The government's proposal to fix portion sizes of dishes in hotels and restaurants is "highly impractical" and is definitely not the way to solve problem of food wastage, hospitality industry bodies said today.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said the restaurant industry is already reeling under severe constraints of being the most over-licensed, regulated and taxed and it continues to wait for improvements in 'ease of doing business' as promised by the government.
Similarly, the Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) also said Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan's suggestion to specify portion size of a meal to enable customers order the right amount would make eating out more expensive.
"We would like to state that putting government controls on fixing portion sizes of dishes in restaurants is definitely not the way to tackle this problem (of food wastage)," NRAI President Riyaz Amlani said in an e-mailed response to PTI.
Citing reasons why it would not be workable idea, he said it is not possible to pre-decide portion sizes to be served and consumers themselves may not always be sure about how much they would like to consume at a given point in time.
"The restaurant industry now caters for a very large variety of cuisines - both Indian and International. Based on the speciality/cuisine being served, it will be impossible to fix portion sizes for such a large spectrum of dishes on offer," he added.
Expressing similar views, HRAWI President Dilip Datwani said: "Although the thought behind this concept is noble and we appreciate it but to implement this idea is highly impractical."
On the implications of such a move on hotels and restaurants, he said: "It essentially would mean that hoteliers will now have to customise dishes or portions of a dish to individual appetites."
If the suggested move does come into effect, the pricing would most certainly be affected making eating out more expensive for the consumer, Datwani added.
Asking the government not to impose further restrictions, Amlani said: "The restaurant industry today is reeling under severe constraints of being the most over licensed, regulated and taxed industry. Recent initiatives by various government departments have not helped matters in the least."
He further said: "The industry in fact continues to wait for improvements in its 'Ease of doing business', as promised by the government. There is an urgent need to unshackle the industry from controls in order to unleash the true potential of this otherwise."
Datwani said while serving smaller portions may reduce food wastage and consumers today are conscious about not wasting food and don't place orders for food items that they cannot consume.
Datwani said the hospitality sector has already taken up steps voluntarily to prevent food wastage.
"Restaurants and hotels nowadays have tie ups with NGOs that pick up any excess food that is safe to consume and distribute it among the poor and needy," he said.
In case of organised sector, Amlani said food ordered by customers in restaurants is hardly wasted, as any leftovers are invariably packed by the restaurant and carried by the customer for later consumption.
Yesterday, Paswan had said that the hospitality industry would be asked whether it can do it "voluntarily" or needed the government to make legal provisions for it.
His remarks came nearly a fortnight after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over large-scale wastage of food in the country.
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