Bangalore Fast Food and Cafe Convention

Phenomenal World was part of the Fast Food and Cafe convention hosted by Outbox. With speakers from various fields in the hospitality industry, the event saw big wigs from various hotels and QSR’s. The event was an eye opener with the pitfalls, challenges and traps that a newbie (or even the experienced) can fall into and a ready reckoner for the budding entrepreneurs. I was honored to be invited by FBCI (Food Blogging Council of India) who was their social media partner.

I have been part of many corporate events and have arranged it myself. I must say this was arranged very well with panel discussions, break out sessions/kiosks, the works and pulled all the plugs to get this done flawlessly

There were quite a few noteworthy F&B brands from Keventers to Dominos, CCD, Drunken Monkey to delivery specialists such as Swiggy. The learning opportunities for small restaurateurs and startups was huge with the knowledge that the speakers brought in.

 

The event was held at the Lalith Ashok which was the venue for another Food and Wine event that FBCI was a partner for. Thanks to another political event at the hotel I was hard pressed to find a parking. The best part was waiting behind a politician’s car whose driver stepped away and never returned and I had 4 other vehicles behind me so no way back too. What can you do when it’s one of those days eh? My fellow bloggers did fill in the details which I missed though.

Some of the topics covered

Supply Chain in the F&B Business

Product Innovation as a key differentiator

How healthy is healthy (the caption is mine). Is it feasible to meet the requirements of all customers? What does healthy mean? Do people really want to eat healthy when they dine out? Is the word health an enemy of taste? The reason why this has more info is because this particular discussion was very interesting and I paid more attenttion to it 🙂 The rest is just a gist

Social Media as a key catalyst in F&B

The highs and lows of franchisee model

Technology in F&B – This also was interesting. I was amazed with the idea that data analytics could predict the customers coming into a restaurant and also a robot that allowed monitoring places and also helping you interact even if you are not present physically. It reminded me of this video where a robot is making the food exactly like the masterchefs because these chefs have been motion captured and the robot with it’s huge database replicates the recipes and even the delicate movements required for some of the dishes. Yes technology will be a game changer of the future indeed. Watch the video here

As I mentioned before, it was indeed an eye opener into the F&B world and its not all roses and wine, sometimes there is stink and vinegar too and one has to overcome that if they have to survive.

Apart from the food for the belly that I am usually part of this food for thought was as interesting and I was glad to part of it and maybe a little wiser as well.

There are other events happening across India and beyond as well with events planned in Dubai and Bangkok as well.

For  a more detailed description visit my fellow blogger Nameesh at Fodessey

Linked to ABC Wednesday (S) with Survival in the Hospitality Business