India catering industry has maintained the growth rate of 15 to 20 per cent and the Rs. 15,000 crore industry has not seen any negative impact of slowdown.
“Catering has now become an important factor for the success of any event like social gathering or marriage. In the wake of the nature of this business, the catering industry has largely remain unaffected by economic slowdown. It has also maintained 15-20 percent growth year-on-year”, said Narendra Somani, president, All Gujarat Caterers Association.
"Earlier, family members used to take care of catering services during any social event. The trend has changed in the last five year. People tend to avail catering services for their social functions, especially in marriages, so that everyone can enjoy the event”, he added.
“People are now availing catering services for 50 to 100 people events. We have not seen any significant impact of slowdown on our business. The only change that we have witnessed after slowdown is that customers trim guest list or cut menu prices to save cost”, said Kirit Buddhdev, president, Rajkot Catering Services Association. According to him, there is a possibility of number of events hosted by non-resident Indians (NRIs) may reduce due to swine flu epidemic.
As per the industry players catering business will pick up after two or three months as festivals and marriage season are round the corner.
However, Gordhanbhai Purohit of Ahmedabad based Gordhan Caterers has a different view. “Currently the business is bit slow as the number of events has declined during this year. NRI business has also come down", he added.
