Press Release

• 30-10-2023

Hyderabad, 30th October 2022: National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), Hyderabad Chapter - the voice of the Indian Restaurant Industry, representing over 5 lakh Restaurants, QSRs, Bars, Cloud Kitchens and Catering, has a new Managing Committee helming the Chapter. Mr Sampath Tummala of The Spicy Venue; is elected as the Chapter Head and he takes over the reins after a successful two-year tenure by Chef Shankar Krishnamurthy. Chef Shankar Krishnamurthy and Ms Kavitha Mantha, from Hyderabad Chapter were elevated to national roles as members of the National Managing Committee, NRAI. Esteemed dignitaries from the film industry Mr Allari Naresh, Mr Adivi Sesh, Ms Nandini Reddy and Mr Raviteja Ravuri, felicitated the new managing committee members and the blood donors at the camp held on the occasion.

Expressing his delight at being appointed as the Chapter Head, Sampath Tummala said, the trust bestowed upon me brings immense pleasure and also enormous responsibility of leading the Association representing India’s fastest growing industry in the young and dynamic state of Telangana. The Hyderabad Chapter has been a leader in all aspects of NRAI and the newly elected Managing Committee will enhance this sense of glory further by working towards the growth and winning goodwill of the patrons. Restaurant industry is the third largest sector, ranks only after agriculture and construction fields. It is better than even Bollywood industry, with Rs 4, 28,000 crores revenue generated by the restaurant industry of which Hyderabad’s share is Rs 6,000 crores. Organized sector has Rs 1500 crores and balance is from unorganized sector. Our objective is to convert the entire F&B industry into organized sector. NRAI has taken initiatives on behalf industry to take on any legal challenges the industry faces. Under CSR initiatives, NRAI has Mission Kam, where we develop the skills of the youth from impoverished families to help them become employable in the restaurant industry and through Mission Khana, we provide food to homeless people. NRAI is in discussion with some colleges, like IIHM and with their help will customise few courses of three and six months and one year duration to skill youth for the industry.

The Office Bearers and Managing Committee of the Hyderabad Chapter of the NRAI for the year 2023-25 is:

Sandeep Balasubramanian of Hashi - Clipper Foods India Pvt. Ltd.; is the Co-Chapter Head; Kavitha Mantha of Sage Farm Cafe - Green Organics, is the incoming      Secretary, NRAI, Hyderabad Chapter & National Member, Managing Committee; Ketan Agarwal of Fat Pigeon - Taste budders hospitality, is the Treasurer, NRAI, Hyderabad Chapter and Faisa J Tayabali, Euphoria Bakers, is the new Joint Secretary, NRAI, Hyderabad Chapter. The newly elected Members of the Managing Committee of NRAI, Hyderabad Chapter are Pranay Reddy, 10 Downing Street; Suma C, Sensei Gourmet Pvt Ltd.; Sarita, Sarkar's kitchen; N Sriram, Srikanya parcels and restaurant; Jiten Lalwani,        Sind Bake; Yash Trivedi, LOTD - First Fiddle F-&B Private Ltd.; Shravan Juvvadi, Tabula Rasa; Ronak Singhi, Singhi Holdings - Jalpaan / By the Bottle.

Kavitha Mantha said, NRAI is looking to position itself as single point of interaction for anything associated with restaurants. As much as raising rights of the restaurants with the governments, we are also dealing with issues faced by the industry, educating restaurants on what is expected of them. Hygiene is one of the top priority issues, as the customers we serve need to be happy and revisit us. Labour is available, but the skills among them to the level we desire is lacking. We will take that on as a challenge and change the scenario. It’s a critical need not just for the restaurant industry but for us as a nation to ensure that the youth coming into employment are skilled efficiently to perform their jobs proficiently. It’s a priority we have taken on, we through an initiative of NRAI will offer them skills on site, with the objective of creating employment for them.  

Shankar Krishnamurthy said, NRAI has taken the initiative to educate the unorganized sector on avoiding the hassles of not maintaining hygiene and not running as per standards. We are conducting two sessions of fast track training a month in different zones of the city, on hygiene in collaboration with FSSAI, to ensure compliance on hygiene and safety standards.

Sandeep Balasubramanian said, restaurant industry is one of the largest employers in the country. Telangana is the only state in the country where we could successfully work with the Government and get single window clearance for the F&B industry. This is the first step the Government has taken for the industry, hopefully Telangana could also be the first state in the country to grant Industry status to the F&B sector.    

The first initiative the new committee undertook was hosting of a blood donation camp, with over 120 restaurant members, their staff and friends from across the F&B Industry; donating blood, today at Camp conducted at Sage Farm Café, Jubilee Hills. The blood collected from the Camp will be contributed to Aarohi Blood Center.

We as an association are deeply committed to community welfare and are excited to host a Blood Donation Drive as new Managing Committee’s maiden noble initiative, today, says Sampath Tummala.

Actor Allari Naresh said, appreciate NRAI for conducting the blood donation camp and collecting good number of units of blood, for a noble cause.

Actor Adivi Sesh said, Hyderabad used to be usually ranked in the second or third place for eateries, but the kind of cuisines we are serving currently ensures Hyderabad to compete on the world stage, happy about it.

The NRAI Hyderabad Chapter has the distinction of having several members with national presence like Domino’s (Jubilant Foods), McDonalds (Hard Castle), Barbecue Nation, Wow Moms, Mamagoto (Azure Group) Olive Group, Farzi, among others. Some of the prominent names from the Hyderabad like Paradise, Absolute Barbeque, Ohri’s Group, Cream Stone, Tibbs Frankie, Fusion9, The Spicy Venue, Thickshake Factory, Almond House, Fat Pigeon, Moksh, Heart Cup, Zero40 and many others are part of this prestigious association.

ABOUT NRAI:

National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) is the Voice of the Indian Restaurant Industry. Founded in 1982, it represents the interests of 500000+ restaurants, an industry valued INR 4,23,865 crore.

Being the leading association of the Indian restaurant industry, NRAI aspires to promote and strengthen the Indian Food Service Sector. Headquartered in Delhi, the association in its 39th year has a pan India presence with members comprising of restaurants, suppliers and educational institutes associated with it.

NRAI is governed by a committee of members and led by a President and Office Bearers. The committee consists of over 35 Restaurant CEOs / Owners representing various national and international brands from the F&B sector. The association works closely with a network of State and City chapter partners in Delhi, Mumbai, Gurugram, Bengaluru and the recently added Kolkata Chapter. The Chapter activities include:

•           Groundwork and action pertaining to government issues and representations

•           Facilitate the exchange of knowledge & experience

•           Provide support in the overall development of the association 

About National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) Hyderabad Chapter

The NRAI Hyderabad Chapter, constituted on January 31, 2022, which currently has 250 members, intends to have 2,000 members on board in a year’s time and later spread its wings across Telangana. As per NRAI India Food Services Report 2019, the organized market share of restaurants in Hyderabad is Rs 6,037 crore with standalone restaurants market share at Rs 4,657 crore and chain restaurants at Rs 1,380 crore.

NRAI Hyderabad Chapter is governed by a committee of members and led by a President and Office Bearers. The committee consists of over 200 Restaurant CEOs / Owners representing various national and international brands from the F&B sector.

Furthermore, we are privileged to have the backing of the Telangana State Chefs Association, led by Chef Amey Marthe, whose support has been instrumental in making this event possible.

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