South Asia, MEA for Preferred Hotels & Resorts says, loyalty programmes can potentially be the single most important lever to differentiate hotel offerings. The database built from a loyalty programme provides invaluable insights into guests’ stay behaviour and preferences, enabling hotels to provide more personalised experiences. Read her insights in this issue. We also have GMs of leading hotels in Bengaluru speaking about the market in India’s IT and manufacturing hub, the location of our upcoming tradeshow. From June 13 to 15, at Palace Grounds, we are poised to once again have an insightful networking and knowledge sharing platform that shouldn’t be missed by the HoReCa sector in Namma Bengaluru.

FOR PARTNERSHIPS,TIE-UPS,SPECIAL EVENTS Anishi Khetan +91 9930915221 | anishi.khetan@indianexpress.com

STEENA JOY Editor Express Food & Hospitality editor.efh@gmail.com

Important: Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy,it is not possible to verify its contents. Global Fairs & Media Pvt Ltd cannot be held responsible for such contents,nor for any loss or damages incurred as a result of transactions with companies,associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or publications.We therefore recommend that readers make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

CONTENTS CHEF'S PLATTER Chairman of the Board Viveck Goenka Sr. Vice President Neil Viegas Asst. Vice President Harit Mohanty

HOSPITALITY TECHNOLOGYIN INDIA: NEED TO UPTHE ANTE

Editor Steena Joy* Correspondent

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Akshay Nayak

A PASSION FOR PÂTISSERIE

DESIGN

HIGH SPIRITS

Assistant Art Director Pravin Temble Chief Designer Prasad Tate Senior Designer Rekha Bisht Graphics Designer Gauri Deorukhkar Senior Artist Ratilal Ladani Photo Editor Sandeep Patil DIGITAL TEAM Head of Internet Viraj Mehta SCHEDULING & COORDINATION Arvind Mane MARKETING / SALES Ziyad Tungekar Dattaram Kandalkar Satish Dange

(12-20) Technologyin the hospitalityindustrygloballyhas grown monumentallyin terms of its application accuracyand features,be it at the back-end or the front office operations. Leading indigenous hospitalitytechnologyproviders share their insights on the demand and supplyof smart technologyin the domestic MARKETS hospitalitymarket which however,still remains in the nascent stage,with a fair MULTIPLEX BRAND PVR ICON FOCUSES 06 share of the market still remaining ON CURATED F&B EXPERIENCES untouched bytech

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Venkatesh Subramaniam Sanjay Kumar Sreejith Radhakrishnan

P44: MOVEMENTS

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Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru

PARTNERSHIPS, TIE-UPS Anishi Khetan CIRCULATION Mohan Varadakar PRODUCTION General Manager B R Tipnis

P62: WEEKEND Scene and heard by Marcellus Baptista

'INBODY PROVIDES RANGE OF PREMIUM BODY COMPOSITION ANALYSERS TO INDIAN HOSPITALITY SECTOR'

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GROVER ZAMPA: MAKING WINE EXPERIENTIAL

‘CHARCOAL EATS RECORDED 350 PER CENT GROWTH IN ORDER NUMBERS FROM APRILDECEMBER 2018’

THOMSON TRADING AGENCIES FOCUSES ON FIVE-YEAR PLAN TO INCORPORATE AN OMNICHANNEL APPROACH FOR HORECA INDUSTRY

Express Food & Hospitality® Printed and Published by Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of Global Fairs & Media Pvt Ltd and Printed at The Indian Express Press, Plot No.EL-208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai-400710 and Published at Express Towers, 1st floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021. Editor: Steena Joy* (Editorial & Administrative Offices: Express Towers, 1st floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021)

Production Co-ordinator Dhananjay Nidre

* Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act. Copyright © 2019. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.

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MARKET

Multiplex brand PVR Icon focuses on curated F&B Experiences Akshay Nayak Mumbai PVR recently unveiled its newly renovated multiplex ‘PVR Icon’ located in Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel, which constitutes a lot of gold-coloured inserts at every nook and corner to resonate the richness of the product; hospitable staff and state-of-the-art lounging & F&B facilities. What indeed takes the centre-stage at PVR Icon is the panoramic view of its F&B outlets, namely Luxe, Boulangerie, Oven Fresh, Blendz, Wok and Grill, among others, that whip up lip-smacking wholesome creations curated by Celebrity Chef Sarah Todd. Speaking about the uniqueness of PVR Icon, Gautam Dutta,

CEO, PVR, informs, “PVR Icon is a product constituting all of what our patrons have kept us asking and requesting to include about, and that is how we thought of bringing in a 360-degree hospitality experience to our multiplex.” The differently-abled accessible multiplex opens to a view of the spread of artisanal breads at Boulangerie which serves a wide range of sandwiches, pastries and other desserts. Wok and Grill, and Luxe, on the other hand, take the patrons on a gastronomic tour with their pan Asian and Continental offerings. One shall not miss out on their vegan gelatos. Lean meat grills and keto meals are also on their menus to cater to the health-con-

Gautam Dutta

scious customers. Raising the bar even higher, PVR Icon, in a first across the multiplex space in India, serves Sushi. Moreover, Mixologist Yangdup Lama has

crafted their mocktails menu to tickle the patron’s tastebuds with some of the best liquid creations. And, last but not the least, the popcorn and nachos’ aromas, like any traditional multiplex, make their way here as well for those who like it old-school. “We have roped in cuisines from across the world and also included a collection of ingredients being sourced both locally and from the location of origin. To elaborate on that, Rajma in our menu is brought all the way from north India. We have tied up with Délifrance – an age-old popular French bakery major to source the ingredients for our freshly-baked breads,” Dutta underscores about their detail-oriented approach in the F&B offer-

ings. It does not stop at that, but apart from the in-theatre amenities, they have harnessed technology in their F&B services too wherein, the patrons can place their orders on the central pillarmounted screens and customise it as per their likings. About the expansion plans of PVR Icon pan India, Dutta says they are introducing the product initially in the metro cities, considering the demand and spend potential of the regions. But, with the Tier-II cities developing at a faster pace and seeing at the demand for experiential products from these markets too, they will be looking to introduce an experiential product like PVR Icon in these cities in the coming years too, he concluded.

‘CHARCOALEATS RECORDED 350 PER CENTGROWTH IN ORDER NUMBERS FROM APRIL-DECEMBER 2018’ Indian cuisine QSR brand Charcoal Eats recorded staggering 350 per cent growth in order numbers from April-December 2018. Akshay Nayak speaks to Anurag Mehrotra, co-founder & CEO, Charcoal Eats, to learn about the brand's expansion plans in the Indian QSR space What is the USP of Charcoal Eats? One of the biggest USPs is our food philosophy - we will not serve to guests what we cannot serve our own children. We achieved this through standardised recipes and processes, ultra-modern hygienic kitchens, use of premium ingredients and strict restriction on any harmful additives and food colours. Our chefs are constantly experimenting on ways of bringing more authentic Indian flavours with our signature modern interpretation, to our customers. Another key element of our growth story is the hassle-free, low-investment, high ROI franchise model for people looking to start their food business. The company manages the food,

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supply chain, marketing, technology, and customer care, while the franchise focuses on managing outlet operations and local area marketing. Multiple outlet formats (dine-in, express, mini) allow us to open outlets suitable for a location’s specific requirement and profile. We started with a vision to build an Indian food brand at par with the global standards. How has the market been for Charcoal Eats? In terms of revenues, we have shown growth of almost three times from April 2018 to December 2018, with a revenue run rate of Rs 17.5 mn for December 2018 v/s Rs 6 mn in April 2018. Our order numbers have shown a 350 per cent growth from April 2018 to De-

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Anurag Mehrotra

cember 2018, with approximately 48,000 orders in December 2018, up from 13,600 orders in April 2018. What are the investments plans for Charcoal Eats? Since our beginning, we

have raised a total of Rs 12.9 cr across angel, seed and pre-series A rounds. In the pre-series A, we raised Rs 50 mn from HNIs such as Rajesh Ramanathan - Head Global Growth Mondelez, Kush Verma - Asoka Capital, Sanjay Bhandarkar - ex-Rothschild, Amit Gupta - New Quest Capital Partners, Vishesh Shrivastav Temasek, Sachin Khivasara Buoyant Capital and Chetan Mehrotra. We are looking at closing another round to the tune of approximately Rs 40 cr soon. The funds raised will be used for opening new outlets, expanding into new geographies. We are currently at 50 outlets across 14 cities. What is the future roadmap? We are quite bullish on our

growth both in terms of volumes and revenues. We are increasing our presence in the metros and simultaneously expanding to tier-II cities as these markets have a strong customer base for our offerings. We see ourselves at 300 outlets strong across India in the next 12 months. The company is also in talks with various partners to foray into international markets, primarily West Asia and the UK. Effective, environmentfriendly packaging will be another area of focus for us. We are targeting to eliminate plastic by 90 per cent by March 2020. Menu improvisation will take the form of new products, flavours and new category introductions as per customer feedback and preferences.

MARKET

‘HOTREMAI provides a platform to help hospitality equipment manufacturers meet decision makers’ J K Khurana, president, HOTREMAI in conversation with Akshay Nayak highlights the challenges faced by the hospitality equipment manufacturing sector and how HOTREMAI helps to address the same What is HOTREMAI’s vision? The HOTREMAI was formed in the year 1982, during Asiad Games. I, R Kumar, J M Ahuja and late Keval Sachdev took initiative to form the association with few members. It is a leading association of renowned hotel & restaurant equipment manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, and consultants. Being a non-political and nonprofit body, its activities are solely undertaken for the benefit of its members, irrespective of their class of trade. It has a strong membership base of 429 reputed companies who are catering to the hospitality industry in the most professional manner.

J K Khurana

What are the key challenges and opportunities faced by the India hospitality equipment manufacturers? We may frame the issues that hospitality equipment manufacturing sector faces in two categories – internal & external issues.

Internal issues include R&D problem, especially with Indian companies, is that most of them invest very minimum in their product development. They aim to gain more profits today at the cost of tomorrow, thus many of the companies are using outdated equipment. Unavailability of skilled labour - Companies today tend to hire skilled labour rather than training new personnel. Inventory management is also an issue since most of the companies in India today are operating on manual or semi-automated industries. The main reason is the fluctuations of production plan that has to be accepted by the union which again is almost impossible. External issues are con-

cerned with the government. This includes either updating policies of work-union or of law. Due to the recent step of demonetisation, companies & growth for a quarter year has affected in a drastic way. Introduction of GST as well has brought a temporary pause on the production in several manufacturing companies. This has automatically induced retardation on the profits which may take about a year to recover. HOTREMAI being associated with many reputed event organisers provide them that platform where they can meet with the potential buyer and the decision makers of the hospitality industry under one roof and find solutions for the same. HOTREMAI also organises

many seminars and symposiums on sensitive topics which help its members to deal with the new challenges like GST, water conservation and procurement, etc. What is the future roadmap for HOTREMAI? HOTREMAI is a pan-India association and our future roadmap is to expand scopes of business for our members through various events including AAHAR and also our intent to add more members into our organisation from other parts of India to make our association, more represented and a stronger body to take the cause of the manufacturers to government level schemes, so also towards social causes, in our country.

Drunken Monkey targets total revenue of 100 cr in 2019-2020 Akshay Nayak Mumbai WITH AN EXCESS of options available for coffee and milkshakes in the beverage section, Samrat Reddy, founder and MD, Drunken Monkey realised that many people who are not keen on drinking tea or coffee didn't have many other options in beverages. Seeing the gap, Reddy in 2006 launched Drunken Monkey – outlets serving freshly prepared smoothies. He thought of focussing on smoothies as they are a healthier and more functional alternative beverage but are very rarely available, in spite of the huge market potential. Reiterating the brand's USP, Reddy voices, “Fresh, healthy, functional and tasty beverages are not available easily and that is the USP of Drunken Monkey smoothies.”

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Shedding light on the initial challenges and opportunities while setting up Drunken Monkey's business, Reddy informs that logistics for perishable fruits is one of the big challenges faced while setting up a business. “A lot of money, resources, and planning were to be invested in the back-end to make sure the operations run smoothly. As much as it is a tough job, it also acts as an entry barrier for competitors. Another challenge was to figure out ways to maintain consistency of the product as the natural fruits change with seasons and climate,” he recalls. Giving details about the smoothies that the brand has on offer, Reddy says, Drunken Monkey boasts the biggest smoothie menu ever with over 200 options of smoothies ranging from a wide variety of fruits and functions. Drunken Monkey also

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caters meal replacement smoothies, detox smoothies, hydrators, hangover-cure smoothies, and protein smoothies. Drunken Monkey has about 70 outlets in the metropolitan cities across India. The smoothies are served to the customers at the outlet and through online delivery channel partners. “Any new city Drunken Monkey en-

Samrat Reddy

ters, we aim to be accessible to the whole city by having enough outlets and reach out to all the potential customers with through the outlet or through the delivery partners. As of now online and social media marketing is the main tool Drunken Monkey uses to spread the word,” explains Reddy while replying to a query on the com-

pany's current distribution and marketing initiatives. The brand targets total revenue of 100 cr for the year 20192020. Drunken Monkey is selffunded to the moment. “However we would be seeking investment around the end of 2019 which will be focussed to fuel Drunken Monkey’s expansion plans for the next three years,” states Reddy. “Drunken Monkey is presently working on a completely new distribution channel and also working on reaching out to customers by integrating technology top food. Our goal is to reach out to make smoothies a lifestyle choice for every Indian metropolitan consumer over the next three years. This means increasing our distribution channels by 100 fold and being directly accessible to the consumers,” concludes Reddy.

MARKET

'INBODYPROVIDES RANGE OFPREMIUM BODYCOMPOSITION ANALYSERS TO INDIAN HOSPITALITYSECTOR' With the increasing demand for fitness and wellness experiences at hotels among the modern-day travellers globally, Kenneth Cha, MD InBody India in conversation with Express Food & Hospitality speaks about how this trend has translated into business for InBody, the premium Body Composition Analyser manufacturers across the globe and in the Indian hospitality sector What is the demand for Body Composition Analysers (BCA) by the global hospitality sector? Globally, luxury chains such as Hilton, Mariott, Carlton-Ritz, Hyatt, Waldorf Astoria, Kempinski, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Mandarin Oriental have added InBody Body Composition Analysers to their gyms, clubs, and wellness spas. Now, we see compact versions making their way into suites and guest rooms as well. We have seen fitness become a global phenomenon over the years, and the hospitality industry always has the pulse of their guests. Increasingly, people are looking at ‘destinations’ for unique experiences, wedding, wellness and even fitness. Hotel selections by business travellers too are increasingly being driven not just by the number of amenities but also by the quality of the amenities. It is very encouraging for us to see the same interest levels in Indian hospitality segment as we have been seeing in some of the developed countries. How does InBody cater to the Indian hospitality industry? Indian hotels truly believe in the ‘Guest is God’ philosophy. It is what drives this sector. InBody naturally fits into this plan. When your guests walk in why not offer a Body Composition Analysis with the welcome drink? It takes less than 60 sec-

Kenneth Cha

We have seen fitness become a global phenomenon over the years, and the hospitality industry always has the pulse of their guests. It is very encouraging for us to see the same interest levels in Indian hospitality segment

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onds and the guests have a detailed Result Sheet of their health status – muscles and Fat in every part of the body, including belly fat - which can be interpreted by a trained hotel staff in about 2-3 minutes. What this does is it gives the hotel an opportunity to showcase all the amenities and activities that it has to offer – Spa, Wellness Centre, Pool, Gym, Play area. It allows you more meaningful and personal interaction with your guests. You can include health and diet tips to add value to their stay. We’ve seen this translate into a memorable experience and a high top-of-themind-recall value for guests, as a hotel that cared about their well being. After all, good health and well-being is the highest form of luxury. We started out small in 2016, when we decided to come directly to India. Prior to that we were working through distributors more adept with fitness and medical space. So while taking care of these industries we were able to set up a pan-India delivery network. Now we are prepared to service the hospitality industry in any part of the country, through a dedicated team. How does InBody cater to the guests at hotels? Research has shown that 60 per cent of the people who take a Body Composition Analysis, become more conscious about their health. The modern trav-

ellers - on holiday or business usually engage in activities that their daily routine does not allow them to. In daily routine, a person may skip the gym due to her/ his tight schedule, but when in a hotel - with the gym just a few floors above - the decision to pay a visit gets easy. An InBody test provides the necessary motivation to get conscious about your health and that translates into a memorable experience for many. How does InBody cater to the in-room requirements? It is probably why boutique hotels go for the InBody Dial in their premium rooms and suites, instead of the standard weighing machine. It becomes a talking point while introducing the room, and it gives a ready breakdown of Body Fat and Muscles in your limbs. It certainly creates a connect with the room. What is the roadmap ahead for InBody in India? Our aim has always been to promote a better and healthy lifestyle; do our bit for a healthier and happier world. InBody India wants to be a part of the Indian success story. We want to play a part in building a strong and fit India. And the Hospitality Industry - because it is aspirational in essence - is very important to creating this culture of finesse and fitness across the country.

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Thomson Trading Agencies focuses on five-year plan to incorporate an omnichannel approach for HoReCa industry EF&H Staff Mumbai THOMSON Trading Agencies was started in the year 1986. In the initial days, it started with NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) entering into every single wholesale shops and hotels one after the other. In the years that followed, with constant communication with the chefs and purchase team of individual hotels they have developed their products range. The organisation was registered under the Sales Tax Authority of Kerala in the year of 1987 April. Today, Thomson services the HoReCa industry across the state with a complete basket of products required in European, Thai, Chinese and Asian cuisines. Giving details about the operations of distribution, K M John, MD, Thomson Trading Agencies informs, “Being a regional company, our area of operation is currently limited to Kerala. In terms of the supply chain for the industry, we are presently operating at 95 per cent through our own vehicles and the remaining through logistics companies. We make sure that all our customers are serviced within a day's time maximum in the case of logistics partners. Through our own distribution channel, we deliver the same day. We have offices in Ernakulam which acts as our HQ, and apart from that, we have operations in Trivandrum, Kottayam, and Calicut. We also use a chain of distributors and wholesale partners to cater to the entire state.” Thomson's portfolio majorly constitutes of imported segment and presently caters to the HoReCa segment under various categories with brands and companies such as, breakfast cereal – Kelloggs, Bagrrys; beverage - Tata Global Beverage, Twinnings, Bisleri, Perrier; imported groceries - Lee Kum Kee, Who Hup, DeCecco, Barbera, Freshos, Habit; processed foods – Morton, Druk, Golden Crown, Veeba, Fruitomans, Sing Cheung, Thai Cheung; bakery – Callebaut, Dawn, Vanleer and Vanhouten, Ferrero; frozen foods; dairy- Fortune Gourmet, President, Amul, Dlecta, MilkyMist; meat -

K M John

Porna, Fortune Gourmet, Venkeys; seafood - Empire White basa/ Star basa, and room service - Nestle, Amul, M.B sugars, Nova, etc., among others. Speaking about the current trend in the HoReCa industry from materials sourcing viewpoint, John feels, “Today we find that, the marketing activities of the industry cannot be confined to just product sourcing, but to a larger role of menu development, training, etc. At this new age of online aggregators when restaurants are on a higher competition with one another, they are in constant pressure to keep updating their menu on a timely basis. We find that now we need to embrace a new role to work even closer with our partners for sourcing the materials needed, to make sure that their footfall keeps increasing.” About the future roadmap, John says, “We have put ourselves into a five-year plan to incorporate an omnichannel approach for the HoReCa industry; increasing our network with an equal presence online and physical stores, and to ensure a streamlined operation to our customers so that they get the same service both online and offline.”

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COVER STORY

HOSPITALITY TECHNOLOGYIN INDIA: NEED TO UPTHE ANTE

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the main focus

Technology in the hospitality industry globally has grown monumentally in terms of its application accuracy and features, be it at the back-end or the front office operations. Leading indigenous hospitality technology providers share their insights on the demand and supply of smart technology in the domestic hospitality market which however, still remains in the nascent stage, with a fair share of the market still remaining untouched by tech

Source: STAAH

By Akshay Nayak

W

ith the increasing use of smartphones since the past 10 years and worldwide penetration of internet, the modern-day tech-savvy travellers, especially the millennials, are well aware of most of the technologies across the spectrum of diverse applications. In fact, tech-driven services have become the need of the hour for them. Looking at this demand, travel tech didn't take much time to become a prospering segment, with numerous startups mushrooming in this space; providing vivid first-of-their-kind services. Be

it booking a ticket online, issuing e-visa, or planning a whole itinerary of their upcoming trip, many startups pumped in millions of monies from investors. A KPMG FICCI report titled 'Expedition 3.0: Travel and hospitality gone digital' also reads that the travel and hospitality sector is rapidly evolving with the rising adoption of various tools, technologies, and digital platforms - primarily to improve customer experience, build strong loyalties and run businesses efficiently. These include mobile applications, social media, Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and

machine learning, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). The global hospitality industry as a whole also has embraced growth with some revolutionary technological advancements. The boom of hotel metasearch engines, OTAs, in-room mobile accessible technology, chatbots, online review/ testimonials pages, etc., make it all evident that the hospitality industry is also striving to cater to the modern-day travellers with seamless and memorable stay experiences. The trend which initially was predominant in the western countries has in-

creasingly become evident in Asia as well for the reason that the tech-savvy millennial traveller market is booming in this continent. Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a leading commercial real estate services firm had also published an article last year which contained certain key notes of rising trend of use of state-of-the-art technology by hotels in Asia. It read that in Japan, self-parking slippers and furniture are able to return to their designated spots after use. A blockchain reward system introduced by Malaysian hospitality firm Hatten Group allows members

to collect tokens in exchange for hotel packages and stays. Meanwhile, Andaz Singapore and Hotel New Otani in Tokyo have introduced chatbots for guests as a handy way of providing recommendations and answer anyqueries.

Indian hotel tech supply in-line with global trends India doesn't fall short to meet these globally popular hospitality tech trends wherein it has one or the other technology services providing brands catering to the diverse needs of hotels spread across the expanse of the country. Be it the require

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COVER STORY

“There are still 30K+ hotels in India which do not have or use technology like channel manager, PMS, etc.” ANIL KUMAR PASANNA

“We can find Records maintained in smaller hotels that are still nondigitised, and the lack of technology in hotels increases the required manpower but reduces perfection” SUNIL VG

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ment of a channel manager, booking engine, reputation management system, revenue management system or any other need, the solutions are stacked at the disposal of over a dozen of homegrown brands which excel in hotel technology. Supporting the statement, Anil Kumar Prasanna, CEO, AxisRooms - a Bengaluru based hotel technology services providing company, says, “Indian startups in the hospitality industry is dominant irrespective of large world brands, they all are using a product built and delivered by Indian IT services company or in terms of product startup we have plenty of them. We are one of the first and prime movers even in AI, machine learning and gaining insights for forecasting and revenue management systems.” Furthermore, the Expedition 3.0 report mentions that India’s travel sector has expanded in recent years, driven by the increase in domestic spend, internet penetration, and availability of smartphones. Budding popularity of such applications backed by user-generated content and sharing economy services has opened the door for many new travel start-ups, offering choices to tech-friendly travellers. In addition, online sale of travel bookings in India is expected to increase at a healthy rate of 14.8 per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from Rs 1,512.7 billion (US$ 22.3 billion) in 2017 to Rs 2,625.7 billion (US$ 38.7 billion) by 2021. With such staggering supply of technology solutions available for the Indian travel and hospitality market, and growth predictions eyeing a double-digit growth, what really remains a quest is the implementation of these assorted technology services across the swollen inventory of hotels throughout the length and breadth of the country.

Sluggish implementation The Indian hospitality industry also harnesses technol-

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Source:Hotelogix

ogy for various tasks and to leverage the guest experience. But however, it still remains in nascent stage, with a fair share of the market still remaining untouched by tech. Recognising that the Indian hospitality industry still has a major chunk that remains untouched by any technological advancements, Sunil VG, CEO, Otel Technologies a hospitality technology services provider also based out of Bengaluru, says that we can find Records maintained in smaller hotels that are still non-digitised, and the lack of

technology in hotels increases the required manpower but reduces perfection. Adding to this, Prasanna of AxisRooms informs, “There are still 30K+ hotels in India which do not have or use technology like channel manager, property management systems, etc, among others.” To answer this sluggish implementation of technology in India, one needs to understand that globally, the shortcoming that is prevalent in hotel tech at large is the complexity of integration of multiple technology services.

“Hospitality industry being multi-sector is quite complicated; and use of legacy systems which are usually out of date, adds further to the complexity. Another complex aspect is integration. Being able to integrate all the software efficiently and ensuring that the integrated software is accurately communicating with each other, in real time, is among the key challenges,” remarks Gavin Jeddo, CEO, STAAH - a hotel technology solutions provider. Likewise, Prasanna also adds, “The shortcoming we see is the

COVER STORY technology which has scattered too many modules, even if we pick an Indian branded hotel chain, they use at least five different vendors for products like PMS, Channel Manager, CRS, Content Management System, etc., and integration is not seamless. I think there is a huge opportunity to be a one suite product with all functionalities.” Aditya Sanghi, CEO and co-founder, Hotelogix - a cloud-based property management software provider, opining similar views, says, “Being monolithic in application architecture, on-premise PMS lacks integration capabilities with many other operationally imperative thirdparty solutions. That’s the reason, in today’s digital travel world, the on-premise system is not the right choice for hoteliers. Contrary to this, cloud-based technology seamlessly enables collaboration and makes itself a natural fit to the constantly evolving hospitality eco-system.” In accordance with the other respondent's sentiments, Navin Ladha, CEO, RanceLab – a full-suite technology solutions provider to the hospitality industry feels

that the introduction of new technologies and service platforms in the food and hospitality industry has made it susceptible to many threats which add up to its existing challenges such as data management, security & privacy, food costing, and more. Furthermore, the hotels sector in India is a mix of international hotel brands, homegrown chains of hotels, aggregator models, and then the standalone hotels. These are spread ubiquitously across the country and hence reaching out individually to each one becomes a cumbersome task. However, despite of all these headwinds, the industry views are that, the Indian hospitality industry is progressing slowly and steadily to meet the internationally applied smart hospitality technology standards. Many stateof-the-art unique hotel technology solutions are implemented and also boasted of by several hotels in the country. At the recently concluded HICSA, leading hotel company Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) said that their unified technology solution - Emma

(Every Moment Matters) will be unveiled in India with the launch of Radisson Red Mohali which is scheduled to open in Q4 this year. Agreeing that the Indian hospitality market is progressing in adoption of technology, Sanghi feels, “We have seen hotel technology in developed nations like the USA and Europe, and Indian hospitality industry is also going through consolidation and digitisation, hence we are witnessing rapid expansion of multi-property hotel groups and high adoption of digital travel.” Manoj Mohanty, senior VP - Sales (South Asia & SE Asia), IDS Next - a leading full-suite hospitality solutions provider, also notes that technology adoption in the Indian hospitality industry is gaining momentum. But it is still slow paced. Ladha says that the the hospitality industry in India, especially the restaurant space has been growing fast over the years. “It can be said that it is the most fast paced industry in terms of experimenting with all new sources of technology. The restaurant owners are more tech savvy than ever for keeping an easy,

faster process and pleasing their customers at the same time,” he adds.

Need to educate the decision makers The notable reasons behind the persistent gap that still remains in the industry are the hoteliers' lack of knowledge about the availability of such technology services and implementation of the same in their hotels. The technology providers also feel that although new startups are coming with unique techdriven solutions for hotels, the hospitality sector still vouches on its age-old cookie-cutter technology which has probably lost its charm with the changing times. Backing this statement, Sanghi opines, “Market dynamics have changed so quickly in the last few years that the on-premise technology is now irrelevant and out of sync with the current needs. However, there is a strong resistance to let go of existing systems and the same is causing a delay in switching. This delay is hurting their business, and in other words, we call it – loss in opportunity cost.” VG of Otel Technologies

“Cloud-based technology seamlessly enables collaboration and makes itself a natural fit to the constantly evolving hospitality eco-system” ADITYA SANGHI

“The future hospitality industry will include more automated business practices with facilities like AI, Blockchain, etc.” Source: IDS Next

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NAVIN LADHA

COVER STORY

“Technology providers in India are now major players in the global hospitality landscape”

Source: RanceLab

MANOJ MOHANTY

“We are continuing to build such technology that offers a completely personalised experience to hotel guests” TARUN GOYAL

18

adds, “What we in Indian hospitality even today follow is the age-old method of operation. Yes, there is incorporation of technology but that too is limited mainly to promote, review and sell at competitive pricing. Indian hotels have a long way to go in creating hotels wherein everything from check-in to check-out is automated.” Lack of information is a concern hampering the application of new-age technology in hotels. Prasanna opines that they as technology providers need to bridge the gap which can be done only by educating the hotels about new-age products. Acknowledging that there is a challenge of shortage of skilled personnel, especially with respect to revenue management, Jeddo informs that STAAH is helping address this, by partnering with ARMA (Australian Revenue Management Association) to offer free basic course modules to hoteliers for achieving revenue growth, with an option to discounted pricing on advanced modules. “Also, playing a part in shaping the future, STAAH conducts periodic workshops in India, at Hotel Management Institutes

EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY

June 2019

to mentor and help bridge any gap between here and international standards,” Jeddo points out. Alternatively, the industry experts have witnessed that hoteliers and restaurateurs show skeptical adoption of technology handling consumer data because of the presumed notion of theft of sensitive data of their consumers. Ladha informs that RanceLab helps its customers in overcoming these challenges by providing an efficient management system that enables business owners to carry out smooth operations and manage various aspects of the business like the influx of large quantities of data from a variety of sources and access in depth information about its customers, products or any other business related data at any given time. It also ensures that interactions with guests /customers and related transactions are secured by employing robust security measures to prevent data leaks and theft which are among the most common causes for revenue loss in any business and gives them complete control over its system operations.

The way ahead Having mentioned that Indians need to pick up with the globally popular hotel technology, the technology solutions providers suggest certain ongoing global trends that could change the way they function in a positive way. The respondents chalk out that personalised services are what remains the epitome for guests. Hence, use of a lot of big data analytics to learn a guest's likes and dislikes; IoT in-room equipment to make services such as switching the AC, or toggling the lights, etc, readily available on their smartphones; use of artificial intelligence to suggest the guests on further engagements with reference to earlier held records, will be the key drivers of hotel technology for a long time from now. The Indian hospitality industry has the supply of all these technology services, but it should be picked up soon by the hoteliers, is what the technology providers feel. Jeddo observes, “India is experiencing increased internet penetration, which continues to grow at a fast pace. And with the emergence of smartphones, providing easy access to the internet and

“STAAH in partnership with ARMA (Australian Revenue Management Association) offers free basic course modules to hoteliers for achieving revenue growth” GAVIN JEDDO

INTRODUCTION OF “ SHREE JAGESHWAR TRADING CO ” FOR SUPPLY’S OF GROCERY ITEMS AND DRYFRUITS. On behalf of my whole team , I Mr, Mahendra Bhadra is pleased to introduce our self and the group company. A company set up in year 1996, has been managed professionally since years. We have been awarded with “ ISO 22000 certification” & also been awarded as a “Supplier with best quality products & efficient service” A full range of Grocery, Provisions & Dry Fruits has been our core business since the day we started and is being supplied to most important places like Government & Semi Government Institutions, Hospitals, Canteens, Corporate Caterers, Restaurants & almost all the Five Star Hotels in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Chennai etc.

SHREE JAGESHWAR TRADING CO.

SHOP NO.E-10, APMC MARKET-I, PHASE-II,SECTOR-19, VASHI, NAVI MUMBAI-400705, Mobile: 9920570720, Email: shrijtc@gmail.com www.shreejageshwartradingco.com

COVER STORY various applications, online bookings have emerged as a major revenue contributor. Guest experiences have enhanced right from the time, the travel thought is incepted to repeat travel thought. Digital marketing, including social media, has made inroads in driving customer decisions by personalised targeting and displaying personalised feed. “Hotel websites are able to lure customers with smart and attractive pricing, 360degree VR imagery, chatbots, secure payment gateways, and of the like. Guest stay is enhanced by the use of robots, smart IoT devices, face recognition technologies, augmented reality et al. Guest experience is also directive of online reviews which help in understanding the culture and commitment of the company, and aids in building trust and making de-

cisions,” he adds. Prasanna reiterates that use of data, IoT, guest data, preferences, revenue optimisation, communication, etc., are the future adoptions required by the hospitality industry and current technologies are still in basic stage and there is a larger opportunity for this technology to scale. Deeper the insights, hotels can work on gains like a higher business, cost optimisation, etc. “The industry is doing its best to engage with their Guest to enhance Guest Experience, for which, hotels are now offering online 24x7 connect with the guest, pre-selection of rooms, self-check-in’s, keyless entry, in room automation through Amazon Alexa, from controlling the television channels, air conditioning system , to book a spa and placing request to house-

20 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

keeping and or room service, adoption of technology is everywhere,” notes Mohanty. Recognising that the modern-day guests strive experiences, Tarun Goyal, founder & CEO, Simplotel Technologies, affirms that hotels these days need to provide their guests with personalised experiences. He adds, “Today's guest is looking for an experience - more than a stay. And, the experience is always personalised. Today if you look at an OTA such as a MakeMyTrip, it remembers what you have searched for and if you don't book and come back to the site, it remembers your name and shows you offer on what you have searched for earlier. There are literally hundreds of such things that are possible. At Simplotel, we are continuing to build such technology that offers a completely

personalised experience to hotel guests when they come to the hotel website.” Simplotel Technologies is a Bengaluru based software company providing customised technology services to the hospitality industry. The industry experts feel, once the void of hotel technology supply and demand is bridged, the Indian hospitality industry, has a bright future to make guest experiences seamless and hassle-free. Sanghi elucidates, “The future of Indian hospitality is Cloud and the market is forthcoming and so is the industry. There is going to be a lot of action with newer technologies constantly teasing the hospitality landscape.” Ladha believes that the future of the hospitality industry will be technologically dominated and would witness the advent of more innovative

business practices, with the integration of inventive technologies that will help the industry bloom in leaps and bounds. “It will include more automated business practices and will have facilities like Blockchain, AI, Natural Language Processing and many more,” he notes. Mohanty feels that the technology providers in India are now major players in the global hospitality landscape and the future of technology in the hospitality industry is very bright. “India being a large emerging market with a vast population of tech savvy users, hoteliers would witness a steady growing influx of online customers. Thus, there is an ever growing need to keep investing in technology applications to engage with the traveller at all possible touchpoints of the journey,” concludes Jeddo.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK MARKET

Port Muziris, Kochi

M

arriott International recently opened the first Tribute Portfolio hotel of South Asia, Port Muziris in Kochi, Kerala. The hotel marks Marriott International’s fifth property in Kochi located at just 300 meters away from the Cochin International Airport. Tribute Portfolio unites a family of over 30 independent hotels across the globe. The name of the hotel – Port Muziris is rooted in the history of the

The Park Mumbai region. Much before everything, the Greeks, Romans, Jews, Arabs, and the Chinese knew Kochi’s neighbour, the port of Muziris, as a trading hub dealing in spices such as black pepper and cardamom. The hotel features 54 artistically designed rooms, including three Executive Suites. The hotel design evokes the grandeur and is reminiscent of the heritage residences found in Kerala.

Central Beacon Hotel, Surat

T

he Park Hotels, pioneers of luxury boutique hotels in India, brings its legendary design vocabulary to Mumbai, with the launch of its newest hotel The Park Mumbai. Strategically located at Juhu Tara Road, the hotel is located close to sprawling Juhu Beach and overlooks the Arabian Sea. The hotel has a striking charcoal grey facade punctuated by burnt orange and fuchsia windows reflecting spectacular sunsets. The 60-room hotel has six categories of rooms; with expansive views of either the Arabian Sea or the city while some also overlook the historic Juhu airfield. Meishi, an elegant space off the lobby is an Asian inspired all-day dining fusion restaurant that serves Japanese, Thai, Chinese, and a hint of Indian; using fresh and organic ingredients.

Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru

C

entral Beacon Hotel, Surat is the newest addition to the portfolio of The Fern Hotels & Resorts. This is the eleventh hotel managed by the company under the Beacon brand, taking the figure to 59 hotels managed by the company. Central Beacon Hotel, Surat is a 48-room smart hotel offering three different categories of rooms – deluxe, executive and executive premium. The hotel is situated in the heart of the city with all the major sightseeing attractions in the vicinity. Sugar N Spice is the multi-cuisine restaurant which serves Indian, Chinese and Continental fare.

T

he second Four Seasons hotel in India has opened in Bengaluru. Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru located within the new landmark destination Embassy ONE is a 230-room property along with 105 Four Seasons Private Residences and commercial and luxury retail space. Rooms and suites offer views of the greenery, some featuring the Palace Grounds. At the Hotel’s dining venues, Four Seasons chefs and mixologists take centre-stage in interactive style bringing energy and vitality to the dining experience.

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June 2019

IN FOCUS

A gastronomic sojourn Xenia Lam shares insights about her gastronomic travel experiences, from the Slow Food Movement orginating in Italia to her trying bear meat in Japan and why she feels cultural coordination tools can become actors of change, that can truly shape the future of food for the generations to come

F

or me it was a choice – to be or not to be? But then I made the best decision of my life – I went on a yearlong sabbatical to pursue my Masters in Gastronomy: Food in the World and in a cause, I strongly believe in, in one of the most beautiful and bountiful countries of the world – Italia! I went to study at the temple of slow food – The University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Bra, Italy; housed in a splendid neo-gothic building called Tenuta Reale.

For those that do not know; the Slow food movement was initiated by Carlo Petrini and a group of activists in the 1980s with the primary objective to defend gastronomic pleasures, regional traditions, good healthy food at a slow pace of life. It endorsed many initiatives at developing intelligence and culture of food. With over twenty years of history, the movement has progressed to embrace a comprehensive approach to food. One that recognises the strong connections between planet, plate, people,

Xenia Lam

22 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

politics and culture. Today, Slow Food represents a global movement connecting thousands of projects and millions of people in over one hundred and sixty countries. The unfortunate truth is that we live in an increasingly disjointed society, where at one point of time the strength of the great narratives that for decades brought people together and inspired their commitment have now lost their power of desirability. The trend of the Slow Food Movement has been present

since decades but has recently been propelled into the forefront of the prominent world issues as the cause and remedy of local economic circumstances, environmental challenges and complications with social norms. The Slow Food Movement could be considered a counter-trend to fast food. It was created in response to the amplification of a fast food culture, the diminishment of people caring where their food came from and the degeneration of local food traditions. The birth and the last few

years of Terra Madre* (Terra Madre is a project conceived by Slow Food, wherein a network of food communities assemble with the intent to provide small-scale producers whose approach to food production protects the environment and communities. The network brings them together with consumers, academics, chefs, and youth so that they can collaborate to improve the food system) has made Turin a pivotal hub for the development of thinking. A platform where cultures of the world convene to

IN FOCUS discuss various issues and the need to overcome various bureaucratic obstacles that ancient models bring. In the words of Carlo Petrini, “Inclusion, fluidity, freedom of action and openness must be the watchwords for a new participation. This is the path that Slow Food must follow in the years to come.” Based on a concept of food that is defined by a trinity of interconnected principles – Good, Clean and Fair. Slow food in a nutshell is none other than quality, flavoursome healthy food by production that causes no harm to the environment and is accessible at good prices for consumers and at fair conditions and pay for producers. It all started at a magical little tavern “Boccondivino”, the now famous Michelin restaurant in the historical centre of Bra. The name itself is a paronomasia in Italian – translating to either – A divine mouthful or A mouthful of wine! Both extremely agreeable and well suited for this beautiful Osteria; today an icon and expression of the slow food ethos. The award winning panacotta and tajarin (pasta made of 40 egg yolks) and the vitello tomato (thinly sliced veal served cold with tuna) are only a few mentions of the true Piemontese magic served up on a plate – fresh on the palate and electrically vibrant in the mouth. Good, Clean and Fair only got better! Slow foods long standing recognition of gastronomy as a human science helped the University create a network thus impacting gastronomes like me to receive a wholesome experience. Studying subjects like food history, food philosophy, food and sustainability by renowned academics only helped build and strengthen beliefs and my passion surrounding food. My adventure continued through various countries in Europe – eating, foraging, learning and meeting food people everywhere. Learning to pick wild plants and herbs and to cook with them was a great

education – after all we all started off as hunter gatherers. Visiting consortiums like Acetaia San Giacomo (Balsamic Vinegar), Consorzio Vacche Rosse (Parmaggiano Reggiano) and Culatello di Zibello D.O.P gave me a chance to experience world-class quality and small-scale production first hand. Copenhagen revealed beautiful secrets through Bybi; a honey producer. One of the most exquisite sights I saw was a honey map – true genius – the honeycombs were planted at various locations within Copenhagen by Bybi, then harvested and bottled when the time was right. Each bottle of honey had its own unique colour and flavour and was assembled in the showroom to form a map of Copenhagen! Now isn’t that incredible! The Team at The Nordic Food Lab were more than hospitable and I was lucky to have been standing on hallowed ground; discussions about future trends in F&B allowed me to get my hands on a bottle of “Anty Gin” – A gin distilled from ants – citrusy on the nose as well as the palate. And last but not the least the trend of urban roof top gardens – green spaces atop buildings promoting a better lifestyle and healthy eating. The remarkable thing about the three principles are; put them to work in any part of the world and the result will remain the same – Beautiful, ex-

cellent quality and fair! My travels further took me to Japan – to experience gastronomy at its finest. From foraging mountain vegetables in Tsuroaka, to making miso and soba noodles, tasting local flavoured ice creams (matcha, hojicha, black sesame), the sublime experience of a tea ceremony and the surrealism of temple food. But it didn’t end there – for the first time in my life I ate bear meat – Yes you read right and it was delish! Local is important. It is the culture, the earth the people and the sky that tell the story for us to experience. Cooking and eating together not only opens the mind but the heart as well. The exchange of thoughts and cultures is so robust it instantly helps you evolve. The demands for good, clean and fair food for all continue to spread rapidly. Attention towards what ends up on our plates is progressively interdisciplinary, with interest growing even among those who don’t know of the existence of an association that has made these concepts its raison d’être. It is only imperative that we be open and inclusive. We must ensure that our movements and ideologies can walk on the legs of others. This is why the challenge will be to encourage local action, to give everyone the strength and the cultural coordination tools to become actors of change, only in this way can we truly shape the future of food for the generations to come. But we must be able to practise them daily, because only with the capacity to understand our weaknesses and areas for improvement can we form a fraternity with other human beings and make it a reality and only then can we call ourselves truly free and inclusive. Roald Dahl said those who do not believe in magic will never find it – how true his words were – for I believed and found mine! (The author is F&B Manager at Taj Holiday Village Resort & Spa, Goa)

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June 2019

IN FOCUS

Hotel loyalty programmes 2.0: A dynamic evolution Seema Roy presents a viewpoint on how over the past 30 years, the nature of guest loyalty has seen a change that has significantly influenced the relationships between customers and brands

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e live in an era of instant gratification led by the consumer preferences and global citizenry of millennials who are increasingly wellconnected and driving the latest trends in all aspects of consumerism. This has proliferated in all aspects in daily life, and hotel loyalty is no exception. With the burgeoning number of traditional, non-traditional, and alternative hospitality options coming to the fore, the efforts made to persuade the individual consumer to stay loyal to a single brand has never been greater. Over the past 30 years, the nature of guest loyalty has seen a change that has significantly influenced the relationships between customers and brands. Initially, consumers adopted an “observant” attitude, making decisions based on what organisations offered, by seeking the best competitive value in the market. In the 2000s, consumers were invited to be involved in deciding which products and services hotels would create, a trend that gave rise to a “participatory” culture. Now we find ourselves in the “convergence” age, which alters the relationship between genres, markets, audiences, sectors and technologies. Guests are dictating what their needs are and how they want them satisfied. As such, customer loyalty is more critical than ever, and hotels will need to create or reinvigorate the essence of loyalty that proves the value of a brand or ‘house of brands’. By delivering exceptional customer experi-

Seema Roy

ences, hotels can cut through the noise to drive trust, engagement, confidence, and commitment. Be it retail or healthcare, most consumers receive loyalty programme benefits before they’ve actually demonstrated any loyalty to a brand. Consequently, loyalty programmes must work significantly harder to deliver on their true intent – brand loyalty – especially in the hotel space where the traditional “earn and burn points on hotel stays” model isn’t as effective as it once was. Loyalty is fast becoming a singular focus that necessitates a reward framework based around the needs ‘of one’ rather than ‘the loyal community’. Over the years, global hospitality sector has spent millions in designing complex, multi-tiered membership programmes to increase their share of guest spend

24 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

and enhance the overall customer experience. Win-win alliances, re-branding and collaborative partnerships are key in such a setting. For instance, Marriott International rebranded its multi-loyalty programme model to Marriott Bonvoy in 2019. Independent hotel brands known for excellence in regional hospitality are well positioned to hugely benefit from the evolving trends in loyalty and consumer preference. In terms of a larger picture, guests increasingly want “more” in a non-traditionalist sense, by way of seeking unique properties that embody the true essence and authenticity of a destination. Hoteliers have seen a digression from traditional signifiers of luxury such as star ratings toward the bespoke. These brands allow members to get the best of both worlds – by tapping into the expertise and scaled support of a global brand such as distribution, reservation management and inclusion in marketing campaigns - while still maintaining the autonomy that allures savvy travellers in the first place. A traditional independent programme can leverage redemption opportunities and brand partnerships to support their approach. There is a great deal of variety in accommodation choices, breadth and depth of information, and full transparency in pricing. Members expect access to a range of offerings depending on the “when, where, and why” of their travel. The member who stays at a luxury hotel on one trip may stay at a shared apartment on the next

trip, making like-minded partnerships critically important. In a significant move that is bound to positively transform and enhance independent travel experiences for consumers by empowering participating partner hotels with the tools to reward guest loyalty – Preferred Hotels & Resorts launched the I Prefer Alliance in March 2019. This innovative loyalty platform allows independent hotels and regional hotel brands to extend full benefits of I Prefer Hotel Rewards to members of their distinctive guest benefit programmes. Utilising a point exchange structure, partner hotels will now be able to incentivise their respective loyalty members by extending access to more than 700 additional destinations across 85 countries where they can earn and redeem points along with receiving special benefits during every eligible stay. Serving as the inaugural partner – Tokyu Hotels, one of

Japan’s leading hotel groups, joined the I Prefer Alliance with its 44 properties across the country. More than three million consumer members have enrolled in I Prefer Hotel Rewards to date, making it the largest pointsbased global loyalty programme for independent hotels. The members can take advantage of its benefits across 700 hotels of their choice around the world, which include points that can be exchanged for cash-value I Prefer Reward Certificates, as well as elite status and additional benefits such as priority early checkin/late check-out, room upgrade based on availability, and complimentary internet upon every eligible stay. The potential in these programmes is massive. While 75 per cent of luxury hotel loyalty programmes offer free-night stay rewards, only 35 per cent offer other experiences as rewards, according to a new report from

IN FOCUS Gartner. Moreover, it’s not just the “what” but even the “how” that is seeing innovation. First Hotels which has 60 hotels across Scandinavia, recently launched its own “First Member” loyalty programme which rewards members with “FirstCoins” to spend on future purchases at the hotel. Guests are moving from a desire to join single brand driven specific programmes to becoming a “part of an established club,” hence demanding more personalised, individualistic offerings. This emergent demand is a result of liberalisation and more choice including independent hotel brands and Airbnb breaking into the top tier of competition. The rise of the millennial coupled with fast and accessible information as a result of the internet and real-time social media have restored parity to the

adage, “the customer is king.” This mindset is increasingly relevant for the emerging world, and countries such as India are poster children for this movement. Millennials are also more interested in unexpected, instant, and personally relevant rewards vis-à-vis points. Simple innovations for easy redemption or conversion hold the key to unlocking the full potential in India, given that a recent IMRB Indian survey concluded that 50 per cent of participants claim they never convert their points, and 72 per cent of ‘in a hurry’ millennials believe that they should be able to earn rewards quickly. A report by Collinson Group shows 77 per cent of Indian respondents asserting that they valued the flexibility to choose the rewards they are offered. According to studies, loyalty members are three times more likely to

book directly than non-members, implying that they’re relatively cost-efficient in comparison with other channels. Given these trends, the hotel and hospitality sector can adapt to the loyalty dynamic to see a positive effect on their top line, in lieu of occupancy, ADR (Average Daily Rate) and RevPAR (Revenue per available room). The tipping point that converts erratic guests into committed ones is the instance wherein a loyalty programme transforms from a cost centre to a revenue engine. Research on Indian hotels by Millward Brown has proposed walk-ins as the major avenue for Indian bookings, accounting for more than one out of four hotel bookings across India. In this light, guest profiling becomes key to facilitating guest loyalty and using that member’s information regarding purchasing behaviour

and travel affinities to improve future direct bookings. This intelligence can be leveraged to plan highly targeted and effective SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) that drives repetitive stays via the website. Loyalty programmes can potentially be the single most important lever to differentiate hotel offerings. The database built from a loyalty programme provides invaluable insights into guests’ stay behaviour and preferences, enabling hotels to provide more personalised experiences. All while delivering positive results in terms of revenue and stay frequency - members stay longer, spend more, and return more often. In the case of independent hotels, it provides a steady flow of repeat business from past guests, and also attracts new guests from other hotels within the brand. For exam-

ple, in the case of I Prefer, more than 500,000 new travellers signed up to gain access to the programme’s benefits in 2018, a 20 per cent growth in membership over 2017, helping to fuel a 24 per cent increase in total I Prefer reservations revenue for participating hotels, which included a 92 per cent increase in revenue booked through the I Prefer member rate, compared to 2017. The numbers speak for themselves. In the age of alternative hospitality options and dynamic consumer preferences, the only constant with respect to loyalty programmes is change, to constantly adapt to consumer’s everevolving perception of value to confirm a strong return on investment. (The author is the area MD, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Preferred Hotels & Resorts)

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June 2019

GM SPEAK

According to a recent HVS Review, Bengaluru witnessed the second highest hotel brand signings with 2017 keys across 11 properties after Goa with 2209 keys. Steena Joy spoke to the General Managers of some of the Garden City's leading hotels to get their insights on the market

AMAAN KIDWAI GM,ITC GARDENIA 28 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

Bengaluru as a hospitality market This market is one of the fastest growing markets. We have got a lot of supply coming in across price points and specifically in the luxury segment. We have the Conrad which opened last year in the Central Business district. We also have the Four Seasons that opened in May this year, and also Renaissance opened here last year, and now they are operating at full inventory. We will also see a Novotel coming in here in the vicinity of our hotel,

but that will take some time since its construction has just begun. The good thing that we see is, with the occupancy in the city growing, we see the ADRs are also growing and that probably could be due to tremendous commercial space growth rate in the city. The commercial space supply is growing, and with the decent rents companies are picking that up, so with that growth, there is a demand for hotels in the city. Also, the city is broken into micro markets now, so people are willing to stay in the

North Bengaluru area as well, and the same is met with the supply of many branded hotels coming there as well. The CBD has been always in demand looking at its proximity to many of the government offices as well as many other offices. Initially, the demand for hotels started with CBD before moving out to the expanse of the city. The demand within the city continues to grow and we have not seen a drop in prices or occupancies for years now, which is good news. Also, Kempegowda International Airport

GM SPEAK

Bengaluru being the largest growing airport in the country, the demand will keep rising in the Bengaluru market. Earlier people could do a morningevening trip, but because of the distance of the airport and the traffic scenario most people have to stay in Bengaluru for at least one night, so it the flip side of how the hospitality market encashes on the back of the infrastructural hurdles in the city. The ARRs are growing. The sentiments are positive and the hospitality industry will grow in the market. ITC Hotels in general and ITC Hotel Gardenia in specific, we have always looked at both the business drivers i.e. room inventory and F&B. We are very proud of our F&B brands and also market them really well. So we have always been linear in terms of our F&B and room inventory growth ratios.

USP of ITC Gardenia Apart from the location, ITC Gardenia has not one but many USPs. This is our 10th year of operation and since we started, we were Asia's first and world's largest LEED Platinum rated hotel, and the first for our company too. Now recently Grand Chola is the largest LEED Platinum building but until now it was a

feather in our cap. As you see the design of the hotel is very open. It has a lot of greenery and also being in the heart of the city, you have a structure like this with balconies and also vertical gardens in our F&B outlets and the lobby. So a lot of greenery spread across the hotel is one of our USPs. We have international F&B brands like the Ottimo and Edo which is a Japanese restaurant. Apart from that, we have Kebabs & Kurries restaurant, hence taking the total to three signature restaurants in the hotel. And,

of course, our brand Cubbon Pavilion named in tribute to Cubbon Park in Bengaluru, is our all-day dining signature restaurant. So our F&B offerings are also a great strength of the hotel. Our rooms are spacious with size of 44 sqm in the basic category which is a fairly large size. The hotel also has an elevated helipad - ours is one of the few buildings in the country with a licensed elevated heliport, which makes us kind of precious. Many industry leaders and celebrities use that, be-

cause, by a chopper, the airport is only nine minutes away, so that saves a lot of time for them. Attrition in the hospitality and services sector in India is very common and fairly high, but we have been seeing a trend at least for ITC Gardenia that it is coming down year-onyear. As a property matures, people also stay longer with the hotel and that is how attrition keeps coming down. Yes, attrition is a challenge in not just hotels taking people away but many other services sector in-

dustries as well. Most of the hotel employees are moving out to join cruise liners and international opportunities. We have seen very little attrition from our hotel to another hotel within the city, so it primarily has to do with better opportunities. We have employee engagement and recognition wherein we have weekly gathering batches to discuss various different aspects. Then we have monthly team lunch, where we put themed lunch for everybody. We also have quarterly rewards and recognition. Also on a weekly basis, department heads interact with their teams to discuss any concerns. So the continuous process of communication has helped us reduce attrition. We also have a large group of employees who are local.

My Management Mantra I personally believe in decentralising pressure and empowering my people because they are the people who are facing the guests, and if they are not empowered, they will come back every time which doesn't leave a good impression on the guests. But, they have my backing, we are humans, we all make mistakes and if you learn from mistakes that is absolutely good.

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June 2019

GM SPEAK

REUBEN KATARIA GM,JWMARRIOTTHOTEL BENGALURU

30 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

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Bengaluru as a hospitality market The hospitality industry has emerged as one of the key industries driving the growth of the services sector and, thereby, the economy. According to one of the recent reports by Care Ratings, currently, the city has close to 12,659 hotel rooms across all categories of hotels, and 5,698 additional rooms are in various stages of construction, which is expected to increase the city's supply by 45 per cent over the next five years. The demand in Bengaluru is driven by business travellers that constitute about 85-90 per cent of the premium segment room demand. BFSI and PSU companies mainly account for the demand in CBD area while Whitefield and Electronic city areas have

demand from IT/ITeS companies.

USP of JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru is a perfect blend of style and sophistication. The hotel is designed to redefine luxury for the modern business and leisure traveller. JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru overlooks the plush 300-acre Cubbon Park, offering a coveted combination of incredible views, architectural splendour and warm hospitality. JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru offers an array of four dining options. With an amphitheatre like setting, Alba the specialty restaurant offers the best in Italian flavours and cuisine. The fresh produce for the restaurants are mindfully sourced from select vendors.

The pool side restaurant, Spice Terrace is the property’s modern and upbeat Indian restaurant. The all-day dining restaurant, JW Kitchen offers world cuisine for all three meal periods and an extravagant à la carte menu in an open and interactive set-up. With its contemporary design and sophistication, Bar Uno offers to the city a premium experience of the world’s best wines and cocktails. JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru features more than 20,500 sq ft of meeting space, catering to a variety of meetings and events, from small scale board meetings to global conferences. This unparalled meeting and banquet space includes a pillar less Grand Ballroom measuring over 5,024 square feet. With a 32-

foot long ceiling, the Grand Ballroom is one of the largest ballroom spaces in the city, ideal for occasions that exemplify grandeur. All eight meeting rooms are equipped with cutting-edge business facilities and amenities. Marriott Bonvoy is the first of its kind loyalty program that bring all the Marriott properties under one roof. At present there are close to 25 million voyagers who have signed in for this program and at JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru almost 50 per cent of the business is through Marriott Bonvoy. More focus goes into personalisation of rooms and services for the members of this program.

My Management Mantra The work philosophy in

Marriott is that you look after your associates and in turn the associates look after the guests. So the management mantra is to listen and empower the associates to deliver efficiently on our brand promise. Marriott has a very strong culture that revolves around putting people first. The team is very focused on helping employees grow their careers. This is one company where people can grow their careers faster without having to leave the company. Any associate if required can request for a transfer once in 12 months to any of the Marriott property in the world whereas the executives have a period of 18 months. The growth opportunities are immense within the Marriott family.

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SUNIL TANEJA GM,TAJ YESHWANTPUR, BENGALURU 32 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

Bengaluru as a hospitality market For the hospitality market in Bengaluru the major business flows from IT & ITES related business. It is a GDS driven market and close to 90 per cent business is moved through GDS. Robust RFP process is followed by companies. Bengaluru is the house for big daddies – IBM, Oracle, Cognizant, Amazon who still command business in city. Influx of many German companies and other ancillary business companies are associated with them. Ease of travel and visa: The number of e-tourist visas issued reached 1.7 mn in 2017-18, ac-

counting for approximately 17 per cent of total arrivals. Bengaluru was amongst the fastest growing hotel markets in 2018. The city saw a healthy mix of increase by 3.9 per cent in occupancy and 4.3 per cent increase in ADRs. As a result, RevPAR grew by 10.6 per cent yo-y while supply grew by 7.0 per cent. Bengaluru is anticipated to witness an influx of almost 2004 rooms in 2018-19. It has an existing supply of 15,390 rooms and proposed supply of 4180 rooms in the next three years. Combined with opening of nearly 2,000 rooms including a large number in the upscale and

luxury segment, will weigh down on the market. The performance of the hotel market in Bengaluru is at risk of consolidating in reaction to these trends in 2018. Large hotels with big banqueting facilities opened in the city like Hilton, Conrad, Renaissance & Sheraton Whitefield which would offer new options for the residential & large conferences in city and dilute the group ADR in the city.

USP of Taj Yeshwantpur Taj Yeshwantpur is a perfect destination for urbane corporate travellers seeking an intelligent mix of business environs & vibrant pleasure options. Making

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Taj Yeshwantpur is the ideal stop over for the industrious lot, the pleasure seekers. The hotel is spread across 3.5 acres encompasses the highest inventory of 327 spacious and luxuriously appointed suites and rooms. Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru is situated near Peenya, one of the largest industrial areas in Southeast Asia. Some of the city's well known educational institutions, worldclass medical facilities, Tech parks, key corporate headquarters including the World Trade Centre, Manyata Tech Park and Bangalore Exhibition Centre are the emerging hotspot of North Bangalore. The hotel is strategically located 33 kms from Kempegowda International Airport; 30 minutes ride to the heart of the city, and 11 kms away with metro access. Lesser known history about the hotel is that the hotel features an inner courtyard with a 200-year-old Ficus Bengaliensis tree. Taj Yeshwantpur is a Pet friendly hotel with special service design created for pets. The hotel is positioned as premium corporate convention hub, and boasts over 22,000 sq ft of dedicated conferencing and banqueting facilities (indoor & outdoor) which makes it the ideal and only choice for hosting large format events and conference. The highlight of the banqueting spaces also features one of the largest pillarless banquet venue with a pre-function area of 11,300 sq ft and overlooks the 200-year-old Banyan Tree in the central courtyard. Taj Yeshwantpur has been awarded by EARTHCHECK with a Silver Certification, recognising the hotel's commitment towards the environment, social sustainability and responsibility towards our employees, vendors, guests and immediate neighborhood. For the Phase-I, we identified 3000 sq ft area of vacant space located in the hotel terrace for the commissioning and implementation of solar panel to generate 255 units per day or 93000 units per year used for the partial building lighting and saving

Rs 8.38 lakhs per year. In continuation, we have planned for Phase-II with a capital expenditure for the forthcoming year to expand the solar panelling project in 4500 sq ft additional terrace space to generate additional 350 units per day and additional Rs 11 lakhs annual savings. Despite increase in room occupancy by 5 per cent and increase in overall F&B average daily covers by 17 per cent for 2018-19 vs FY2017-18 (H1), the total fuel, power & light average cost per month was brought down by 8 per cent against previous year. Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru was recognised for the Energy Conservation efforts by The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) Atlanta, USA was awarded the Best Energy Project of the Year 2017 in the Asia Subcontinent Region.

My Management Mantra I believe there is not one style of leadership that is appropriate for every occasion or situation.

My mantra as a leader are three golden rules I endorse. One is to 'Lead' by example from the front by taking action, demonstrating what needs to be done in an organised manner. I lead by a facilitating open communication and try to bring the best in every team member. It is known that talent works best when their strengths are identified and utilised for the right job and I personally get involved in selecting talent for various level. And lead by delegating and making others better by finding their strengths and giving them a chance to do what they are best at. I also believe in creating a culture of trust amongst my colleagues to achieve common organisational goals and shared vision. Overall my strengths lies in listening and responding constructively towards my team and finding innovative ways to improve existing systems, procedures and practices to help bring out the full potential in the peo-

ple working in the organisation. Understanding people in the team in terms of knowledge, ability, willingness to do and be ready to adapt my approach to handle any situation effectively must suit the occasion. And of course, the due efforts of the team receives frequent and meaningful recognition or feedback. This achievement comes from our employees who are our most important brand ambassador of Taj Yeshwantpur. With an average age of our workforce at 25 years, we look at engaging the young millennial's at work with a culture of accountability, goal achievement and recognising the contributions from the general manager's office through weekly appreciations and town hall forums. These crucial interactions have factored in the positive employee morale at the workplace, echoing in the Employee Satisfaction and Engagement survey conducted by Gallup, India with an 18 per cent increase from the previous year. The culmination of

our efforts resonate evidently in several parameters such as Confidence in Leadership ability scored at 96 per cent; Leader demonstrates Open & participative leadership style at 93 per cent; Empowered to exceed customer expectations at 95 per cent; Everyone demonstrates mutual respect at 95 per cent, and Satisfied with the available facilities at 98 per cent score. Leading the team forward and geared for the upward trend in our hotel performance, we have shown growth across all parameters with our hotel occupancy rising over 5 per cent and total revenue with a 14 per cent increase against last year. We have created a buzz in the dining options and banqueting facility with a 14 per cent growth in our covers over last year that has boosted F&B revenue contribution to over 26 per cent. It is a proud moment to the entire team to accomplish an EBITDA growth of 34 per cent as against the previous year.

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SRIJAN VADHERA GM,CONRAD BENGALURU

34 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

Bengaluru as a hospitality market With more inventory coming into the city, the demand is also rising. Earlier some 10 or 12 years ago, Whitefield was a very calm quieter place, with hardly any hotels here. But, now its a different world altogether. Central Bengaluru is different now and so is Yeshwantpur which is another pocket. Hotels are opening in different micro-markets and hence the market is growing. We are fairly a new hotel but our pricing and our occupancy levels are in line with our competition hotels or our neighbouring hotels. You cannot compare hotels which are in and around MG Road to hotels in Whitefield or towards Electronic City. Standalone restaurants are also picking up. F&B is also

catching up in terms of the quirky and the newer design, offerings, beverage experiences and holistic experiences. Gone are the days when you want a white club service or a good Indian meal. It is more experiential now. I believe that hotel F&B has to compete sometimes with good standalone restaurants and bars as thee are many in the city. Hotels can no longer stick to their conventional cookie-cutter operations style. Today we have to give what the customer wants. So overall business in the city has grown, the numbers are very strong.

USP of Conrad Bengaluru This is the second Conrad in India. We are the luxury brand of Hilton which has close to 5900 hotels worldwide. India is a

growing market for our company. As we talk there are more Hilton hotels being planned within the micro-city of Bengaluru. We have the largest banqueting in this part of the city. We have one ballroom which is close to 7500 sq ft. Very large pre-function area, separate entrance for the ballroom with dedicated porch, dedicated elevator for our banquet floor and it is right in front of the Ulsoor Lake. All the rooms look out towards the lake because of the concave shape of the hotel. The poolside is like an oasis. Our pool is the only temperature controlled hotel pool in the city. We are very focused on energy conservation. We are a new hotel so we have heat pumps, we do not use diesel to run the boilers. We get lot of corporate

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groups because of the location. Mikasu our Japanese restaurant is very popular. Lunches are very busy with many companies in and around the hotel. Dinners are for inhouse guests and walk ins as well. We do the maximum revenue in banqueting. We do large MICE events too like at the recent NASSCOM event, we had 800 people attending and some 90 CEOs and MDs who stayed with us. It was a two and a halfday event. As of attrition, there are more opportunities and the challenge is to keep the millennials engaged. We have to think the way they think. And what are their wants and desires. Attrition overall in Bengaluru is higher - around 40 to 50 per cent in most of the hotels. But it is stabilising to a great extent. Also we

are opening three more Hiltons here so the opportunities are immense for associates working with us.

My Management Mantra You have to flex your style when it comes to handling different sets of team members. Firstly, I like to be surrounded by awesome people, people who are better than me, people who know their job better than me because they will always ensure that they will put their best foot forward in what they do and they are going to make the hotel and the team look smarter. Secondly, don't accept mediocrity in life. I would rather do a very good job or not do it at all. And, that is what I expect from every

team member. We do a great job, not an average job. And third, which is the toughest - always do the right thing. If you are doing every-

thing right, then you have no stress. Whether it is with our owners or the management or even guests, we have a very transparent relationship, very

open, very clear. We don't accept anything unethical. This way you save the pride of the company, and the pride of all your team members.

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SHUBHANKAR BOSE GM,RENAISSANCE BENGALURU RACE COURSE HOTEL 36 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

Bengaluru as a hospitality market Bengaluru is one of the most booming markets in India and in South Asia. We have seen a huge amount of investment coming into Bengaluru since the past seven years and also look a lot more new companies opening their branches here, which in turn is helpful for the hospitality market as a whole here. We have also seen different brands of a hotel group emerging into Bengaluru which shows that there is a spectrum of visitor market to tap here. Marriott has 13 hotels as of now in Bengaluru under various brands and also has a lot in the pipeline. We have the Ritz

Carlton followed by Renaissance which was missing in this market. We already have two Sheraton branded hotels in the market. So Bengaluru is a huge market where Marriott is also focussing. In terms of ADRs, they are the best here that India has seen. Bengaluru is quite dominant in that field. We see steady growth in every business as such. The uniqueness of Bengaluru as a market is that it is not dependent on a fixed region but comprises of various micro markets. Whitefield as an area is increasing in potential and likewise is Hebbal. Electronic City can still see some more in-

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ventory of hotels. And, of course there is the Old CBD area, where most of the people come to meet their clients and plus it is a happening area. A lot of people who are working here like Bagmane Tech Park which is in Bellandur area. My previous assignment was in JW Marriott in Bengaluru as the director of operations and I saw movements have been happening within the area. I have seen a lot of common guests at that hotel, which has been frequenting to the Renaissance hotel too. CBD gets a lot of business from different micro markets. We are seeing the other side of the airport and Devanahalli area pacing a lot as a market. So in the next five to seven years time, I don’t see any threat for our business, but only growth, despite the increasing number of hotels.

USP of Renaissance Bengaluru Race Course Hotel Bengaluru didn’t see much of lifestyle hotels in the CBD area. Most of the hotels in Bengaluru are business hotels. They are either luxury business hotels or midscale business hotels. The unique aspect of Renaissance is its concept. Renaissance comes as a brand which is a very unique indigenous kind of concept. It will be known as an independent hotel from the Marriott brand. Renaissance comes into the lifestyle premium brands of Marriott. Renaissance comes influenced with a lot of local culture. Our hotel being right next to the Race Course, the influence can be seen in the design throughout. We have horse themes all around the hotel. The small touchpoints, we have kept them resembling the turf derby which is seen in our service sequence. Plus, 60 per cent of our rooms directly face the turf, so the guests have a clear view of the turf. During a race, we actually provide the guests with binoculars to have a clear view of the derby from their room itself. Also, Bengaluru having a lot of concrete developments throughout, not much of skyline is visible in the city but at our property. Our property also has

a lot of lush greenery which is one of our USPs. The greatest USP of our hotel is our team. We have been quite fortunate to engage our teams, so that has been quite well. We have been quite fortunate to instill the brand values in our staff right since our opening about seven months back. So far our attrition rates have been very low and perhaps because of the fact that we are more engaged with our team. Training remains one of the most important aspect. Currently our guest responses are totally reflecting in how our staff feels. Just like Mr Marriott’s mantra, if we take care of our associates, they will take care of the business and you will have repeat guests. That is an ultimate mantra and applicable in any industry today specially in a services industry like ours wherein we deal with people throughout. We spend at least two hours a day just on focus training which actually helps us to retain our staff because they feel the company is taking care of their development that helps in our guest experiences as well. Currently, in the Renaissance across Asia Pacific we are on the second rank in our guest course

value. During the morning we keep the performances very Indian. That is how Renaissance Bengaluru Race Course Hotel is not a typical business hotel. People can do business, but at they own pace and while they unwind.

My Management Mantra

which is a very big achievement. Renaissance also has specific service design which engages the guests. We have a bar ritual which is extremely unique and there is no other hotel which does that. Whenever the clock strikes 19.30 hrs whoever is nearby the bar, they would be called at the bar and we will do an indigenous cocktail, during the making of which the historic information about the cocktail and the place of origin of the ingredients used is said. It is then given for tasting to the guests.

This helps the staff understand the hotel’s brand concept which is independent, indigenous and intriguing. The other concept in our hotel is that we don’t call our concierge as the concierge, but the Navigator. The Navigator helps the guest to explore the local experiences, which is the main focus area. Whoever stays with us, discovers something within or outside the hotel. These concepts make our hotel very lively. We also have live performances running on a regular basis which reflects the brand’s

My management mantra is very simple. It is very important that constant communication keeps happening in my team. How I want to see the hotel as the GM growing, if that is not communicated down the line in the team, it will never be achieved in its full capacity. It takes time, it doesn’t just happen overnight. In the first three months of the operations of the hotel it was extremely difficult because you have to get the confidence of the team and finally we are right now in a stage wherein we are fully aligned with the mantra. Be it guest satisfaction, the revenue generated, associate satisfaction, etc., if we look at these parameters, very important is the communication that happens with our teams. We have different forums for communication in which I communicate in five to six forums in a day, having meetings with different team members.

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SUJEET KUMAR GM,SHERATON GRAND BANGALORE HOTELATBRIGADE GATEWAY 38 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

Bengaluru as a hospitality market I will talk about the scene of hospitality in Bengaluru in two ways. One is about the whole of the hospitality market in the city and the way I see it, and then I will touch on the services by our company because we are the single-largest to have such high concentration of inventory in Bengaluru. Bengaluru market is not like one market, like in most cities if you see it, but it is broken up into micro markets like Whitefield area, CBD area, among others. Also, starting early this year, America-based global hotel data providing company – STR also started providing data as pre

micro markets which were not there earlier. The growth in hospitality in Bengaluru is seen across the spectrum, it is not just the 5-star hotels that are dominating the market, but other upscale and budget hotels as well are doing good in the market. Also, serviced apartments are seen here because of the long-stay traveller segment. We are lucky enough to have people staying with us for years in our hotel. I guess the security concerns which is prevalent for the guests has kept them loyal to us. There are other standalone serviced apartments and hotels as well, but they do not have standardised services and considering the expats and long-

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stay people, we provide them with the safety in terms of accommodation and food. Considering the micro market, we are catering to, Marriott International is having multiple properties opening in the region. Also, the fact that high-end residences are coming in catchment areas like next to the World Trade Centre, etc. Furthermore, considering the traffic in Bengaluru and the hassle of transportation here, people choose to accommodate in the place closest to their work. We are the market leaders in the compset. ADRs will grow in this market, but some amount of pressure is bound to be there with a new hotel opening in the city. So some turbulence is expected here looking at the new supply coming in here.

USP of Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway Brigade Gateway is probably India’s one of the largest integrated complexes. Apart from the World Trade Centre, we have the Columbia Asia Hospital, the Orion Mall, and then we have the Brigade International School and of course, we have the hotel. So people visit our hotel because we have got easy access to all these facilities in the vicinity. Apart from the room inventory, we have got about 25000 sq ft of large banqueting space, right from ballroom to small meeting rooms and a wide spread of eight food outlets serving an array of cuisines from across the world, along with a full-fledged spa. We also recently converted an otherwise dead-space in the hotel to an Art Cafe, which showcases art to gaze at while having a cup of coffee, or probably enjoy the expansive view of Orion Lake. We also operate the High Ultra Lounge, which is at the rooftop of the World Trade Centre and is located at an altitude of 421 feet. Nobody has got anything close to it in south India in terms of being an F&B destination with a view. It's broken up into four zones and we are working on the fifth zone as well so it is very comprehensive in what we have

to offer in this facility. Weddings is a big segment for us. Approximately we do about 30-35 weddings in a year which is good, but we always have room for more. We are one of the few hotels which offer fullfledged Shaadi rooms wherein we meet and discuss all that is needed for a wedding, which is a one-stop destination for those who are planning weddings. Almost 55-60 per cent of our business in F&B comes from non-residents. That is the stature that we have in the local market in terms of F&B. In fact, we have got an array of multicuisine restaurants, with specialty cuisines and also three bars of which two are open air. Bengaluru has a really pleasant climate round the year for which the open air bar is really beneficial and we also capitalise on that. In terms of attrition, 30-32 per cent is the average attrition level seen by the hospitality market in India on an average, while we closed at 16.5 per cent which is sort of commendable. A lot of industries for treat hotels and hospitals as poaching grounds. People who are in the hospitality industry initially have to grind, but with the time passing, they get to enjoy the fruits of the labour. For us, the

preference is almost to encourage in hiring more of local talent as it saves our costs which otherwise comes for providing accommodation to a person coming from outside. It also helps to let the person know that they belong to the community. Greeting locals here are certainly very welcome to our hotel.

My Management Mantra The mantra sort of de-

pends on the situation. So depending on the situation, one has to take dynamic decisions. But, some of the few thumb rules that I follow include - ‘Be in the know before you are on the go’ which means know all the facts before you go out and make a decision. So if someone has got the talent, we can, of course, train them. And here, we are not hunting for experience, because if we keep look-

ing for experienced personnel, how will the freshers get a start? Also, if you do what you have done, you will always get what you have got. So unless you change yourself and think differently, how can you get different results? is a question that I keep asking myself. So at each stage, the hunger to learn has to be there. We make mistakes, but learning never stops.

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VINESH GUPTA GM,THE DEN BENGALURU 40 EXPRESS FOOD & HOSPITALITY June 2019

Bengaluru as a hospitality market The market is very interesting in Bengaluru. It is more subdivided than any other city, in terms of micro markets, primarily because of its geographical location and local traffic situation. So when we talk in terms of inventory of Bengaluru city as a whole, the city has definitely seen some oversupply with a lot of new hotels coming up. But if you talk about specific market places like Whitefield for example, there has been an increase in the five-star luxury space by almost 100 per cent in the last year because of the Sheraton

Grand and The Den coming in the picture, but the demand also has been equally robust. Certain reports show that the market has grown by almost 19 per cent last year in Whitefield micro market which has more-or-less absorbed the additional inventory. We don't see any fresh inventory coming in at least in the next three years. Bengaluru is also very dynamic when it comes to commercial space. We've seen a lot of international companies expressing interest in enhancing their capacities, to name a few like TCS and Mashreq. So looking at the way the commercial

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space availability exists in various submarkets and the inventory of the hotels, we see that they are evenly balanced, and that we are poised for a robust growth, both in ADRs and occupancies in the years to come. The inventory which has come in will definitely be absorbed in the coming 24 months and the added inventory which will come up in separate micro markets like Devanahalli or Palace Grounds or on the Koramangla side of the city definitely have other business avenues to absorb that.

USP of The Den Bengaluru When we were trying to look for locations in India for setting up The Den, we in fact looked at all the cities across India including Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, etc. The key reason for choosing Bengaluru was the availability of the right real estate at the right price – it’s a 100 per cent FDI project where we also own the land. Secondly, it was the growth potential of various cities. Bengaluru and primarily Whitefield was already in place. So Bengaluru was more of a fail safe investment where we knew that success is inevitable. The city is also an incubator of startups and most brands in manufacturing or hospitality or technology set up their India base from or around here. So we thought it is wise to set up here. We are a true blue hospitality company as we own and operate our assets, so we are open to setting up anywhere

where the market exists and the returns exist. Our growth will be primarily through acquisition because we feel that is the right way to grow faster. Then we renovate and rebrand the property as a Den hotel. This property has brought many firsts to India. We have a 70 seater step down auditorium, one of the first in the country and a small cinema inside the hotel to occupy the guests after work hours because to keep the single business traveller engaged after work hours especially in Whitefield is not an easy job. Our brand has four main ethos - Eat, Work, Sleep, Play. We are a tech savvy hotel so we have incorporated virtual reality even in our game room. The whole idea is to create an ecosystem where people love the hotel. Ours is not a standard hotel, we want to create a homely feeling. We also have our own spa brand called Sanctuary with a lot of focus on Nature. Like in summers we use scrubs that are based on citrus fruits. In winters it is avacado. We try to be as organic as possible. We have 15000 sq ft of indoor and 15000 sq ft of outdoor banqueting space. The hotel is very successful for corporate events and conferences, and we are tapping social events, weddings and pre-wedding events now for which we see a decent amount of demand. It has a lot to do with the decor and the warmth of the property. Banqueting/events/ catering is one of the mainstream revenues of any success-

ful hotel today and so it is for us. We are much more popular for our F&B than any other hotel in Whitefield. Room revenue and F&B revenue is almost a 50:50 business mix, unlike earlier where it was a 70:30 ratio. We have seen that as room revenue is increasing so also the footfall in F&B has increased dramatically. We see lot of local clientele who like to come and try our cuisine. Especially at our rooftop restaurant Layla which is one of its kind. a true blue Mediterranean restaurant. As for attrition, we are a new property so in the beginning it was 33 to 34 per cent but now we are seeing at levelling

out at the market attrition levels of around 25 per cent. Today if an associate stays with you for even four years especially at the base level where 80 per cent of the team members are, it is an achievement. We have a strong HR policy. We have people who have worked for 50 years in the company in Israel. Most employees are on the payroll unlike other companies that use contractual labour. This permanency gives employees a sense of security and belonging. We are a good training ground.

My Management Mantra I believe in simplicity. Mak-

ing life and operations as clutterfree, as easy and as simple as possible. And it starts from my worktable where I just have my laptop. I like to practise management by objective (mbo). I like to walk around, be with my team members and my customers (I call them my stakeholders) greeting them as they check in. Stakeholders’ satisfaction at every stage that is my goal. I want to be with my team when they need me the most and where they need me the most, not mere lip service. Once the team realises this, they rally behind you as they see the leader is leading by example.

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STARTUP ZONE

A Tribe for students Although the quality of education in India has evolved gradually over the years to meet international standards, the age-old cookie-cutter dormitory style of student accommodation has resulted in a dip in the number of migrant students moving cities within the country. To drive the new-age students to a new upscale student accommodation product, Yogesh Mehra, founder, Myturf Hospitality founded 'Tribe Student Accommodation' - an aspirational long-stay accommodation product exclusively for the students. Mehra and his sons Shantam & Aman met with Akshay Nayak to give details about the first-of-its-kind product and how they create a win-win situation for all their stakeholders at Tribe

T

HE QUALITY of education has evolved by leaps and bounds in India over the past years, especially in the metro and tier-II cities which is evident by the increasing number of migrant students from smaller towns making a beeline to these developed cities for seeking quality education in renowned institutes there. JLL's 'Future of India Real Estate' report in September 2019 says, “The 2011 census data reveals that approximately 8 mn students in India are migrants who require student accommodation in close proximity to their university campuses.”

A real challenge is getting quality accommodation in the new city. According to the JLL report, “A large part of this (student) population currently lives in sub-optimal housing and this underlines the huge unmet demand in this sector.” Furthermore, the lack of services in meeting the quality of accommodation has, in turn, dampened the number of international student travellers coming to the country. Some brands did see this gap and introduced their aspirational co-living spaces product in the strategic locations near work hubs and institutes. But, this

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type of accommodation has working personnel as well as the students living in one building, which at times results in social disconnect and also is not encouraged by all tenants. Looking at the demand of upscale student accommodation spaces in India, Tribe Student Accommodation was founded by Yogesh Mehra, founder, My Turf Hospitality, with his sons Shantam Mehra and Aman Mehra as cofounders. The brand, as its title reads, is meant for the niche market – i.e. student accommodation only. Speaking about the product, Shantam says, “During my higher education years in the

L-R Shantam Mehra, Yogesh Mehra and Aman Mehra

STARTUP ZONE

UK, I saw that the quality of accommodation for the students was starkly different from that in India. Although India is a price-sensitive market, anybody from a middle-class background and above, do not mind spending on quality services. Across the world, India sees one of the highest numbers of student migrants who travel cities within the country for quality education, but however, do not get quality accommodation. We introduced ourselves in the upscale student accommodation space because we believed in giving comfort to the students instead of further burdening their induction in the city.” Yogesh adds, “We did not want to name it a 'hostel' because students have a perception that it will be a dormitorybased accommodation product with dirty common bathrooms, untidy mattresses, and dusty rooms. Also, we wanted to make it very clear that Tribe is not another co-living space, but is dedicated to student accommodation only.”

An uber student accommodation brand Bed and breakfast are provided by any hostel, but Tribe believes in giving experiences to its customers. Making it a oneof-its-kind product, the first property in Viman Nagar, Pune is a 104-key keyless and cashless property that is home to a gym with modern equipment, networking spaces within and around the building, wifi, airconditioners, rooms with ensuite bathrooms and a 24x7 restaurant. Explaining the reasons behind introducing these amenities in a student accommodation product, Yogesh informs, “The world is moving ahead in all other aspects but when it comes to student accommodation, Indians paint it as an endurance test which one must get adapted to. Even the students have their own needs. They need better internet connectivity to search and browse new information hassle-free; a student pursuing medicine might study the whole night and may need a coffee at 5 am after studying for a long

stretch; or an IIT pursuing student will have to stick to his/her chair for long hours, for which, to ensure comfort, ergonomically designed chairs are required in their rooms. So, before introducing the product we conducted an intensive research for more than two years, during which we were looking to including the many solutions for the various pain points that a student faces like back pain due to prolonged seating on plastic chairs, poor quality of food at the mess, loss of key, high in-room temperature, etc.” Throwing light on the keyless and cashless services and other means of using technology at Tribe, Shantam informs that Tribe as a brand has a copyrighted in-house built enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. All the room doors are equipped with a Radio-frequency identification (RFID) system, which can be accessed through an RFID wrist band, hence taking away the hassle of carrying keys or keycards. Furthermore, the ensuite restrooms are equipped with motion-sensor lighting and exhaust systems to save energy. To further make the product experiential, Shantam says that Tribe has partnered with many hobby classes as means of providing recreational activities during the student's free time. “They can break a sweat at the gym as per their customised exercise regime planned with the

gym trainer and a special diet curated with the on-site nutritionist. And, after a long day, they can order whatever they need at the multi-cuisine 24x7 restaurant Mamaliga,” he adds. Human resource is an equally important asset for Tribe in order to provide a wholesome hospitality experience to the customers at the many touchpoints within the property, Yogesh feels. “We are hiring personnel who have worked in the hospitality industry for over several years since they understand and maintain operations in harmony and are also equipped to handle any situation,” Yogesh says. Tribe is also providing paid internship programmes for aspiring hotel management students in order to provide them with hands-on experience of various operations that go into the back-end of managing a big facility like the property in Viman Nagar.

Current inventory and occupancy Similar to other student accommodation products, Tribe also operates on the distribution of beds but has specific norms set, i.e. not including more than two beds in a room. “We saw, many co-living spaces stacking 4-5 people in one room, which often disturbs the student's individual routine,” points out Shantam. “We have rooms in three formats – Twin Sharing, Luxury

Twin, and Single Room, so giving each student an option to choose from as per their requirements,” he adds. “We have rate cards for only rooms as well as for rooms with food inclusive which includes breakfast and dinner for an annual fee,” he informs. Giving details of the performance of Tribe in terms of occupancy, Yogesh says, “The average student occupancy in India sits at 95 per cent, and since the time we have launched, we are seeing an occupancy of 90 per cent in a very brief period of time which is really good.”

Operational model and marketing & distribution initiatives Tribe as a product follows the asset-light business model and is seeking investments from various high networth individuals (HNIs) to larger groups of investors for a pre-decided ROI, informs Shantam. “In order to create a win-win situation for everyone that we work with, we take a property for a long-term fixed lease or revenue-share basis, we renovate it as per the set standards, and then tie up with the institutes in the vicinity, which in turn increases the quality of their institution, hence resulting in increased revenue for them,” he says. They are majorly looking at marketing through B2B routes by being listed on the university websites that they are tied up

with and also planning some marketing tools with the real estate brands whose facility Tribe is managing. “We are also participating in a lot of college fests, and are active on social media channels to reach out to the endconsumers i.e. the students directly to better explain about Tribe,” Shantam adds. When asked about the support that Tribe sought from the government for this new dedicated upscale student accommodation product, Shantam opines that the company is in talks with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India and also with the GST council in order to subsidise a product like this to promote this segment in India. “From the GST perspective, the 18 per cent slab has its own repercussion as it is burdened onto the end consumer, hence the government should consider implementing a slightly lower taxation slab for this kind of product,” he adds. “The government should look at the finance aspect wherein the accommodation loan can be merged with the educational loan or any other alternative to ease the burden of high capital investments in the student accommodation itself,” Yogesh adds.

Future roadmap With the Viman Nagar Co-ed property sitting at 192 beds, they will soon be unveiling an all-girls facility with 75 beds in Mumbai, and another all-girls 185-bed property in Bengaluru. “We are tied up with a couple of institutes in Pune. We are looking at tapping students from NMIMS in Mumbai, and Presidency College in Bengaluru,” says Shantam. Yogesh adds, “Tribe has also tied up with Bhartiya Vidhyapeeth and will be receiving about 50 Thailand-origin students in some time.” These projects are in multiple stages of development and will be opened this year. “Apart from these we are looking at Delhi and Indore, and a lot of other Tier-II cities are on our radar for expansion too,” concludes Yogesh.

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June 2019

MOVEMENTS Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru

ering successful outcomes by empowering the teams and building efficient processes. Verma's past experience includes working with hotel brands like InterContinental and Leela. His journey with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, began in 2008 as director of sales at Park Hyatt Goa Resorts & Spa.

Mahema Bhutia has been appointed as director of marketing at Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing the dynamic sales & marketing team during the exciting pre-

Hilton Chennai

Mahema Bhutia

opening phase. With over two decades of experience in the hospitality and travel industries, Bhutia has aced five hotel pre-openings until now. She has worked with The Leela Palaces Hotel and Resorts, ITC Hotels; Dusit Devarana New Delhi, Trail Blazer Tours, Thomas Cook France , Hyatt Regency Pune, Renaissance Hotel Mumbai, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts in the past. She will be responsible to position the second Four Seasons branded hotel in India by securing top corporate business while also showcasing the destination as a great option for leisure travellers.

Taj Holiday Village & Resort Spa, Goa Xenia Jamshyd Lam is recently appointed as the F&B manager at Taj Holiday Village & Resort Spa, Goa. She began her career with the Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) in 2011 as a management trainee. As a part of the training program she received operational and administrative assignments in Delhi, Kolkata and Jaipur. In 2012, Giardino - the Italian Speciality Restaurant at Jai

Xenia Jamshyd Lam

Sanatan Sharma

Mahal Palace, Jaipur while under Lam’s management, was awarded ‘The Best Italian Restaurant in Jaipur’ by the Times Food Guide. After a successful completion of her management training, Lam was assigned to Taj Yeshwantpur, Bangalore where she was responsible for the operations of three outlets namely Azure – Mediterranean Speciality, Paranda - Indian Speciality and Shimmer - Bar. A year later she was transferred to Taj Mahal, New Delhi where she gained invaluable experience at Machan and House of Ming before moving on to the In-Room Dining and Amenities cell. Later she was assigned to The Chambers – an exclusive business club of Taj.

brands such as Marriott Bangkok, Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok before he took up the role in Radisson Blu Atria Bangalore. In his current role as the financial controller at Radisson Blu Atria Bengaluru, Sharma is spearheading the overall operations.

Radisson Blu Atria Bengaluru Sanatan Sharma has been appointed as the financial controller at Radisson Blu Atria Bengaluru. With over 13 years of experience, Sharma comes in as a seasoned professional in the hospitality sector. He started his career in 2005 as accounts assistant at The Oberoi Grand Kolkata. Later, expanding his horizons in finance, he worked with some of the well-known luxury hotels like Hyatt Hyderabad and Park Hyatt Maldives as assistant manager finance. Sharma has extensive experience working across Asia with

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Prasad Rao who brings with him 15 years of extensive F&B experience, has worked in few of the best hospitality brands in India and Dubai, prior to joining Hilton Chennai as the F&B manager. He is determined to revolutionise the F&B at Hilton Chennai by implementing well thought strategies for the hotel’s three restaurants and two bars

Hyatt Place Hampi Hyatt Place Hampi has appointed Shalabh Verma as its new general manager. Verma is a seasoned hotelier with over two decades of experience in the industry. He has been associated with the Hyatt Hotels & Resorts for 10 years, wherein he has worked with multiple hotels. In his new role, Verma will be responsible for the entire operations and will spearhead the growth and development of the hotel. He is a skilled revenue analyst and market strategist; his core expertise lies in deliv-

Zubin Sutaria

rience of more than 10 years in hospitality industry converting strategic vision into measurable results at various hotels. In his new assignment, he will be responsible for maximising hotels revenue through result-oriented sales and marketing strategies, exploring business opportunities through events, etc. Prior to joining Hyatt Regency, he worked as the director of sales with Four Points by Sheraton Hotel and Serviced Apartments, Pune.

The Westin Pune Koregaon Park Prasad Rao

and drive consistent scores for guest satisfaction; achieve departmental goals by maintaining a positive and healthy atmosphere amongst his team members. At Hilton Chennai, Rao will focus on strategic planning and running of operations in F&B, ensuring high level of associate and guest satisfaction by participating in hotel’s weekly sales strategy meetings, to enhance the revenue in the groups and catering segment.

Shankush Mahajan has been appointed as the room divisions manager at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park. In his previous tenure, Mahajan was associated with The Chedi Mumbai where he was in charge of curating guest experiences and

Hyatt Regency Pune

Shalabh Verma

Hyatt Regency Pune has appointed Zubin Sutaria as its director of sales. An industry expert, Sutaria holds an expe-

Shankush Mahajan

MOVEMENTS

handling the operations pertaining to the rooms. Mahajan has worked with renowned brands like IHCL, Hyatt Regency, JW Marriott, etc. Over the years he has played a key role in creating, conceptualising and redefining service standards, drive quality changes, and driving internal initiatives for customer experiences consistently. At The Westin Pune Koregaon Park, Mahajan will overlook the operations of two departments front office & housekeeping and be responsible for running day-to-day procedures of the hotel, drive quality changes, etc. Chef Gaurav Herwadkar has been appointed as the executive sous chef at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park. With over 14 years of experience in the hospitality industry, he brings with him passion, energy, and expertise in the kitchen and F&B department. His last assignment

W Goa W Goa has promoted Rahul Janve to the position of director of sales and marketing. In his new capacity, Janve will play a pivotal role in driving and overseeing all aspects of the hotel’s sales and marketing strategies, optimising the hotel’s revenue and market share. Janve is an experienced sales professional with over 14 years of experience in the industry, having worked in reputed hotel brands like Hilton & InterContinental before moving to Starwood and then Marriott International. He joined the pre-opening team of W Goa in 2016 and has since played an integral role in the establishment

JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu

Mohammad Shoeb

past, he has worked with RHG, Accor Hotels, IHG, and ITC Welcom Group. Shoeb is responsible for providing strategic guidance in operating the hotel in line with international brand standards; whilst meeting employee, guest and owners’ expectations.

JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu has recently appointed Sunil Kumar as the new hotel manager, effective as of March 2019. With more than 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Kumar brings to the role his expertise in hospitality operations and management after a long spanning career in world-class luxury hotels. Prior to the new assignment, he has been a part of other prominent hospitality brands such as The St. Regis, Grand Hyatt, The Trident Oberoi and The Park Hotels in various roles, adding to his diverse portfolio of experience.

Rahul Janve

Chef Gaurav Herwadkar

was with an award-winning restaurant Shakahari, JW Marriott, Pune. He has previously honed his craft in kitchens such as the Oberoi Grand, Kolkata and later began his journey with Marriott at the JW Marriott, Pune. At The Westin Pune Koregaon Park, Chef Herwadkar would be responsible for the planning of order and execution for all daily operations, supervise junior associates in the maintenance and cleanliness ensuring minimum wastage and controlling food costs.

of the hotel as a market leader and trendsetter. Janve comes with an educational qualification in commerce and hotel management.

Pride Plaza Hotel Aerocity, New Delhi Pride Hotels has recently appointed Mohammad Shoeb to the post of associate VP at Pride Plaza Hotel Aerocity, New Delhi. Shoeb brings with him over 30 years of hospitality experience, having held senior management positions in premium hotel brands across the country. He is a hotel opening specialist and has opened four hotels from 2005 till 2015 in the southern part of India. In the

Rahul Sabnani

revenues, implementing new & exciting engagements at the hotel. He is a team player and has leadership qualities that add to his strengths.

Radisson Blu Atria Bengaluru

JW Marriott Kolkata Rahul Sabnani is the new spa manager at JW Marriott Kolkata. In his current stint with JW Marriott Kolkata, he is using his vast repertoire of experience with exceptional results to mentor a talented team of spa specialists. Overseeing complete operations of the spa to further bolster guest services in tune with the brand’s legendary hospitality standards is also a key responsibility area of his work profile.

Amit Kumar Sangwan

Sunil Kumar

Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity has promoted Amit Kumar Sangwan as the director of F&B. Before being promoted; he was working as F&B manager of the upscale hotel. Sangwan is a passionate and dynamic hospitality professional with vast knowledge and more than 15 years of experience spanning in luxury as well as business hotels. He has an excellent understanding of operations, guest servicing, quality compliance, beverage management, people management & training in the hospitality industry. His main responsibilities will include increasing F&B

George Bennet Kuruvilla the new GM at Radisson Blu Atria Bengaluru holds close to 25 years of experience in the luxury hotel segment. Holding a degree in Hotel Management from IHM, Mumbai, he did his post-graduation from the Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development, Delhi and started his career in 1992 as a management trainee with The Oberoi Group. Spearheading multiple roles in the industry, Kuruvilla has an in-depth knowledge of every facet of managing a hotel and was GM of award winning hotels including The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra and The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata.

George Bennet Kuruvilla

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June 2019

SPOTLIGHT - MICE

M-Cube 2019: Celebrating Marriott's MICE vision in India With the rise in MICE business in India over the past years, Marriott has tapped a significant share of this business from both domestic and inbound clientele with the help of their valuable travel trade partners. To recognise their efforts, Marriott International has been organising M-Cube (Marriott Meetings Matter), a specially curated gala event since 2013 in India. Akshay Nayak met with Kadambini Mittal, senior area director, sales & distribution, South Asia, Marriott International at Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa to collate glimpses of M-Cube 2019 and importance of MICE for Marriott's business in India

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The sixth edition of MCube (Marriott Meetings Matter) hosted early in May this year at Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa, was a three-day affair which marked the presence of the who's who of travel trade and general managers of leading hotels under Marriott International's portfolio in India. The tailor-made event is curated to recognise Marriott International's partners to leverage India’s MICE potential and to educate the Indian travel trade about its MICE offerings here. The three-day long event saw multiple community networking programmes including - evening hi-tea next to infinity pool with an expansive view of the city; renowned Indian model and film producer Milind Soman in a ted-talk style session on wellness; speed meetings session for the GMs and the travel trade clients, and other recreational team-building activities including trekking, football, yoga, etc., as the company aims to help their valuable partners connect with each other in an informal setting. The event

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Kadambini Mittal

throughout marked live gala music performances by leading Indian bands to set the ambience right, during the lunch and dinner time at the hotel's outdoor banqueting spaces - Henry Lawns and The Woods. Some of the participating hotels in the event were Ritz Carlton Bengaluru, Goa Marriott Resort & Spa, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel, JW Marriott Aerocity New Delhi, and Courtyard by Marriott Siliguri, and the host hotel –

SPOTLIGHT - MICE Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa, among others.

Inception of M-Cube M-Cube is an event specially curated for India, that started in 2013 in Jaipur Marriott Hotel. Giving details of the objective behind hosting M-Cube, Kadambini Mittal, senior area director, sales & distribution, South Asia, Marriott International, says, “This is our sixth edition of M-Cube. It is the forum wherein we invite our partners who have given us MICE business in various parts of India. It is a well-planned event during which we conduct an informal meeting ambience and also create an experience for them by conducting special activities during the event. Most of our key MICE hotels participate in the event hence ensuring engagement between the GMs of the hotels and the valuable partners. Our travel trade partners do understand our product and we as well understand theirs and we are recognising them through this event for the efforts they have taken to bring business for Marriott.”

Scene of MICE for Marriott's business in India From the domestic front, MICE has really grown for Marriott International's business in India, remarks Mittal. “We have seen almost a double-digit growth in domestic MICE since the past years. We are also witnessing a lot of demand for tier-II and III cities in India especially for MICE for which we have expanded our distribution of over 100 hotels across the country while also focussing on the previously mentioned markets. We have seen a huge growth in the domestic market,” she adds. Mentioning further importance of MICE business in India for Marriott, Mittal voices, “MICE always has been and will be a focus segment for us. We now have a dedicated MICE team looking at the emerging demand from this segment. Also, coming to the infrastructural ability, we over the years have built huge convention centres like the one in Renaissance Mumbai. We also opened the

Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Center which is a huge convention centre too, hence making it evident that Marriott is ready in terms of infrastructure to host huge conventions in India.” Apart from the sizeable domestic MICE market, Marriott International also believes in roping in inbound MICE business. “There is a huge focus on bringing overseas business to India and we have seen good successful events from Singapore, Hong Kong nationalities, and also have seen a lot of incentives coming from Europe,” affirms Mittal.

M-Cube 2019 hosts Milind Soman to promote wellness A guest often holds a perception that traditionally, hotels are only meant to provide accommodation and food, but Marriott believes in providing experiences to their customers by plugging them to a range of engaging activities. As part of these engaging activities, a tedtalk style community event during the M-Cube 2019, hosted Milind Soman - Indian model, film producer and fitness promoter to allow their valuable partners to hear it directly from him about the importance of

wellness, notes Mittal. “The reason we wanted to host him for the event was because wellness is a big priority for all of us now, and a healthy body can really look at creating a healthy mind and hence healthy business. We do a lot of events with Milind Soman and other wellness promoters too. We also tied up with Stepthalon – wherein across APAC we were engaged from the hotel's front and from the area of the business front. We at Marriott want to provide more and more experiences to our guests through such events,” highlights Mittal. Milind Soman also opines that Marriott has been very supportive of the various endeavours that he is spearheading to promote wellness across the country. “They are very supportive for Pinkathon in various cities and we are looking at more opportunities through this association. We are always looking for good partners and Marriott has been a good partner to help us promote fitness and wellbeing,” says Soman. Furthermore, Marriott International eyes to provide 360-degree experiences to their guests be it leisure or MICE traveller markets, reiterates Mittal. “For example, in this year's M-Cube being hosted at Le Meridien Ma-

habaleshwar Resort & Spa, the way we have created experiences, we have tried doing something different every time and also something that is very engaging including community activities. Our motto is to build maximum brand recall through the experiences that we provide to our guests,” she adds. In line with Marriott's motto to promote wellness, interestingly, Westin Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott International, signed well-known celebrity Disha Patani as its well-being advocate in 2018 for its business in APAC. Through the partnership, Patani appeared in a video series sharing insights on her fitness regime and nutrition.

Weddings as a segment for Marriott Mittal feels the weddings segment as a market never witnesses recession. Emphasising on Marriott's efforts to attract more weddings business in India Mittal underscores, “We also witnessed the high potential of this segment and hence introduced 'Shaadi by Marriott' in 2017 through which we wanted to convey to the people here that despite being an international hotel company, we do understand the local needs of a wedding and cater to them with due

diligence and detail. It has been a huge campaign for us. Also, with our properties in Rajasthan, Mussoorie, Goa, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, and Pune, etc., destination weddings bring potential business for us. And also, within the country, we have 16 brands, with the latest addition being Tribute Portfolio in Kochi. So in terms of weddings we cater to each segment i.e. from uber-luxury to middle-income groups, so we have an option for everybody in India. Moreover, at the backend, we work closely with wedding specialists to create seamless experiences-driven weddings for our guests. So there has been a huge effort from our side just to convey that Marriott is serious about weddings as a segment.” With many other big international hotel chains setting up hotels in India in the metros as well as key tier-II, III cities in India to tap the potential MICE business here, replying to a query about the competition faced by Marriott, Mittal concludes, “Competition is always healthy. It challenges you and also brings new opportunities. We do face some competition but with our wellplanned strategies and hotels receiving key MICE business, we are well-placed in the competitive market here.”

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June 2019

SPOTLIGHT - TRENDING

TAKE ACHEF: GOURMETEXPERIENCES ATHOME Private chef as a format has been dictating a sizeable market, that strives gourmet experiences, across the world in the recent past. Catering to over 100+ countries, Take A Chef is a platform that provides tralior made experiences through their widespread fraternity of private chefs. Akshay Nayak spoke to Nathalia Ordoñez, product development manager, Take A Chef to understand the brand's functionality, business in India and future roadmap

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he F&B industry has kept evolving with new formats of service coming into play time and again. The trend that has been picking in the world over since the recent past is, having a private chef for a special occasion. The concept is retrograde wherein the food connoisseurs don't go out to experience the culinary delicacies, but the chefs visit their homes to bring the experiences right at the guest's home. 'Take A Chef' is a platform that allows you to hire a professional chef for a private event. They offer a new culinary alternative, allowing you to enjoy a personalised gastronomic experience by the hands of a private chef in the comfort of your home. Take A Chef takes an 18 per cent commission per reservation. Giving details about the functioning of Take A Chef, Nathalia Ordoñez, product development manager informs, “Take A Chef allows clients to reserve the services of a private chef in their city. As a client, you begin a request through our website with all the details of the event such as the number of people who would be enjoying the meal, date, time, address, culinary preferences or restrictions, etc. This request is sent directly to all the chefs available in the area. The chefs that are interested and available will send their suggestions for a personalised menu, and then, the client reserves the menu and

The beautiful thing about Take A Chef, is that we are just the mediators. Our platform allows every client and chef to dictate their own rules. If you are located in Bengaluru, it is the chefs that live in Bengaluru that will have access to your request. The chefs will develop a menu according to your specifications

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Nathalia Ordoñez

SPOTLIGHT - TRENDING the profile of the chef they like the most! Profiles include a photograph of the chef, pictures of their food, culinary background and a personal description.”

Though private chef is a big revenue generator for Take A Chef, the brand also organises other alternate services including show-cooking activities, long-term-employment placements, cooking classes, weekly meal plan drop-offs, celebrity chefs dining experiences subject to availability, and multipleday services.

An experience-driven product Experiences are what people look after nowadays. Ordoñez feels, dining at a fine dining restaurant could be an absolute memorable experience, but it is an experience that people get to repeat often, or may have seen before. Expressing the idea that led to the founding of Take A Chef, Ordoñez says, “When we began our company, we wanted to give the common person the opportunity to live an experience that was once only reserved for the elite, and experience a private chef service in the luxury of their own home, under their own rules (menu, pricing, chef). Our clients are absolutely delighted, and “memorable” is a world commonly mentioned in our reviews. We have really found a way of letting everyone experience something that truly wasn't thought of as accessible in the past. She informs that in the first years of launching, most of the clientele reached out to Take A Chef to host a special event, such as an anniversary, valentine’s day, a graduation or a birthday. “Our market has shifted dramatically over the years, and what we are seeing now is that our main clientele derives from travel agencies and luxury villa rentals,” adds Ordoñez.

The roadmap ahead

Business in India The Spain-based company which caters to over 100+ countries also operates as a platform for private chefs in Bengaluru, India. Ordoñez says, “The beautiful thing about Take A Chef, is that we are just the mediators. Our platform allows every client and chef to dictate their own rules. If you are located in Bengaluru, it is the chefs that live in Bengaluru that will have access to your request. The chefs will develop a menu according to your specifications, and you will then receive multiple options of chefs,

with their corresponding menu proposals. Once a chef sends you a menu, you have access to message them directly, make changes to the menu, communicate your needs, etc. The client only has to pay once they are completely comfortable with the chef they are speaking to and the menu they have chosen! We are just providing a tool for clients to find their perfect chef, and vice versa, in Bengaluru, India and worldwide. We currently have 28 chefs operating in Bengaluru through our web.”

Briefing on the performance of Take A Chef, Ordoñez says, “Since the last quarter of 2018, the Take A Chef team has seen tremendous growth, and we now have an on-boarding team, and a sales team within the company. The onboarding team recruits over 50 chefs daily, through a meticulous interviewing process. This has allowed us to grow our network daily, and whichever place we get a request from, if there are no chefs available, we will find them.” Take A Chef's business initiated in Madrid, and for the emerging years Spain was the only market they dominated, but sooner than later they were able to enter the rest of Europe, adds Ordonez. However, last year, unexpectedly, the Caribbean Islands, USA, and Mexico became Take A Chef's leading markets in terms of demand and offer, states Ordoñez about the company's growth prospects. “Our goal by the end of this year, without a doubt, is to enter the South Asian markets as a strong leader as well. Our efforts in product/menu development are now dedicated to South Asia. Our on-boarding team is on the lookout for the best and emerging talent, and our sales team is forming strong business relationships in the region. Indian Cuisine is hard to match! From street vendors to home cooking, it is just incomparable. There is no way someone will be able to compete with the strong culinary traditions, that is why we do not want to enter that race but simply want to build a new road! Interestingly, India is the ninth country from where most of our requests come,” she concludes.

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SPOTLIGHT - PROCUREMENT

A whole new world As the business world continues to evolve due to new technologies, globalisation, and growing market complexities, procurement has changed right alongside. Procurement in 2018 looked nothing like it did ten, or even three, years ago

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or years, CPOs and their teams have added value to their companies through strategic cost cuts or supply chain changes, but today’s procurement professional is redefining “value” altogether. Maybe that means finding new untapped markets or collaborators. Maybe it means data-driven “agile procurement,” where software allows for CPOs to more accurately anticipate needs in existing markets. SC&H Group has observed recent trends in the procurement and sourcing field, developments that show us where this

work is heading and what kind of efforts will best position your department for the road ahead. Here are some of the big-ticket changes that were observed.

Reorganisations, Mergers and Acquisitions Business never sits still these days: An ever-present churn of corporate reorganisations, mergers, and acquisitions has simply become the norm. USA Today reports that US$ 1.3 trillion in such deals changed hands in the first three quarters of 2018 alone, across multiple industries from

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fossil fuels to telecommunications, involving multinationals like T-Mobile, Marathon Petroleum, and Dell Technologies. The impact on procurement has been significant. When major players in a relatively closeknit supply chain make big changes in their corporate structure or absorb a competitor, the effects are felt throughout the industry. If the merger involves companies from different countries, as many increasingly do, the result could ripple throughout the globe and even lead to new regulations or requirements. CPOs need to ensure that their own company is

equipped to handle massive changes in their supply chains and their partner corporations. With proper awareness of shifting global regulations and contracts that ensure compliance, reconfiguration doesn’t have to mean instability in your systems, personnel, or profits. There are major challenges, especially for procurement professionals. The combination and balance of multiple service lines and contracts can leave CPOs wearing multiple hats and working long hours to make these transitions as smooth as possible. And not every merger is a success, as the rocky marriage of

Amazon and Whole Foods showed throughout 2018. In 2019 and beyond, CPOs might help assess the potential partner company to determine their compatibility - not only in terms of contracts, supply chains, and market reach, but in terms of corporate personality. Do they share your values? Do they operate according to similar assumptions and principles?

Outsourcing This is part and parcel with the reality of constant restructuring and reconfiguration. A growing number of tasks in every industry are left to con-

SPOTLIGHT - PROCUREMENT tractors, vendors, suppliers, and other outside partners who often have their own global networks. Increasingly, work is outsourced through AI and automation, which are collectively expected to add as much as US$30 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Even if your company isn’t directly automating, chances are that your partners are or will be soon, which creates a whole new set of concerns for procurement officers. The growth in collaborative work has made contracts even more essential to smart procurement. Agreements have to be written to account for every conceivable risk, including the new ones resulting from increased globalisation and automation. Just as importantly, the contracts have to be enforced with zeal. Successful CPOs must operate with the knowledge that their partners will be drawing on help from a wide number of partners of their own. Do your contracts hold them accountable for potential problems in that network? Do they compel them to ensure all work done in one country meets the standards and regulations in the places where your products are sold? With increasingly globalised supply chains across all industries, CPOs can add additional value to their companies by staying up to date on the contract requirements and standards across global markets. You’ll have a competitive advantage the better you understand the markets you operate in - and, with the better-than-average chance that mergers will impact your business, the markets you could potentially operate in.

Data security The growth of outsourcing also means that companies are now beholden to an indefinite number of partners’ data vulnerabilities. And make no mistake, everyone is vulnerable: from titans like Facebook and Target down to small businesses, data breaches were a continuing trend in 2018 and will likely remain so, as new business and commerce technology continues to outpace security solutions. But that doesn’t mean the risk is

shared across a supply chain. If your customers suffer a data breach because of a third-degree link in your network, they will still associate your company with the problem. It has fallen to CPOs to ensure these partners’ strict protection of customer and corporate data through rigorous contract writing and enforcement. CPOs are also responsible for ensuring that every company in their network are compliant with data regulations around the globe. 2018 saw new strict privacy regulations in Europe going into effect with the GDPR differ from any privacy laws in the US, a harbinger of a data future where different levels of regulation exist in every manufacturing or distribution market. These complexities may require CPOs to team up more frequently with their company’s chief technology officer, chief information officer, and data protection officer to draw up and enforce workable contracts in the new market. It may not necessarily be a procurement department’s job to know every detail of global changes in security policy and regulations, but the more you know, the greater an asset your department will be to your company. As mergers and acquisitions continue apace, contracts come together more quickly, and risk assessment becomes the coin of the realm in a widely outsourced market, it will benefit

CPOs to know when potential partners are operating at the bleeding edge of data security. Identifying a reliable partner quickly will be an indispensable skill.

Emerging technology Like so many industries, procurement will be potentially transformed by the emergence of recent technological developments like machine learning, AI, automation, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and whatever new approaches spring forth tomorrow. CPOs have more data at their disposal than ever before, and more ways to interpret, extrapolate, and utilise this data. Some have already begun the technologies listed above to increase supply chain transparency, quickly identifying fraud or disruptions in their supply chains, and sourcing materials at an optimum price. They can pinpoint micro-values and losses with incredible accuracy, while also projecting trends into the future to anticipate need. This is obviously cause for celebration on one level, but it’s also a reminder that the very role of the CPO is changing. Creative, proactive deployment of these new tools will separate the successful CPO from the pack. Finding new sources of value - or, given the growing trends toward reorganisations stated

above, finding ways to ensure stability amid rapid change - will be the key to staying power. It will take vision to see through the noise and recognise how these new tools can be turned in to real value and opportunity. For example, the most cuttingedge CPOs will recognise that technology has brought procurement closer to other aspects of company’s business. They will make continuous investment in their team’s continuing education so that they can understand the role of technology in other departments. Understanding the marketing field, for example, will help procurement professionals find ways to identify potential competitive advantages and corporate partners. If you know which agencies are most like your company in terms of goals, corporate culture, and management style, you might position your organisation to make quicker, more knowledgeable bids and find the best possible collaborators.

The C-Suite Convergence Contracts aren’t the only occasions for collaboration among C-suite executives. Procurement has made CPOs look beyond simple cash value-seeking and made them seek alternate forms of “value” that involve tech, staffing, community engagement, market presence, and more. As such, they’re thinking more like other C-suite execu-

tives and, in some cases, working directly with them. Will automating a new software interface help streamline your procurement process or run modules to determine different approaches? You can’t make that kind of investment without buy-in from your CTO. And your broad arguments about those investments’ overall value to your company will have to be heard by your CFO and CEO. These are your partners now, not just in executive leadership, but in positioning your procurement department for the challenges and opportunities ahead. Some companies have even added new members to the Csuite, like Chief Digital Officer, that reflect the new state of techenhanced business in the 21st century. If the very concept of executive leadership is evolving, it’s time to make sure that procurement doesn’t get lost in the reshuffle. Show your department’s value just as convincingly as you show the value of new tools, collaborations, and contractors. In 2019 and beyond, the opportunity exists to redefine procurement on your terms, for your company’s needs, emboldened by a growing array of technology solutions. It will be an exciting year for the procurement profession, a time to rethink and enhance the work that you do and how you do it. You might work to automate transactions, reduce your manual workload, and devote more of your team’s time to pursuing strategic operations. Above all, remain open to change and calculated risks, particularly investments in new technologies. Now is also the time for your procurement operation to improve your standing and role within your organisation, to redefine your work as something that finds “value” in new, smarter ways. Your hiring, too, should evolve to find the people who can help you create and execute strategic plans for all of the above. It will be an exciting year for the procurement profession, a time to rethink and enhance the work that you do and how you do it. Courtesy: www.schgroup.com

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June 2019

CHEF'S PLATTER

A passion for pâtisserie Chef Matthew Hodgett is a decorated pâtisserie teaching chef at Le Cordon Bleu London who possesses rich skills acquired over the years from his stints with brands like InterContinental Hotel, the American Embassy, and Claridges, and as head pastry chef for the Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and Wentworth Golf Course. Akshay Nayak captures glimpses of his journey in the culinary space

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hef Matthew Hodgett's love for pâtisserie started well before kick-starting his professional career in baking from Stamford Hotel. “When I was young, of about 7-8 years, I used to bake cakes at home,” reminisces Chef Hodgett about how his passion for pâtisserie was there within him right since his childhood. “There on, I used to bake cakes on every Sunday at my home with recipes inspired by my mother. Since my childhood, I have always been interested in cake decoration. We siblings used to compete in cake decoration, which would be judged by family… that is how I got into pursuing my childhood passion as a career,” adds Chef Hodgett. After furthering his training and

gaining an Advanced Pastry qualification, Chef Hodgett worked at Hanbury Manor and later Gravetye Manor, where he helped them earn their first Michelin star.

Challenges & opportunities Although passion is the key driver, Chef Hodgett says that there are challenges which when countered correctly help you hone your skills. “The initial challenge that I faced was that in my professional career, I did not start with pastry but cuisine, which has its own shortcomings. But, having worked with various restaurants and hotels, I was blessed with good mentors who trained me well to meet what a given situation demanded,” he notes.

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Having prepared pastries for various large banquets, when asked about how he coped with the pressure, he replied, “I once had to make 1000 souffles for a banquet and I didn’t give a second thought but just made them. The biggest banquet that I have done was with the InterContinental which had 2000 covers, and we just dealt with it how it came. One should deal with the pressure as it comes. You just have to do it. If you can’t handle it, there is no point in doing what you do.” Answering a query about what it takes to earn a Michelin star for a restaurant, Chef Hodgett shares his personal experience. He says when he was working with one of the restaurants that were acknowledged

Chef Matthew Hodgett

CHEF'S PLATTER

with a Michelin star, they had no air-conditioning in the kitchen, and it was the hottest summer during those years. “During that time, we did 80 covers for lunch and dinner each, and the chefs were continuously in the kitchen for long hours. We worked as a team of 10 chefs and with all the hard work we garnered the Michelin star,” he adds. Chef Hodgett then shared his views about the distinction between ingredients found in India as compared to that in London. “The ingredients are very different in India from that found in London. For example, the dairy here is a lot different in terms of fat composition, etc. Considering butter, Indian butter has less fat content as compared to that found in London. Also, the moisture and humidity of the atmosphere in India are different from that in London,” he voices. In terms of skills, Chef Hodgett feels India is on the progressing curve considering the institutes here which are slowly and steadily getting there to provide international standards of training and development programmes in baking provided to the aspiring chefs. “Also, many aspiring chefs, once they have the foundation and acquired the necessary skills, they can either opt to work for a hotel/ restaurant or can start their own venture,” feels Chef Hodgett when queried about the rising number of entrepreneur chefs globally and in India. “Personally, I think one must go in which their heart is into. To be honest, I would love working with hotels, but it is not the same for all the chefs. So, some may be working for a hotel/ restaurant or open their own cafe. All they got to look is at the bigger picture of how they want to channelise their efforts,” he opines. The trends in pastry segment is all about social media, informs Chef Hodgett. “Be it the presentation of pannacotta or the colourful croissants, it is the internet that is dictating the global trends which keeps

changing time and again. You have to keep going with the trends. The macarons were trending for some time, it went down, then the cupcakes started trending, this was followed by the unicorn desserts which started trending suddenly,” he adds.

Being a chef: Not a quick-fix As a message to the aspiring chefs who think the culinary space is a glamorous industry, Chef Hodgett conveyed that it is not how it looks in the television, but being a chef demands a lot of hard work. “A lot of people think it is a quick fix. They think, if they get admitted into Le Cordon Bleu, the next thing they are going to have is their own restaurant or they are going to be a celebrity chef. It doesn’t work like that. Also, the chefs that teach at Le Cordon Bleu, they have worked for many hotels and restaurants for several years, and that’s why the institutes have employed us to pass on the knowledge, experiences, etc., to the next-gen chefs. Take, for example, Gordon Ramsay, he has worked really really hard before he could make it before the camera. So it is a hard life to get there,” he explains. Moreover, Chef Hodgett advices the aspiring chefs that as a first they need to have an understanding of what they are getting into. “They have to be dedicated, motivated, hardworking, and patient especially in pastry. One can have patience being a cuisine chef but of course, they can add the salt or pepper if the dish falls short of them. However, in the case of pastry, if something goes wrong, the whole thing gets discarded and you start all over from scratch, which at times can get frustrating. So, pastry is more of a science. You need to have more patience and understanding of what you are doing with your products/ ingredients,” he adds. “Keep smiling. Happy cooking,” concludes Chef Hodgett.

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June 2019

HIGH SPIRITS

Grover Zampa: Making wine experiential From the recently unveiled visitor centre at its Bengaluru winery in Nandi Hills to the brand's proposed all-glass chalet resort in Nashik, Grover Zampa is striving to bring an all-round wine tourism experience to its guests. Steena Joy presents a detailed overview of the blueprint planned by the Indian wine brand

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rover Zampa Vineyards has extended its wine offerings by unveiling a new visitor centre at its Bengaluru winery, located in the Nandi Hills. Launching an array of new amenities, the new visitor centre is a part of the brand’s overarching efforts to appease patrons, both local and international, with unique experiences to enjoy the many tangs of wine. Ravi Viswanathan, chairman, Grover Zampa Vineyards says, “We have been striving to make strong amendments to shape and grow the wine industry, raising the standards of Indian vino while making a mark internationally. Directed by this very commitment, we are extremely excited to launch Lounge de La Réserve and the newer wines, which we believe are truly reflective of the capabilities of the Indian terroir and address to an evolved wine consumer. We have a positive ambition for what the future has in store for us and the wine tourism industry, and are committed to providing our patrons with the very best in wine.” The event also witnessed the launch of exclusive wines from the brand’s stable like - Vendanges Tardives - a rich, intense, full-bodied aged dessert wine of uncommon grace and elegance, delivering floral notes and traces of spice and apricot; La Réserve Royale Brut - a sparkling vino, partly fermented in barrels and aged for more than 30 months, this wine delivers a complex bouquet of lemon zest, flowers,

fresh hazelnuts and brioche, and a new vintage of Insignia - a dry wine with medium body leading to an intricate and meandering trail of fruit-berries, coffee and chocolate, with a hint of black pepper. The culinary partner hotel for the event was Conrad Bengaluru which curated the food served at the event, a melange of various appetisers, mains and desserts. The celebration introduced Grover Zampa's very first restaurant and lounge, Lounge de La Réserve, on ode to their flagship wine – La Réserve; serving a fusion of Indian and Continental cuisines, providing patrons the opportunity to enjoy piquant wine pairings and delicacies. The new visitor centre also houses Cave the La Reserve, a tasting room specifically designed to conduct tastings and masterclasses in the right environment and Boutique the La Reserve, for cellar door sales of the wines. The event was complemented with an all-encompassing wine masterclass, hosted by India’s first Master of Wine – Sonal Holland at Cave the La Reserve.

Distribution & marketing Noting the wine brand's current distribution in the overseas market, Sumit Jaiswal, AVP – marketing & EXIM, Grover Zampa informs, “We are exporting to around 22 countries and our biggest market is France. We are available in every Indian restaurant in France, be it Paris,

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Mulhouse, Toulouse, and Nice. The second biggest market for us is Japan, followed by the USA, and the UK. From France we also sub-distribute to many of the other markets like Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Poland. We just started with a tender in Finland and Norway. We are there in Hungary, Italy and Switzeland, Singapore, Maldives, Dubai, Nepal, as well.” Elucidating about the many marketing and distribution initiatives considered by Grover Zampa to tap the sizeable wine drinking market both in India and abroad, Jaiswal explains that initially, they would be looking into is the proper functioning of each and every winery that they have acquired or are associated with. “The second objective is to make sure that how with the premium wines, we can

reach the millennials and the youth in the Tier-I cities for which we have to do market development. In Tier-II cities, we will make sure that we reach across the age brackets. There are people above 35 years of age who have the purchasing power, but the millennials are not that enthusiastic when it comes to wine. They are starting to drink wines that are value economy, so my job is to make sure that they start drinking wines from the value economy range and then upgrade to premium wines later. We don't want Indians to drink wine everyday, but drink wine in moderation and responsibly. But, many people do perceive that wine is a healthy beverage and that is why they enjoy wine more for the taste, than getting drunk, making my job a little easier in terms of social responsi-

bility as well,” he adds. The brand is also eyeing to further increase its popularity as an Indian wine in the overseas market, says Jaiswal. “The third target for marketing is obviously to raise awareness for Indian wines globally because we do sell the Indian wines in many Indian restaurants but the next step is to take the Indian wines outside the Indian restaurants into conventional retail channels so that people of that country not only drink Indian wines when they visit Indian restaurants but can experience the Indian wines wherever they want to,” mentions Jaiswal. For distribution of their new wines, like the La Reserve Sparkling, Jaiswal informs that they are distributing the wine to all star hotels because that is where sparkling wines are consumed in large quanitities. However, they are looking at target stores like Nature's Basket, Drops and walk-in and modern stores where they will be able to create in-shop visibilities in the retail channel, because the wine is premium and first to cost above Rs 2000. “We are trying to bring a pull factor for our dessert wines because it is a limited edition, and that we did with Insignia. We are looking at publicity through print, and also digital. For us, print still contributes for 35-40 per cent sales, and similarly digital also sits at 35-40 per cent, while the remaining sales is received by word of mouth publicity,” concludes Jaiswal.

HIGH SPIRITS

‘GROVER ZAMPAPLANS TO BECOME AN EXPERIENTIALWELLNESS LIFESTYLE COMPANY’ Providing all-round experiences and hospitality while being an age-old winemaker is something that is centric to Grover Zampa’s motto, for which the wine brand is preparing a facility in Nashik with wine tours, lip-smacking food and sound sleep in any of their 60 allglass chalets, each giving a 360 degree view of the scenic Sahyadri hills and lakes on either side. Vivek Chandramohan, CEO, Grover Zampa met with Steena Joy at the unveiling of the new visitor centre and lounge at the Bengaluru winery to share details on the company’s plans to become an experiential lifestyle brand and the future roadmap to have vineyards as far as in Bhutan What is the current investment Grover Zampa is seeking? We currently are seeing new funding from the set of new investors that have come onboard. Ravi Vishwanathan has been a Singapore-based investor in the wine brand. We have other investors including AVT, Quintela, among others. The investors are planning to expand their investment here, which is evident, looking at the alcobev industry registering double-digit growth in the coming years. With the investment, we are looking to fortify our hospitality division. Also, we want the guests to come and taste our wines, hence promoting wine tourism, which would be soon seen in a winery much bigger than the existing one. We are also working on our facility in Nashik which is a 36 acres property and is currently being worked upon. We are going to include a restaurant on the ground floor which will have both open-air and air-conditioned sections and a barbeque specialty restaurant at the mezzanine level, which will be in phase-I. Moving forward, in phase-II, we are looking to add a cliffhanger bar. We are also adding 60 super premium all-glass chalets with spectacular 180-degree views of the Sahyadri Hills as well as the lakes. The chalets are being designed by architects based in Bengaluru. We are looking at

cant growth for us, while the wine industry is growing at 1/5th of that.

Vivek Chandramohan

new-age designs for the same. So, that is how we want to add the ‘wow’ factor to our brand. The phase-I of the developments in the Nashik facility will be operational from September this year, while the phase-II of development will be operational by March-April next year. Since we are winemakers, we are in talks with the top international hotel chains to manage the property and the restaurants so that they are professionally managed. What are the marketing plans to promote Grover Zampa products and which channels of distribution are you eyeing? At this point of time, we are very nascent in terms of our approach to the traditional distri-

bution channels. We have our plan in place to foray in the duty-free channels because there is a lot of wine consumers both internationally and travellers from India visiting other countries. We were not in the duty-free channel until now because there is a bit of costing aspect involved in the same and

we were initially looking at consolidating the investments in the brand, and then further expanding our business on the export front. We now supply to about 22 countries, France being the biggest. The company has grown by 32 per cent in volume and 42 per cent in value last year alone, so it is signifi-

What are Grover Zampa’s future plans of expansion? Our future plan is to consolidate further on the growth in terms of sales, while also focusing on the addition of new channels like hospitality because we understand there is high disposable income that the modern day travellers possess. And, the consumers being well-travelled, also know the new trends in wines, etc. Also, wellness being important to them, wine is preferred to be a healthier option than the other alcoholic beverages. So we as pure winemakers are now focussing on venturing to be recognised as a wellness, lifestyle company. For this, we will be adding a lot of experiential elements which will also include wine spas, among others. Apart from that, we are exploring the other side of the Himalayas, which are countries like Bhutan which have the perfect conditions like lower rainfall, higher sunshine to set up our vineyards there. We are also exploring Uttarakhand, but winemaking being a capital-intensive business, if the government allows us some subsidies, we would love to have our vineyards there too. We have already reached out to the King of Bhutan and are speaking to the government in Uttarakhand.

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WEEKEND

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF HILTON On the occasion of 100 years of Hilton, Conrad Pune organised a 5-km marathon honoring the Pune Traffic Police, titled ‘Run for Traffic Heroes’. Pankaj Deshmukh, DCP of Traffic Police inaugurated the marathon on Saturday, May 18, 2019, at Conrad Pune

MENSTRUAL HYGIENE AWARENESS DRIVE BY HYATT PUNE, KALYANI NAGAR In a bid to end the silence on the topic of menstruation and spread awareness about menstrual hygiene, staff of Hyatt Pune, Kalyani Nagar along with Dr Geeta Bora, founder of Pune-based Spherule Foundation visited the BVJSS – Bhatkya Vimukt Jati Shikshan Sanshtha in Wagholi, where Dr Bora addressed girls, aged between 10 to 16 years explaining them the importance of talking about menstruation and its hygiene

OBSERVING NATIONAL WALNUT DAY JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa recently celebrated National Walnut Day on May 17. To mark this special day, the team gathered to plant more trees, and pluck ready walnuts on the pristine lawns of the property.

THE EASY ARAB BRUNCH The Little Easy Restaurant, Bandra West, Mumbai, recently organised a Sunday brunch - The Easy Arab Brunch to celebrate the unveiling of its newest venture, Arab Street – a delivery kitchen located in Khar. The event, in association with Fruzzante as the beverage partner saw the guests relishing on a wide range of meaty and light Turkish kebabs, refreshing hummus flavours, and wholesome mains

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June 2019

WEEKEND

Wedding wows!

Scene and Heard With Marcellus Baptista

Wising up to whisky

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Anukreethy Vas, Nehal Chudasama, Nicholas Dumbell, Roshni Sheoran, Gayatri Bharadwaj

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he sheer splendour got to you at Weddings Unveiled presented by Renaissance Mumbai and crafted and curated by YouMe&We Xperiences. Showcased at the hotel, amidst a picturesque backdrop, were some exciting experience zones by top wedding decorators, fashion designers and jewellery brands. The day started with master classes from experts in the wedding industry and ended with a fashion show by Neeta Lulla along with a dazzling dance performance by Terrance Lewis and his troupe. Host Nicholas Dumbell, the hotel’s general manager, was there to warmly meet the many guests. Weddings Unveiled brought together professional photographers, videographers, beauty experts, hair and makeup professionals, nutritionals, wedding planners, designers, jewellery brand gifting specialists and decor experts among others. Also on the charts were in-vogue beauty trends by Jean Claude Bigune Paris Salon & Spa and Inglot. Guests were seen enjoying the delightful drinks at the bar, tasty hors d’oeuvres and a splendid dinner spread.

hisky lovers were in for a terrific treat when they got a chance to partake of a blind whisky tasting with whisky legend Jim Murray. The event curated by All Things Nice at Sofitel saw guests welcomed with whiskies from Paul John distillery, followed by a blind tasting of seven whiskies: Paul John Kanya, Glenmorangie 10, Ballantine’s 17, Glen Grant 18, Aberlour 16, The Quiet Man and Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack. Naturally, words of whisky wisdom soared in the air at this soiree. Guests also enjoyed the array of tasty appetisers with live stations showcasing the superb culinary talent of the Sofitel team. Biswajit Chakarborty, GM, Sofitel Mumbai BKC and sommelier

Manoj Jangid, Jim Murray, Nikhil Agarwal & Biswajit Chakraborty

Nikhil Agarwal, founder, All Things Nice were present. Partners included co-sponsors Hafele and Shaze, British Airways, Citibank, Gurkha and

Truefitt & Hill. And Jim Murray was pleased to pose for photographs and autograph copies of his bestselling book, Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.

cluded exciting events like the French Riviera drunch taking you on a gastro crawl with the very best of dishes and drinks, a postcard-making workshop, wine and cheese workshop, crepe-making workshop and more, all taking you on an expedition across the French province. Sponsors at this fabulous French fest included Bon Vivant

chocolate, Spotted Cow Fromagerie, Kronenbourg 1664 and French wines like Barton & Guestier Cuvee Speciale Vin Rouge, Barton & Guestier Cuvee Speciale Vin Blanc, Domaines Barons De Rothshild Lafite Légende Bordeaux Blanc, Domaines Barons De Rothshild Lafite, and Légende Bordeaux Rouge from Aspri Spirits.

French feast

Casino biggie

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any Mumbaikars were happy to make that trip to Goa for the launch of Big Daddy Casino that brought alive the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and Macau. Looking ecstatic on opening evening was Narinder Punj, chief visionary officer and mentor, Big Daddy Casino who was happy to showcase this statement lifestyle destination. The gaming and entertainment destination offers a regal ambiNarinder Punj ence to professional and amateur players who are eager to try their luck at the jackpot. It also offers round-the-clock hospitality services. Anchored off the river Mandovi, this luxury ship is home to 110 gaming tables, 900 gaming positions and many automated machines, spread across three decks with an outdoor sundeck area of 1,700 sqm, making it the largest gaming destination with a total gaming area of approximately 5,000 sqm. The entertainment segment was hosted by Simran Ahuja and guests included actor Ameesha Patel.

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Rahul Bajaj & Charlotte Hyest

W

hen you think of France you automatically think of Paris, but it was nice to note that Out of the Blue thought of presenting Mumbai’s first-ever regional French food festival. The magic of French culture, cuisine, flavours, music, wine and heritage came alive on the opening evening. The 10-day festival in-