Eateries get healthy

Kolkatans are becoming more and more conscious about "health-friendly"foods like never before, despite the boom in restaurants in the city, according Nitin Kohli, director of the popular establishment, Grain of Salt (GoS).

In response, Grain of Salt has drawn up a strategy to cash in on the healthy eating habit of Kolkatans.

GoS will organise a series of health friendly food festivals, with the first being flagged off with the 'Washington Apple Festival' recently.

Kohli, who is also the secretary general of Restaurant Association of Calcutta region, said GoS will focus on the healthy aspects of foods through the food festivals.

"We are starting the food festival with fruits with focus on health,"he said.

According to him, healthy eating was gaining popularity in Kolkata and diners were restricting spicy foods.

"Out of our total customers, 25 to 30 per cent are opting for health-friendly items. This is our everyday experience and the number is growing,"he said.

Kohli feels that in next 2-3 years the number of customers opting for healthy diet could go up to 50 per cent of the total foot falls.

Kohli pointed out that eating out was slowly becoming a daily affair rather than a monthly affair in the past.

"People are eating out so frequently that they have to become health conscious,"he added.

Rachna Sharma of the SCS group, the body that promotes US grown fruits, said that imports of Washington Apple were growing in India.

"India imported 10,000 tons of 'Washington Apple' last year, many times more than what it used to a few years back,"she said.

Incidentally, Washington apple is the brand name of premium quality apples growing in the US state of washington.