The second edition of Food Connoisseurs India Convention (FCIC), one of the most influential business-to-business F&B shows in the country, was held successfully on May 23-24, 2022 at the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, New Delhi in the presence of some of the biggest names of the industry. Brainchild of Industry Live, the convention witnessed participation from over 1000 brands from the HORECA industry along with more than 1500 delegates.

Highlighting the transformation in the restaurant business, the convention was presented by Diageo Bar Academy – Raising the bar, powered by Gupshup, in-association with Restaurant dot store, Catch Salt & Spices, and Food Service India, organized by Industry Live and supported by NRAI – the voice of the Indian restaurant industry. The Associate Partners of the two-day Convention were Veeba, Urban Piper, Kaapi Machines, DroptheQ.com, Kaapi Solutions, and Supply Note.

Joined by ZEE Business as the Telecast Partner, Red FM as the Radio Partner, Brew House as Refreshment Partner, Varahi Ltd. as the Hydration Partner, Celeste as the Gifting partner, Fascinating-Foodie as the Blogging Partner, Spiritz Magazine, Hospibuz.com, Better Kitchen and World of Hospitability as the Media Partners, TagTalk as the Digital OOH Partner and All India Food Processors’ Association, Indian Culinary Forum and Food Bloggers Council, India, as the Supporting Associations, this edition of FCIC 2022 brought out the transformation in the restaurant sector in the new normal with a special focus on innovations and technology.

The convention kick-started with a keynote address by Conference Chairperson Mr. Anurag Katriar, Trustee, NRAI and Founder & Managing Director, Indigo Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. Mr Katriar spoke about reinventing the Indian Food & Beverage Industry. He significantly pointed out how “we need to work on a new model where we can bring down the fixed operating expenses.”

Following that, the audience was treated to thought-provoking discussions on a variety of topics, including ‘Vision of Tomorrow: Restaurants in the New World Order’, ‘Regional food in the modern/urban restaurant – how to eat local and bring regional produce to the forefront’, ‘The who’s who of the street food business – marketing the street smart way’, ‘Cloud kitchen – encashing the silver lining in the cloud’, ‘Nightlife – creating the ‘wow’ factor through an eclectic mix’ and ‘The art of mixology’. These sessions were joined by top industry leaders like Dr. A.K. Tyagi, Executive Director, Haldiram Group of Companies; Rahul Singh, Founder & CEO, The Beer Café; Gauri Devidayal, Founder & CEO, Food Matters India Pvt. Ltd.; Riyaaz Amlani, CEO, Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd; Vikrant Batra, Co-founder & Director, Batra Bros. Food & Beverages Pvt Ltd; Yangdup Lama, Entrepreneur, Beverage Consultant, Author & Co-Founder, Sidecar and Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy and Partner, Drinks India Company; Anubhav Sapra, Founder & Foodie-In-Chief, Delhi Food Walks; Nikhil Chawla, Founder, HMM; and Chef Vineet Manocha, Senior Vice President – Culinary, Lite Bite Foods Pvt Ltd among others.

Padma Shri Dr. Pushpesh Pant, Indian Academician, Food Critic and Historian; Chef Kunal Kapur Celebrity Chef, Restaurateur, TV Personality, Judge (MasterChef India), Author & Food Researcher, Zorawar Kalra Founder & MD, Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. & Judge (MasterChef India); Shweta Jain, Chief Business Development Officer – Luxury, Reserve, Craft & Strategic Accounts, Diageo also delivered keynote addresses on the first day of the conference.

The 1st day of the event concluded with the Food Connoisseurs India Awards. An evening showcasing excellence which saw the fraternity come together to celebrate and acknowledge the outstanding achievements in the industry so far. A vastly experienced jury panel comprising Celebrity Chef & Judge (MasterChef India), Chef Kunal Kapur; Founder and MD, Massive Restaurants & Judge (MasterChef India), Zorawar Kalra; Chef, Mentor, Restaurateur & Entrepreneur, Chef Saby; Founder & Managing Director, Ace Hospitality & Consulting, Chef Abhijit Saha; Celebrity Chef, Consultant, Master Chef Tamil Judge & Founder, Eatitude, Chef Koushik S and author and food critic Ameeta Agnihotri, judged winners across 180+ categories.

Some of the esteemed awardees were Indian Accent for “Restaurant Serving the best Modern Indian Cuisine”, Rahul Singh, Founder & CEO, The Beer Café for “Restaurateur of the Year (Male)”, Chef Ajay Chopra, Chefpreneur, Restaurateur, Consultant & Judge (MasterChef India) for “Celebrity Chef of the Year”, The Bombay Canteen for “Best Restaurant of the year”, Food Service India for “Outstanding Contribution/Service to Hospitality” and Chef Aanal Kotak, Chef & Co-founder, TSK Hospitality LLP for “Restaurateur of the Year (Female)”.

The second day was no less eventful, with celebrated industry leaders such as Samir Kuckreja, Founder & CEO, Tasanaya Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.; Raghav Joshi, Co-founder, Rebel Foods; Sandeep Ghosh, Business Head, DS Spiceco Pvt. Ltd.; Shailee Chatrath Tyagi, Director, Organised Trade Channels, Pepsico India Beverages; Kabir Advani, Managing Partner, Berco’s; Bert Mueller, Founder, California Burrito; Chef Koushik S., Celebrity Chef, Consultant, Master Chef Tamil Judge & Founder, Eatitude; Amit Bagga, CEO & Co-Founder, Daryaganj Hospitality; Vanshika Wadhwa, Creative Director, FIO Restaurants and others sharing their views on important and exciting topics such as ‘Impacting Millions: Technology & Supply Chain Management, a key essence of HORECA’, ‘Sourcing made easy with food service business’, ‘Pet food – filling tummies of our furry friends’, ‘Franchising and expansion – branching out’, ‘Paradigm shift in habits – the rise of plant based, organic and gourmet foods’, and ‘On the hunt for the Luscious Menu’.

In addition to the session, Samir Kuckreja, Founder & CEO, Tasanaya Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. delivered a Keynote Address along with Abhishek Bahl, Head SME Sales, Gupshup and Himanshu Bhatt, General Manager Marketing, Food Service India Pvt. Ltd. on some of the industry’s most sought-after topics.

The second day of the event also saw the unveiling of the ‘Jewels of Food & Beverage India’ Coffee Table Book which is covering the whole gamut of the food, beverage, and confectionary industry in present-day India. This one of its kind coffee table book was unveiled by Chef Aanal Kotak, Chef & Co-founder, TSK Hospitality LLP; Chef Koushik S., Celebrity Chef, Consultant, Master Chef Tamil Judge & Founder, Eatitude; Dr. Archana Diwan, Founder, Cupohlicious & Abhinav Dwivedi, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Industry Live.

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