Gourmet
Redefined
As
newer players enter the booming fast food market in India, Binny Sabharwal
looks at the strategies adopted by one of the latest entrants – Food
Factory
At
a time when American fast food chains are all but reinventing themselves,
creatively unveiling de novo exotic cuisines, to woo the Indian taste
buds what can be more innovating than a different menu for each day
of the year. This is the plan that the recently launched Food Factory
has outlined by offering vegetarian ‘Gourmet food at fast food prices’.
The
brainchild of Nandkumar Awatramani, a Hotel Management graduate from
Switzerland, Food Factory was launched on October 14, 2002. Since then
it has been testing and teasing the sensitive palate of their customers
and successfully showing a growth rate of 20 per cent per month. Food
factory started by offering only Italian fast food and has only recently
drifted into the hitherto exclusive preserve of five star hotels – gourmet
food. “We just thought why can’t we sell what five star hotels sell?
Why not five star food at fast food prices?” said Mr Awatramani in conversation
with TFPJ.
‘Old
wine in a new bottle’, would be an appropriate cliché to explain the
whole concept. Based on a traditional tiffin system, Gourmet Meals comprise
a five-course lunch, home delivered in an airline container along with
cutlery and napkins; recreating the whole experience of a five star
hotel only for Rs 83.
Besides
the price what sets it apart is of course the menu that is not repeated
ever in a year. It incorporates dishes from all over the world. The
spread includes Italian, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai,
Malaysian, German, Continental and Korean.
The
whole concept may be a tall claim but the kind of infrastructure and
technological inputs that Mr Awatramani has formulated, indicates a
bright future ahead for this nouveau venture.
Operational
norms
Technology
forms the backbone of the entire operational chain of the Food Factory.
With an employee strength of 12, much depends on the mechanical inputs.
“Most of our machinery has been imported from France and Spain and none
of it is second hand. We have purchased directly from the company so
there is no scope for any foul play,” he asserted.
Even
the production unit, that is the 3,000 sq ft kitchen has been personally
designed by Mr Awatramani. The whole structure is made of fire preventive
wood and is modular – it can be unscrewed anytime to increase the area.
“The spaciousness of the kitchen is a plus point because we can produce
in bulk. This will help us to tap in high-rent areas when we think of
expanding, as the central kitchen
would be equipped to handle the total production.”
The
kitchen is divided into three parts – the cold kitchen, the hot kitchen
and the delivery area. The glass walled kitchen is totally insulated
from the delivery area and no packaging material is allowed inside the
kitchen due to safety reasons. The cold kitchen, is the area where all
the raw materials are washed, cleaned and processed. They are then packed,
dated, tagged and put into their respective refrigerator space. For
quality reasons and to avoid bacterial contamination there are different
refrigerators for vegetables, dairy products and breads.
Mr
Awatramani insists that everything is ......
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