The 6th edition of Fast Food and Café Convention took place on May 10th at the Lalit Ashok, Bangalore. Organised by Oddbox, the Fast Food and Cafe Convention is a well-known industry event launched in 2017, with an ambitious vision to create a platform for all stakeholders in the QSR, Cafe, Fast Casual, Cloud Kitchen and Casual Dining space.
The conference started off with a welcome note by Mini Jacob, Co-Founder of Oddbox. Bijou Kurien, Chairman, Retailers Association of India during his opening address talked about the enthusiasm and resilience of the industry and the modern discerning customer who has adapted to a hybrid lifestyle and how the industry has adapted to the customer leading them into change.
The first panel deliberated upon customer experience and why greater impetus is needed now more than ever. As the name suggests this session focused on one simple aspect – Is customer experience more important today than the focus it has been given in the past. Long after a customer forgets their enjoyment over a meal at your restaurant, what stays with them is the experience of dining with you. Giving the customer an experience to remember is the key to repeat business and referrals. This panel explored key questions such as how high up in a restaurant’s list of offerings does customer experience rank? How can we improve the CX of a restaurant? How does a negative Review on social media impact your business and so on. The panel was moderated by Bijou Kurien, and consisted of industry stalwarts such as Dheeraj Gupta – Founder and MD, Jumboking, Aditya Karwa – Director, National Head Operations, Mc Donald’s West & South, Ranjit Talwar – Commercial Director India, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Tarak Bhattacharya – Executive Director and COO, Mad Over Donuts, and Vishal Jindal – Founder, Biryani by Kilo.
“Jumboking recently launched a loyalty program that is helping us get our customer feedback in a more direct way. If I am putting an effort into writing a review, is the brand taking corrective action is what the customer expects to see. All this is beautifully linked with Facebook, Instagram and other social media channels. Today’s digital world is about the influencers talking about the brand, product and experience.” said Dheeraj Gupta – Founder and MD, Jumboking.
The Next session was presented by Shaival Desai – Chief Growth Officer, Petpooja, on “The Future of Quick Service Establishments’ ‘.
Another interesting panel discussion was on the topic of “Online Food Delivery.” It was moderated by Samir Kuckreja – Founder and CEO, Tasanaya Hospitality. On the Panel was Bert Mueller – Co-Founder and CEO, California Burrito, Gauri Devidayal – Co-Founder, Food Matters Group, Rashmi Daga – Founder, Fresh Menu, Shakir Haq – CEO, NKP Empire Ventures, and Swapnil Bajpai – AVP Sales, Swiggy.
The second half of the day brought together a few more panels and sessions, starting off with an Illuminating panel on “The Changing Phase of Marketing” Moderated by Kapel Malhotra – Founder, Total Solutions Group. The panel consisted of some of the industry’s MVP’s: Ajay Khanna – Business Head, Vasudev Adiga’s, Amit Bagga – Founder, Daryaganj, Chaitanya Chitta – Founder, Slay Coffee, Gaurav Narang – Founder, Coffee Culture, and Vikas Punjabi – Founder, The Chocolate Room.
The Convention concluded with a 45-Minute workshop by NRAI, delivered by Muralikrishnan – CMO and Co-Founder, Wow! Momo, on the largely popular topic “Jugaad Marketing.”
