Transition Travails Of The Food Business

What do you do when you have over 300 items on the menu and you have to find packaging solutions for each of them? Many multi­cuisine restaurants are working overtime to find answers.

- Deepa H. Ramakrishnan

What do you do when you have over 300 items on the menu and you have to find packaging solutions for each of them? Many multi­cuisine restaurants are working overtime to find answers.

Ram Bhat, owner, Matsya Group, said that he is still not happy with the changes made in the packaging. "For the solid stu we have card­ board boxes but for sambar, rasam, curd vada and juices, the cup with lid I have opted for is not very apt. We are still working on a proper so­lution and are asking our customers to bear with us for some time," he said, ad­ding that he has had to train his employees on plastics on how to use the new options.

Rohit Zacharia of Mash Restore Cafe in Besant Nagar said he was trying to get al­ternatives that are afforda­ble. "We are using sugarcane bagasse containers. But we also need something stylish and elegant and leak­proof. So far we have not passed on the packaging charges to customers," he said.