It has been tough indeed. Lockdowns and the transition periods of unlocking saw the stress on food supply chains due to bottlenecks in labor, processing, transport, and logistics.

"It was challenging to procure the basic perishables while we were running ‘The Khichdi Project’ during the first lockdown to provide meals for the on-ground police personnel and migrant workers,” said Sanjay Vazirani of Foodlink Catering that has hosted weddings of some well-known names like Esha Ambani, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone to name a few.

The last 2-3 years have been challenging for every sector but for the catering industry that was highly dependent on large functions, meetings and gatherings it could be termed as a blood bath. With no social gatherings and functions allowed since the pandemic has hit the world, the catering sector has undergone a huge loss. As per a Deloitte Report, Only 35 percent of UK respondents feel safe to return to their workplace, which is likely to impact workplace catering services, and the same is happening in other parts of the world including India.

There was also massive manpower scarcity due to restrictions on local transport. The businesses have been severely affected and the uncertainty due to new variants has shaken the entire revenue projection.

“The last few years have been a rollercoaster and a time of major adjustment, and the effect on the F&B industry has been particularly intense. The initial stages naturally saw a steep decline, but gradually the nature of event requests changed a bit – with a willingness to adjust and quick response times, many were able to stay afloat. Now we’re seeing events reduced in scale but not necessarily frequency; more intimate but with as much attention to detail,” shared Aditi Dugar, Founder, Sage & Saffron.

Optimizing the Customer Experience

Nevertheless, there was also the silver lining to the cloud. Every challenge is an opportunity if we stay agile and ready to unlearn and relearn. And, same is happening with the catering sector which has undergone many innovations and has adapted to the changes to fit into the current scenario. From staying connected and transparent with your teams, it’s also very important to treat all stakeholders from guests, teams, vendors, franchisees, and board members with compassion by sharing information efficiently and actively listening for feedback. One cannot sit around feeling bogged down by the problem when one should be finding ways to recover and drive sales.

“The pandemic has changed guest preferences in a big way whether the scale of the event or choice of destination. Local destinations within India are being preferred more in general now instead of international destinations. UAE though is raising the ranks as the preferred wedding destination because of how wonderfully their administration has handled the whole situation,” added Vazirani who has moved the hygiene protocol from aesthetically clean to clinically clean and following it as a religion more than just compliance.

The company also assigns hygiene officers for each project and undertakes internal and external hygiene audits. “We redefined our SOPs and conducted regular team training for increasing staff awareness and skill upgradation. New equipment was introduced like sneeze guards, deep sanitization tools, etc,” he added by pointing out that the group has moved towards minimalism and sustainability. They are also investing in creating a digital infrastructure that facilitates better customer journey and innovation in this rapidly evolving environment.

Similarly for Dugar, the most obvious change is the emphasis on health and safety, and as service providers, it’s important to show clients that it’s a priority for both their sake and the brand. “The guest experience is something you always optimize, pandemic or not – it just looks slightly different now, with efforts put towards health precautions, but also more personalized, intimate service in some ways,” she mentioned by pointing that in the last two years, it was expanding from catering to exploring a D2C delivery model as well. It opened up many windows for new and different opportunities that we’re beginning to explore in the FMCG space now.

Putting Innovation and Culture on Menu

Catering is not just about preparing a generic menu and serving it to guests – it’s about having a unique concept. And, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has become even more conscious about what they are consuming. They want to know the ingredient, its source, authenticity, and whatnot. Sustainability has played a key role in the food business.

“Zero waste has always been our goal, so we work hard to perfect our planning to ensure every element is used to its best potential, thereby also helping us be more cost-efficient. It’s become one of the key focuses in the kitchen and we’re trying to apply it across the board, be it food, tools, or processes. We’ve become quite attuned to our client's preferences over the years which helps us create tightly curated menus for any occasion and at scale,” shared Dugar for whom a higher affinity towards local produce presented in global avatars, and that buffets are no longer the default preference, with guests requesting for individual pre-plated dishes are some of the top trends that will change the future of catering.

Also, Foodlink Catering is a very logistically strong enterprise and specializes in managing large gatherings where they have served more than 40,000 people in a single event. Due to COVID, they changed their offering for a smaller number of guests. “We geared up to do more niche snazzy small parties with multi-course sit-down meals, flying buffets with mono portions served,” pointed Vazirani who has set up a base in Dubai amid the pandemic to service the entire UAE market.

“There is a move towards the spirit of freshness and modernity, ingredient-based menus with lots of healthy superfoods. Popular ones include Quinoa, Asparagus, Artichokes, Oats, Fresh Berries, etc. Preference has moved to lots of grilled and baked dishes (instead of fried) which are cooked live. Gluten-free and sugar-free dishes are gaining popularity,” Vazirani asserted.

Hence, we can say that though the customer is at the core of everything that a brand does it's also a time when consumers will want to revisit forgotten ingredients, which will in fact not just make a comeback but start trending.

High on Expansion

At a time when it was difficult for caterers to get good businesses and accounts, Foodlink catered to the much-awaited Goenka family wedding which was hosted at Raffles The Palm Dubai. “We did a wonderfully curated culinary spread which included world-class Michelin star chefs like Manuel Berganza, in addition to elaborate display and selections from world-class brands like Laduree, Wafi Gourmet, and many more, and featured a lot of specialist chefs from all over the world including India offering everything from Indian Street Food to modernist and experimental cuisine and everything in between,” added Vazirani who is in talks with some key events with tourism offices of some GCC countries. Also, there are some very good Indian weddings and Emirati weddings on the cards in the UAE. Like Jade Luxury Banquets in Ahmedabad (55,000 sq ft state of the art luxury banquet) which the group launched in January 2020 may enter a few other cities.

On the other hand, Sage & Saffron has recently started extending their expertise to offering management and consultancy to restaurants, such as the café SeeSaw at the newly launched Jio World Drive. They’re also launching new product ranges and will soon be entering avenues other than just catering.