TASTE THE FUTURE!

SAGAR DARYANI, CEO & CO-FOUNDER OF WOW! MOMO FOODS AND VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION OF INDIA TAKES US THROUGH THE HOTTEST TRENDS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY AND WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME A RESTAURANT OWNER.

- DIVYA

The food industry is constantly evolving and reinventing itself. The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) represents over 5 lakh restaurants across 24 chapters which is 24 cities. It provides newbies to the biz, support and guidance besides helping existing ones with issues. Sagar Daryani says, "We are the voice of the restaurant industry. We focus on not just standalone restaurants and brands that are operating at a very large scale but also small kiosks and small single restaurant operators. We protect the interests and the rights of the fraternity and work to understand the common problems of restaurants and solve them. We ensure everyone is growing. As a group, there is no bias whether it's a big brand like Domino's or a KFC or a small restaurant."

Talking about the scope for aspiring restaurateurs, he says, "Nationally, an average Indian consumes outside food around 11 times a month and in the US it's 50 to 60 times, so there is a huge space. You need to have a calling to be in this industry. The guest is like God you need to really enjoy feeding people in this sector.

Talking about his highly successful venture, he says, "15 years back, we started Wow! Momo with just Rs.30,000 and now we are a 3000-crore business with more than 650 stores across 52 cities. Wow! China is our second vertical and we have started Wow! Chicken and soon will start Wow! Kulfi. We are growing at 40% and have 6000 employees. We have great SOPs in place and are in touch with all stores every day. We don't call our managers, managers, we call them owners. Ours is a Make-in-India story.

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