The food retail and related services sectors are undergoing transformational changes owing to a buoyant middle-class with an insatiable appetite to experience new ways of eating out and eating in. Industry experts at the Indian Restaurant Congress 2017 pegged India’s restaurant sector to grow at a CAGR of 10% to Rs 4,98,130 crore by 2021.
Significant consolidation has taken place owing to the introduction of the new GST regime, renewed foreign investment and the advent of technologies such as AI spurring a more personalised and mobile friendly experience for customers. There has been a spurt in the ‘all-under-one-roof’ modern format supermarkets, expected to double to 4 % of food retail by 2022. Which other sub-segments are experiencing high growth, what role is technology playing and above all, what are the implications on manpower required across the demand and supply chain? How important is skills training such as apprenticeships and what are employers doing about it?
Sumit Kumar Vice-President, NETAP, TeamLease Services, talks about the key changes taking place, and the current and future skills required for food retail & services, and ancillary industries such as packaging, merchandising, customer care, sales etc.
