The year 2020 has been a difficult one, especially for the ones in the hospitality industry. Veterans in Mumbai's hospitality industry share what their biggest learnings have been in this year that was nothing short of a roller coaster.
Sneh Jain - Co-Founder and Managing Director, The Baker’s Dozen says, "According to me, the major lesson that I learnt was how important it is to have the trust and support of our customers and how beautifully they have been the moral support for the brand. As for us entrepreneurs, it's very important to have each other's support in the time of a situation like the current pandemic. Sharing resources front end and back end, sharing space in real estate locations, using similar marketing techniques to create great buzz can be a few factors taken into consideration. Like-minded brands can join hands together for various collaborations or create a bigger campaign for brand visibility. Also, sometimes an entrepreneur need is a brain to bounce on and discuss the pros and cons of the business and on how to overcome a situation, sharing an opinion about the same can be very beneficial as well".
While Baker’s Dozen took a bold step and pivoted its business from B2C to D2C and came closer to its customers, other brands and chains are also looking at leveraging online and direct sales. Talking about the same, Kausshal Dugarr - Founder and CEO of Teabox, says, "From an online perspective, this has been a phenomenal year for us. Our sales have gone up three-fold, particularly during the July-September quarter. As the entire tea business looks to pivot online post-Covid, we have been able to take advantage of our solid online presence across the world; particularly in India where the traditional model of doing business saw serious impediments in terms of transport, logistics, storage, closure of brick & mortar stores owing to the pandemic and a long and inefficient supply chain. This pandemic has changed consumer behaviour and forced the tea industry in a way to adjust to the new reality - where purchasing tea online in direct-to-consumer transactions or via online marketplaces viz. Amazon, Bigbasket, Flipkart has become the norm even in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities across the country."
Vipul Hirani. CEO and Managing Director, Crafters has a little different perspective as he shares that the biggest learning from 2020 is that we need to be agile in order to course-correct quickly as per the demand of the situation. He says, "As a brand, we have observed that there is a slow but sure transition of the customers ready to experience craft beer from the comfort of their homes. While the well-versed craft beer drinker knew the concept of growlers, the average beer drinker believed that a visit to the restaurant was the only way of experiencing craft beer. Introduction of growlers does not mean that sales of craft beers are going to go down. The sale of growlers is only going to increase penetration of craft beers both inside the home of the consumer and at restaurants".
Maintaining a positive outlook for 2021, Hirani says it would be an exciting year for Crafters and for the industry as a whole. He also mentioned that the brand is looking forward to open a second outlet in Chembur by the end of this month and a third outlet in 1Q2021. There are also plans to expand growler station presence to Pune in 2021.
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