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B Swaminathan

As the year 2024 is nearing, just like food manufacturers and restaurateurs, the caterers also have their challenges. The India Catering Service Market is largely driven by increasing Urbanization and the increase of tourism in the country. The India Catering Service Market is largely driven by urbanization and changing lifestyles. There has been a change in the demand for catering services in recent years, supported by the quickly developing business-to-business (B2B) events sector and food and beverage services being offered at a growing number of corporate events. Furthermore, the market for catering services is growing because of factors including hectic lifestyles and difficulties associated with cooking.

To run a food catering business in India, it is mandatory to obtain the FSSAI license to continue activities related to any stage of manufacturing, storage, packaging, processing, catering services, import and includes catering services, food services, sale of food as well as the sale of food ingredients.

The growing preference among customers for fresher, healthier foods is boosting the worldwide catering services market. The catering service operators have shifted their emphasis to providing healthier meals made in-house using fresh ingredients. The market is expanding because of the increased focus on implementing technology to enhance the customer experience and minimize time spent waiting for food. KitchenHerald, reached out to few caterers across Tamil Nadu to understand what they predict in the year 2024.

What caterers predict the 2024:

S Renga Rajan, Suvai Caterers, Madurai

Catering today has becoming challenging day by day. The biggest challenge we have is the price rise and the quality of food we serve the customers. In most cases, what we agree the customers during the time we agree the cost will be different from when we deliver our services. Another challenge we predict in the coming days is that, there will be more number of demand for quality labour. Let us take the example of chapathi/rotis served in a wedding. A customer will never agree for a readymade chapatti to be served in a wedding. On the other hand, the cost of both raw materials and labour had increased and our margins had decreased. For both skilled and unskilled jobs, I am finding it challenging to find people in tier-2 city like Madurai. Most candidates who apply for a job prefer to work in a metro like Chennai or Bengaluru. However, not many are interested in working in a small time city like Madurai. Thus, we need to wait what 2024 will look alike.

Velmurugan, Vaanavil Catering, Madurai:

I am seeing a huge demand for skilled manpower in the industry. We would like to place another challenge is the massive 200% hike in the price of the spices. You might easily ask us to transfer the cost hike to the customer. However, it is not that easy. A customer who is comfortable with the pice hike for their own use expect the caterer not to hike the price. Caterers from Bengaluru or Chennai or even a cosmopolitan place like Coimbatore charge INR 1 Thosuand per plate. However, caterers from Madurai cannot charge more while there is a constant pressure from the customers to provide good taste and use quality products. From the Government perspective, caterers do not come under MSME category. We request the government consider us to label us under the MSME category so that we can get special inventives including electricity in subsidy. The government should also bring catering as a skill under the skill-development programme so that, the youngsters do not remain unemployed and we caterers also can maintain the cost.

Ramu Kailasam, Ramu Catering, Thanjavur

2023 had given the biggest lesson that most of the caterers just run the business for name sake and survival. I personally feel, most of the marriage halls started looking at making margins out of caterings. While corporatized brands would not mind increasing the cost of the order even by 200%, customers are ready to go and consume while we small caterers have issues in terms of increasing the price even for a rupee for idly. While the current eco system does not affect both the high-class who never bothers about the rising cost and the lower-middle class who can find better avenues, it is the middle class who are struck up in the crux. Hotel management schools, in the year 2024, should stop promoting that the education gets them land a job only abroad. While there are umpteen opportunities within India.

Sasi Parthiban, Anbu caterers, Thoothukudi

I feel that caterers will face more issues with respect to labour issues. I personally feel, these days, the cost of vegetables are sky-high as catering a non-vegetarian menu is becoming affordable to a vegetarian. Adding fire to the fuel, natural calamities had also started playing its role. The recent flood in Thoothukudi had brought many orders to get cancelled. My suggestion to fellow caterers is to be more cautious about the issues related to labours. That might backfire anytime.