THE BUSINESS OF

RESTAURANTS
DURING THE PANDEMIC

Knowledge partner
The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 1
 The size of the F&B industry was INR4,23,624 crore in FY20.
It shrunk to INR2,00,762 crore in FY21,
registering a de-growth of 52.6%

2 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

 Contents

08 23 29 40

How things Quick Service Global & Indian The way

stand currently? Restaurants Scenario forward
n A brief history of n Landscape of top n Global food n The future of
restaurants: how organised players: service industry, F&B cannot be
did we get here? dominated by snapshot imagined without
n The pandemic international QSR n Quarterly tech integration
effect chains revenue analysis, n Strategies
n 50% occupancy n Casual dining, key listed global adopted by the
still leads to losing fine dining, and players industry in the
money for the bars or pubs n Food service backdrop of
restaurateurs market of india, Covid-19, India

n Understanding pre and post covid n Cloud kitchens

the industry: estimates n Direct delivery
categorisation n QSRs doing
n Impact of business differently
Covid-19 on the
various industry
participants in
India
The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 3
 People behind this report

n Riddhi Baid, n Saurabh Soni, n Mohit Khullar,

Associate Vice President Managing Director
Riddhi Baid is an Associate in Saurabh Soni is a Vice Mohit Khullar leads the
the Consumer division at o3 President in the Consumer Consumer practice at o3
Capital. She has over 4 years division at o3 Capital. He Capital. He has over 18 years
of experience in investment has 10 years of experience in of experience and has advised
banking. Prior to joining o3 investment banking across numerous brands across
Capital, she was working at sectors. He has also been a fashion, retail, food services,
HSBC covering the global co-founder and a Director F&B, home products &
market where she was also part of a F&B products company. appliances segments for M&A
of the Consumer & Retail sector. Saurabh holds an MBA degree and Private Equity capital
Riddhi holds an MBA degree from IIM Lucknow and has raise transactions. Prior to
from NMIMS, Mumbai. completed his graduation joining o3 Capital, he
from SRCC, Delhi. co-founded a health-tech
business, Nerve24. Mohit
holds an MBA degree from
IIM Lucknow and completed
his graduation from Delhi
Institute of Technology.

4 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

 People behind this report

n Deeba Varisha, n Shishir Prasad, n Shabori Das,

Intern Editor Senior writer
Deeba joined us as an intern for The editor for ET Prime, is the She is the primary author of the
this report, during the month man behind this report. He report. She is one of the senior
of August. She is currently leads the team with his years writers for ET Prime’s consumer
pursuing her Masters of of experience and expertise vertical, and enjoys writing
Communication and Media regarding the business of about beverages, both alcoholic
Studies with Jamia Millia communications. He has and non-alcoholic, restaurants,
Islamia, Delhi. For this report successfully championed the fashion and beauty. Unlike
she worked with the ET Prime role of being the captain of this most reporters, she comes from
team for nearly 2 months, and team, and added deep insights a background of research and
helped us with interviews, to this report, which we believe consulting, and writing deep
data collection, and cleaning. would add conspicuous value to analysis of consumer industries
She brings a certain sincerity our readers. is one of her passions. This
and energy to the work that report is a culmination of her
she is involved with, and her love for research, writing, and
contribution to the report is restaurants, all rolled into one.
invaluable.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 5

 Letter from the Editor

T
HE pandemic has put us in a position restaurant-chain brands, especially international
where we as reporters and researchers quick-service restaurants (QSRs), expand their
of various industries keep questioning store count and launch IPOs. While QSRs without
ourselves how companies will survive this blow, a doubt bounced back after the second quarter of
over and over again. While every time it feels FY21, full-service restaurants, casual dining, and
impossible, their resilience and survival instinct bars suffered heavy blows.
turn out to be the defining characteristics, leading This report was written to elucidate the challenges
up to innovations and new business models. and trials that the F&B industry faced during the
This report began with the idea of understanding past year, its current growth estimates, and the
that spirit more than anything else. Indian market’s direction compared to its western
Restaurants, bars, and pubs are one of the simplest counterparts.
and wholesome joys of life. Whether it’s a bad We at ET Prime, along with the support of
day at work, or just the smallest of celebrations, our knowledge partners o3 Capital, thank all
stepping out to grab a meal is one of those human the participants of this report for helping us
experiences which we took for granted until the understand the problems of cost efficiency and
pandemic hit. running a restaurant business.
When the first lockdown was declared, leaving Here’s wishing that the coming fiscal gets better
busy restaurant streets desolate in cities like and easier for an industry which is and will always
Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and be an integral part of our lives.
Hyderabad, the reality hit us.
Despite the huge pressure under which the Shishir Prasad
industry was operating, it was heartening to see

6 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

 Food for thought: A note from the lead authors

T
HE declaration of the first lockdown back would look like. The simple idea was to elucidate
in March 2020 marked the inception of the learning and change that the F&B industry was
this report. With restaurants and bars going through.
shut for nearly three months, the impact on these I would like to take this opportunity to thank our
businesses was bound to be devastating. Over knowledge partners, starting with Riddhi Baid,
the next few months, as brands and restaurants Saurabh Soni, Abhijeet Singh, Mohit Khullar, and
implemented new solutions aligned with social- Deepesh Garg, who helped us understand the
distancing norms and limited operational hours, impact of the pandemic in a quantifiable manner.
ET Prime continued with its deep coverage of the The business of restaurants was never easy.
industry. Balancing profitability along with consistently
What quickly became evident was the resilience of good food and cocktails is a tough act. Grasping the
the restaurateurs and the increased dependence economics of the business isn’t easy either. So, I am
on technology to stay relevant. While differences glad that we worked with the absolute best in the
between the aggregators and restaurants industry to understand this subject matter.
continued, it was remarkable to see how Once we and our knowledge partners were working
restaurateurs quickly came up with shorter or in sync, we onboarded intern Deeba Varisha, who
scanned menus, and eventually, direct-delivery helped Shabori in the early stages of collecting and
options. cleaning of data. By October, we had the structure
While the food and beverages (F&B) industry is one and the first draft ready, and the editing team
of the largest employers in the services sector, it is along with chief designer Sadhana Saxena took it
still not recognised as one officially. This may have ahead from there. It’s impossible to put together a
been an inconvenience even before the pandemic. good report without the help of editing and design
However, during the crisis, the lack of official inputs, and I am thankful to our teammates, both
status as an industry became a critical factor for its internal and external.
existence. This report is the result of hours of research,
Over the next 18 months, the F&B ecosystem interviews, and writing. It is our way of showing
changed drastically. Restaurant owners worked support to an industry which is important.
with landlords to rework rental agreements, and as ET Prime and our knowledge partners o3 Capital,
some of our sources told us, each rental case was thank all the participants of this report for helping
unique, irrespective of the brand. us understand the problems of costs, efficiency and
From the ET Prime team, I (Shabori Das), senior running a restaurant business.
consumer writer started the research, and we Eating out is a luxury, however. Often a necessary
soon got in touch with our knowledge partners luxury.
o3 Capital to understand the depth of the subject
matter. When we started in July 2021, none of Shabori Das, Saurabh Soni
us in the team had any clue what the end result

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 7

 How things stand
currently

8 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

 All fixed costs are the burden of the restaurateurs. During the
lockdown, rental and labour costs were borne by them. The mix
of variable costs to fixed costs is almost 35% and 65%. Labour and
outlet overheads (such as utilities and admin costs) make up about
60% of the fixed costs within a restaurant. Pre-pandemic rentals
were around 35% of the fixed costs, and they continue to remain
at a similar level. Majorly, the credit line extended to restaurant
chains is around 30 days. After the pandemic, a lot of vendors had
been understanding and had helped companies, but they too are
stressed. Hence, these credit lines have gone back to normal.

Riyaaz Amlani
managing director,
Impresario Entertainment Hospitality

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 9

Restaurants remained
idle during the
pandemic
Restaurants were among the worst-hit businesses during the
pandemic. That’s because the recurring lockdowns and lack of
walk-ins exacerbated the challenges unique to the industry.
This report will cover the current state of affairs and ascertain
what lies ahead.

A
MONGST services industries in India, food services is one of
the highest employment generators. According to the National
Restaurants Association of India (NRAI), the size of the industry
was INR4,23,624 crore in FY20. It shrunk to INR2,00,762 crore in FY21,
registering de-growth of 52.6%. The de-growth was primarily driven by
the number of days when the restaurants remained shut during the
pandemic which was close to 100 days this year.
According to industry sources, before the pandemic, the F&B industry
contributed nearly 3% to the GDP and generated 7 million jobs. Following
recurrent lockdowns across the country, the industry is in dire straits,
especially the formats that are heavily dependent on dine-in services
which cannot be matched or replicated using the order-in model. In
addition to this, the industry is put in a difficult position due to the lack
of support from the government and the F&B ecosystem, which includes
landlords, state governments, and excise departments that issue liquor
licences.
The restaurants industry in India is highly fragmented and except for a few
large quick service restaurant franchises such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger
King and Dominos, most of the restaurants operate on poor economies of
scale. The National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) is one of the
largest organised associations of the country representing the industry,
and currently has over 500,000 restaurants, generating sales worth USD4

10 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

billion as its members. The pandemic has changed a fundamental driver
of the restaurants business. Most people in the formal sector have been
working from home, and more than 70% are expected to continue doing
so in the near term.
In this report, we will be identifying the challenges that the industry is
facing and touch upon possible ways to overcome them.

Total food service market: majority of the restaurants in India

continue to be unorganized, and standalone
Organised* Unorganised
CAGR 2015-2020, CAGR 2015-2020,
~14% ~8%

~39% ~61%

India
USD56 billion

*chained and stand-alone restaurants

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 11

 When we got into the pandemic, our April 2020 revenue was 15%
of February 2020. May revenue was about 8% of February 2020.
So, business was as badly hit as it could possibly have been. During
the lockdown, when restaurants were completely shut, we had no
business. We were incurring a lot of expenses, but there were no
revenues. So, we suffered a significant amount of bleed from April
2020 to June 2021. Even if I say that January 2021 was the best
month, we had not recovered from the pandemic and revenues
were still behind the pre-Covid-19 numbers, which meant our
expenses were bad. The funny thing was that all the landlords,
including us, thought that maybe by December 2020, everything
would be over.

Nitin Saluja
founder, Chaayos

12 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

A brief history of restaurants:
How did we get here?

The term ‘restaurant’ first appeared in the 18th century in France. It

referred to a reinvigorating meat broth which people ate to refortify
the body. It was not until the French Revolution and subsequent
industrialisation that culinary establishments such as we know them
today began to appear and develop.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 13

 The modern restaurant is not an entirely new creation. The activity of
eating outside the home has existed for thousands of years. During
Classical Antiquity, thermopolia served food and drink to customers
of all social classes. Archaeological digs uncovered more than 150
such places in the city of Pompeii, highlighting the importance of
this type of establishment. The rather basic thermopolium served
food in bowls carved into an L-shaped counter.
The Middle Ages and Renaissance period saw the emergence of
taverns and inns in Europe, precursors to the modern restaurant.
Often located on the side of a road, they offered food and shelter
to travellers. The meal cooked was at the discretion of the chef and
travellers had to settle for the single dish of the day.
Under the Song dynasty (960-1279) in China, the Empire’s capital
city was filled with establishments serving their customers a range
of à la carte dishes. In the 17th century, going out specifically to eat
a full meal was not yet commonplace. From the latter half of the
18th century, Paris became the capital of the modern restaurant.
According to legend, in 1765 a man by the name of Monsieur
Boulanger was the first to open an establishment offering a choice
of restorative broths and even used the term ‘restaurant’ on the sign
over his door with the line: “Boulanger provides divine sustenance.”
Then, in 1782, Antoine Beauvilliers opened his eponymous
restaurant, which made his reputation. The famous French
gastronome Brillat-Savarin praised him highly. It was one of the
first luxury restaurants aimed at a wealthy clientele. When the
French Revolution began, chefs working for the aristocracy found
themselves out of work. Those who escaped the guillotine opened
their own restaurants to satisfy the refined tastes of their new
clientele, the rising bourgeoisie.
In Switzerland, the first restaurants appeared only in 1880. In
the 20th century, lifestyles changed and eating in restaurants at
lunchtime became commonplace for many workers. Restaurants
started to specialise and target their clientele. Eating in a
restaurant in the evening began to be associated with a leisure
activity combining discovery, pleasure, and conviviality, an outing
with family or friends away from the household dining room.
Source: History of Restaurant from Alimentarium.org

14 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

The pandemic effect
One of the biggest challenges during the pandemic was the recurring
lockdowns imposed by state governments.
The state governments over the course of the 18 months has tried
different permutation and combinations to keep the restaurants
operational, while imposing social distancing norms. However, despite
various attempts most of restaurants were not benefitted from the
disrupted operations.

Profit margin analysis of restaurants during the pandemic restrictions

in India: running a restaurant at 50% occupancy still leads to losing
money for the restaurateurs
Variation Rental Staffing Utilities Licensing Profit
margin

Pre-covid-19, with full capacity 35 20 20 5 15 15

of a restaurant, let’s say the
monthly revenue was INR100

During the lockdown NA 20 NA NA 5 -25

Operating at 50% capacity 17.5* 20 20 5 5 -17.5

Assuming the best-case scenario
- the restaurant registers half of its
revenue from pre-covid-19 days and
earns INR50

Understanding the industry: categorisation

India’s food-service industry is still nascent compared to those in
geographies that are similar in terms of population and median age.
With the average age of the country still under 30, India is far behind
in terms of eating-out habits. This is primarily driven by three factors
— the family units in India; the availability of cooks and domestic
help, which isn’t common in developed economies; and deeply ingrained
ideas about how homemade food is linked with nutrition.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 15

USD 56 billion ~8% ~39% USD 21 billion ~14%
Overall food CAGR% - Food Organised market Organised food CAGR% -
services market service market % (FY20) service market size Organised market
size (FY20) (FY15-FY20) (FY20) (FY15-FY20)

Penetration of food services is still very low in

India vs other developed markets
Food services as a % of overall food consumption

India 8%

US 54%

China 58%

Segmentation, within the organised sector, QSR and casual

dining are the lead contributors
By level of organisation Organized market by type
10%
2%
22%

29%

61% 57% 11%

6%
3%
USD 21 billion for FY20
Unorganised Organized standalone Fine dining QSR Casual dining
Organized chains* Pub/bars Cafes Icecream/frozen dessert

Restaurant chains account for only ~25% QSR and CD account for ~80% of the
of the organized market organized food services market

16 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Categories of restaurants
Quick Service Restaurants: This includes fast-food establishments
with smaller dine-in space, with a focus on keeping a round of orders
through the day. Their fixed costs are on the lower side and dependence
on aggregators is high, as people don’t seek out these restaurants for
the ambience, but the food. QSRs and casual dining are the two most
popular formats, with QSRs having order values mostly in the range of
INR75-INR250. This category has been the best at coping with pandemic-
related disruptions because:
n Automation in food preparation ensures consistency in taste.
n Ordering-in or delivery is a big part of the business, which is where the
industry is skewed because of social-distancing norms.
Casual dining: Defined as restaurants with more seating space than
those in the QSR category, involving staff to wait at tables, table linen,
and a full menu instead of fast food, these are less formal dining places.
This category also includes bars and pubs. The order value mostly ranges
between INR250 and INR1,000.
Fine dining: These restaurants stand out because of their high
experiential factor. There are generally more than one waiting staff per

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 17

 table and the food menu is elaborate, besides a full bar menu. Ambience
is extremely important, which means décor and interior design play a
big role. The order value would be upwards of INR1,000.
Bars/Pubs: These are restaurants that have liquor licences, often
referred to as PBCL — pub, bar, café, and lounge. These are a conspicuous
part of the food-service industry, especially in metropolitan cities. The
average ticket size can vary drastically, depending on the real estate and
the choice of liquor.
Food delivery aggregators/cloud kitchens: This tech-enabled part
of the food-service industry, which is not new in the country, realised
its full potential during the pandemic. Many restaurants were able to
survive because of a steady stream of order-ins during the lockdowns.
NRAI estimates say that the Indian organised foodservices market grew
at 13% and 18% CAGR for the period 2015-2020, for organised standalone
and chained restaurants, respectively. The industry on an average is now
expected to grow at CAGR of 8% for the next five years, that is between
2020-2025.

18 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Segmentaon of the organized food services market
Organised food services market is USD21 billion in size; delivered 14% CAGR
Standalone Chain

Organised
category 57% 22% 11% 6% 3% 2%
share

10.4

4.7

2.1
2.3

2.6 2.0 1.2

1.8 0.9 0.6 0.4
0.3 0.3
0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1
Casual QSR Pub/Bars Cafes Icecream, Fine
Category
Dining frozen desert dining

% chained 15% 54% 14% 26% 49% 22%

CAGR 15% 17% 11% 7% 11% 3%

(FY15-FY20)

Note: The organised section of the restaurant business accounts or

39% of the market. Out of this, there is again a split between restaurant
chains and standalone. This graphic represents the organised, chain
segment.
To understand the business economics better, let’s dive deep into the
organised section of the industry.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 19

Organised sector overview
Casual dining, Quick Service Restaurants, pub, bar, club and lounge

Casual dining (CDR) Quick Service Pub, bar, club and

Restaurants (QSR) lounge (PBCL)

Positioning Focus on moderately Specific product Multi-cuisine/specialty

priced food and table offerings or cuisines restaurants with a focus
service to high quality, with focus on on quality, ingredients,
presentation and service convenience. presentation and
driven service

Target Group/ 25-50 years/ Moderately 15-35 years/ Affordable 20-40 years/Affordable
pricing priced to premium

Average spend 250-1000 75-250 750-1500

per person (INR)

Service quality Moderately mix High speed of service

and speed

Ambience Casual fun environment Functional interiors. Theme-based with loud

to upmarket Compact seating with music. Rustic, no
environment with design self-service. frills to classy
led ambiance.
Regular seating with
table service

Product offering The offerings bridge the Specific product Mainly serve alcohol
gap between QSRs and offerings or cuisines and related beverages
fine dining restaurants. with focus on
convenience.
Dominated by burgers &
sandwiches and pizzas

Brands in chained Farzi Cafe, Barbeque Haldiram’s, McDonald’s, Beer Café, Xtreme
organized Nation, Oh! Calcutta, Dominos, Pizza Hut Sports Bar etc.
Sagar Ratna, Moti Mahal
Delux etc.

20 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Organised sector overview
Cafes, Frozen desserts, Fine dining

Cafes Frozen desserts Fine dining (FDR)

(FD/IC)

Positioning Tea-Coffee centric Focus on ice-creams Multi-cuisine/specialty

with limited focus on and frozen yoghurt restaurants with a
food with limited options for focus on quality, ingredients,
snacks/ beverages presentation and service

Target Group/ 15-45 years/ 18-35 years/ affordable 25-50 years/Premium

pricing Affordable to to Luxury
moderate

Average spend 50-250 50-150 >1000

per person (INR)

Service quality Relaxing, “catching up” High standard of service

and speed and unwinding.

Ambience Coffee & chai bars as Colourful, fun. Focus Formal, premium
well as parlours and on Takeaways design-led ambience
bakeries.

Product offering High focus on Small kiosk outlets of ice Speciality cuisine
beverages supported cream brands which
by food items" have been extended to
dine-in concept of
frozen yogurt and ice
cream brands

Brands in chained Starbucks, Café Coffee Baskin-Robbins, Red Yauatcha, Olive Bar, Masala
organized Day Mango etc. Library etc.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 21

Impact of COVID-19 on the various market parcipants
in the food services industry

QSR Café and CDR Cloud Kitchens and Food

Delivery Platforms
 Least impacted. Most  Typically known for
chained QSRs are well their dine-in experience  Food delivery platforms, such
equipped with the and generally did not as Zomato and Swiggy, played an
infrastructure, systems and offer delivery or important role during the
process to manage online takeaway services, so lockdown in serving consumer
delivery. Online has always they were not as needs
been a key channel for QSRs adaptive to the safety  As of October 2020, Zomato
 Consumers are inclined to measures and Swiggy have both recovered
order from reputable  Inevitably also began nearly 100% of their
international QSR chains to offer delivery services pre-Covid-19 levels of sales
given they generally
maintain high hygiene and
safety standards

PBCL and fine dining

 Significantly impacted
 Even after they have
re-opened, customers
have been hesitant to visit
given ongoing concerns"

Unorganized Segment
 Primarily includes dhabas, roadside small  Expected to be the last to demonstrate
eateries, hawkers and street stalls - the segment recovery in sales primarily due to consumers'
which is most significantly impacted by Covid-19 concerns over hygiene and food safety

Source: BK DRHP

22 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

 Quick-service
restaurants

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 23

 Despite the bad times unfolding across the globe, you always
believe that this isn’t going to happen to you. In March, we thought
we had just had quite a great year. Then, all of a sudden, around
March 15, it started to dawn upon us that we could have a year
that’s not going to be great, because we might be shut down for
10-15 days. McDonald’s was going through the same in China
and other countries in southeast Asia, so we had some idea on
what had to be done. Once April ended, we knew we were in it
for the long haul. We started to evaluate what we needed to do,
and again, we had some global data pointing towards the fact that
a lot of drive-through restaurants had started doing extremely
well. Drive-through accounts for around 50% of our entire sales
globally. In India, despite it not being too popular a channel before
the pandemic, during the lockdown months, drive-throughs helped
dine-in restaurants carry on.

Saurabh Kalra
COO, McDonald’s

24 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Quick Service Restaurants:
One of the few pandemic-proof
food-service categories
Quick Service Restaurant as the name suggests are restaurants, where the
time required from the point of placing the order till it is served is the least.
Due to the automated nature of the food preparation, this was one of
the few categories of food-service businesses which did well during the
pandemic. McDonald’s, one of the world’s leading QSRs and fast-food
chains, gave salary hikes to its employees in 2021. Although all of them are
not under its payroll, but are contractual employees, McDonald’s made
one of the strongest bouncebacks from the pandemic in the country.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 25

McDonald’s, with the help of its south and west franchise partner
Westlife Development, is planning to invest INR100 crore in the brand
to launch 30 new outlets in FY22. It plans to push its outlet expansion via
convenience channels more than drive-throughs, and takeaways, clearly
showing one of the key directions in which the industry is moving.

Top organized players landscape

5 players above 5 out of 10 organized players All top QSR chains are India
INR 10,000 million revenue are QSR franchisee of global brands

QSR Cafe Casual dining Fine dining Pubs/Bars

Chained market (USD 5.3 billion) share

10% 4% 4% 4% 3% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1%

39,950

15,650 15,480 15,080

13,050
FY20 8,470 8,410
Revenue 5,370 4,780
(INR million) 3,830 3,580
Westlife
Devyani

Sapphire
foods
Jubilant

Coffee Day

Speciality
Lite Bite
Nation
BBQ

Impressario
Tata
Burger
King

Starbucks

Casual Fine Pubs/ Casual

Segment QSR QSR QSR Cafe QSR QSR Cafes
dining dining Bars dining

EBITDA 8,830 2,420 2,090 410 1,850 1,600 1,040 (100) 329 BE 360
(%) 22% 15% 14% 3% 14% 19% 12% (2)% 7% 10%
3 year 15% 14% 19% 0% 18% 18% 54% 24% 13% 13% 5%
CAGR

26 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

This was true for most QSRs of the country, international or domestic.
KFC and Pizza Hut’s India franchise partner Sapphire Foods filed for an
IPO in August 2021. Burger King India launched its IPO in December
2020. The company, with over 250-plus outlets, is in talks to take over
Burger King Indonesia.

Casual dining, fine dining, and bars or pubs

These three categories of restaurants suffered the most during the
pandemic. Fine dining is perhaps the easiest to recognise among
all restaurant formats because of its focus on posh ambience and
food choices. These are not the restaurants that cater to the need for
sustenance, but those that consumers are likely to visit for celebrations,
hence the average ticket size is at the higher end.
Social-distancing norms hit these restaurants hard, as they disrupted
the concept of a sit-down meal outside home. Since ambience and the
presentation of the food is what most consumers tend to look forward
to while visiting such restaurants, these restaurants would not see the
same traction on food-aggregator apps as QSRs or even casual dining.
This category includes standalone, restaurant chains, and hotel
restaurants.
Casual dining lies between a QSR and a fine-dining restaurant, with the
average ticket size considerably lower than fine dining.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 27

Recovery comparison: QSR Vs casual/fine dining,
QSRs are the clear winners
Revenues over the last 8 quarters in INR million

QSR
100% recovery by Q3 FY21
10,714 10,693 10,379
9,491 9,981
9,088 8,163 ~100%
recovery by
3,884
Q3 FY21

Q1 FY20 Q2 FY20 Q3 FY20 Q4 FY20 Q1 FY21 Q2 FY21 Q3 FY21 Q4 FY21

Casual/fine-dining
Only 62% recovery by Q4 FY21

1,063
876 885 Only 62%
754
568
654 recovery by
Q4 FY21
196
83

Q1 FY20 Q2 FY20 Q3 FY20 Q4 FY20 Q1 FY21 Q2 FY21 Q3 FY21 Q4 FY21

28 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

 Global and
Indian scenarios

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 29

Global scenario
One of the primary issues dealt by the food and beverages industry
during the pandemic was reverse migration. This was applicable for
both employees of the industry and the customers. As most offices
implemented remote working, the need to stay in metropolitans and
paying heavy rents became obsolete. Millennials, the majority working
population in any country were dealing with pay cuts, loss of jobs and a
heightened need to take care of health, both mental and physical. This
along with an increased need to be healthy, and most restaurants being
inoperable during the first wave of 2020, consumers resorted to cooking
at home.

Global food service industry, snapshot, food service industry

shrunk 12% in CY20
CY2019 3.5
-12%
CY2020 3.1
4%
CY2026 4.0

Figures in USD trillion unless specified

The United Kingdom, one of the few markets that India mirrors in its
F&B trends, had a conspicuous number of shutdowns over the course of
the first year of the pandemic.

Organised outlets count declined by 7%, pre and post pandemic,

United Kingdom
CY2019 31,054
-7%
CY2020 28,880

Figures refer to number of outlets

30 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

US food-services recovery will vary, depending
on how the coronavirus is contained
Monthly restaurant sales, % change from 2019

Virus contained; quick rebound to pre-crisis growth

Virus recurrence; economy turns down

10

-10

-20

-30

-40

-50

2020 2021
The US, another global giant of the food-service industry, continues
to grapple with an unpredictable market in 2021, but has been
recovered 80%-90% in all formats — fine dining, casual dining, and
QSRs. The Japanese food-service industry has almost recovered to
pre-pandemic levels in line with the improving situation in the country.
However, a closer look at the expected growth rates of various formats of
the F&B industry along with other channels such as hotels, retail, travel
and leisure in 2021 versus 2020 reveals that the industry is slowly but
gradually working towards a positive growth.
While almost every single category of food service chains were in
negative growths, fast food and delivery enjoyed a positive growth of 28%
in terms of sales during the year. However, as vaccination numbers rise,
and consumers start to travel again, the expected growth in 2021 is from
leisure and hotels.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 31

2020 calculated sales by channel, estimated annual 2020 sales
by foodservice channel with an annual decline from 2019
2020 sales in thousand Pounds
Annual
decline

Pubs 11,662,276 -53.7%

Fast food delivery 10,728,136 -27.5%

Restaurants 9,305,391 -51.8%

Retail high street 6,065,394 -44.7%

Grocery retail 4,552,151 -35.7%

Hotels 4,242,319 -60.5%

Contract catering 2,540,084 -56.4%

Travel 1,283,626 -49.6%

Leisure 448,161 -70.7%

32 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

2021 sector growth rates, forecasted annual 2021 sales
by foodservice channel with annual growth over 2020
2020 sales in billion Pounds, figures in brackets refer to sales growth

TOP PERFORMERS

Fast Foods
13.78
(28.5%)

Pubs Restaurants
14.97
11.74
(28.4%)
(23.1%)

MID PERFORMERS

Retail FTG Hotels Grocery FTG Catering

7.94 6.19 5.04 3.48
(30.9%) (45.9%) (10.8%) (37.3%)

LOW PERFORMERS

Travel Leisure
1.51 0.68
(18.2%) (33.4%)

Note: FTG is Food To Go

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 33

Globally, the industry is moving towards the following directions:
n Restaurants are shifting to take-away or delivery models: After being heavily impacted
by the containment measures imposed by governments, restaurateurs have been quick to
adapt their business model even providing contact less delivery

n Independent businesses are seizing the day: As many international chains such as
McDonald’s, Subway, KFC and Burger King have decided to close nonperforming stores, there’s
a growing opportunity for small, independent businesses to fill the gap. These businesses
are more agile and flexible as they employ fewer staff (often from the same family) and are
therefore able to react quicker to serve local customers.

n Food & workforce safety tips: Restaurants have to put in place stringent new safety
measures to protect their staff and customers alike

n New formats: Some operators globally are testing new formats that eliminate seating areas
or encourage consumption elsewhere as an alternative to sit-down dining. A drive-up service
allowing guests to pull into dedicated parking spaces where they can order and dine inside
their cars. In China, several major QSRs are heading to the streets, opening mobile street
stands with only takeaway service.

n Menu innovations: Many companies have implemented family meals and bundles

34 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Quarterly revenue analysis, Key listed global players,
Chipotle Mexican Grill had the best recovery in Q2’21
Lockdown Recovery vis a vis
CY Q4’19

Q3’19 Q4’19 Q1’20 Q2’20 Q3’20 Q4’20 Q1’21 Q2’21 Q4’20 Q1’21 Q2’21

Darden Restaurants , Olive Garden US, Fine dining restaurant, USD

2,134 2,056 2,347 1,270 1,527 1,657 1,733 2,279 81% 84% 111%

The Cheesecake Factory, C

heesecake Factory, Fox restaurant US, Café / Bakery USD

587 694 615 296 518 555 627 769 80% 90% 111%

Chipotle Mexican Grill , Chipotle US , Casual dining restaurant, USD

1,404 1,440 1,411 1,365 1,601 1,608 1,742 1,893 112% 121% 131%

Yum! Brands, KFC, Pizza Hut , US, QSR , USD

1,339 1,694 1,263 1,198 1,448 1,743 1,486 1,602 103% 88% 95%

Restaurants Brand, International Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes, US , QSR, USD

1,458 1,479 1,225 1,048 1,337 1,358 1,260 1,438 92% 85% 97%

Zensho Holding , Sukiya , Japan, CDR, JPY

1,66,534 1,60,034 1,50,548 1,28,373 1,59,602 1,60,365 1,46,708 1,52,607 100% 92% 95%

The Restaurant Group Wagamama, Frankie & Benny’s, UK , CDR / Pubs, GBP

279 279 114 114 116 116 108 108 42% 39% 39%

Note: All figures in million currency

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 35

The India scenario
Such was the impact of the pandemic on the Indian F&B industry that
experts believe that 20%-25% of the standalone unorganised restaurants
may not have survived the recurring lockdowns.
Beginning in March 2020, people started to refrain from eating out due
to the fear of Covid-19. While the unorganised market was the first to
take a hit due to hygiene concerns, organised chain restaurants were
relatively less impacted during the fourth quarter of FY20.
In Q1 FY21, most of the restaurants in the country were closed. Those
that were open in April and May 2020 had only delivery options. Sales
of the food-services sector went down 90% compared with pre-Covid-19
estimates. During Q2 and Q3 of FY21, food brands began to emphasise on
stronger hygiene and safety measures, including introducing “contactless
delivery”. Q3 FY21 showed healthy growth in sales as many restaurants
were allowed to reopen for dine-in services.
By Q4 FY21, new safety regulations were in place and QSR chains were
able to absorb the demand of unorganised food services. In this quarter,
the food-services market is estimated to have recovered to almost 70% of
the pre-Covid-19 level.

36 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Food service market of India, pre and post Covid esmates,
the largest fall was experienced during Q1FY21 and Q3FY21
Food services market size in USD million
19,840
18,000
16,533
15,000 15,000 16,533
12,000
13,277 12,187
11,467 9,680

1,213
3,693

Q1FY20 Q2FY20 Q3FY20 Q4FY20 Q1FY21 Q2FY21 Q3FY21 Q4FY21

Pre-covid estimates Post-covid estimates

Q4 FY20 Q1 FY21 Q2 & Q3 FY21 Q4 FY21

 Beginning in  Most of the  Food brands  New safety
March 2020, restaurants were began to emphasize regulations were in
people started to closed in the country. on strengthened place and QSR
refrain from eating However, many hygiene and safety chains were able to
out as frequently restaurants measures, including absorb the demand
due to fear of reopened in April introducing of unorganised
Covid-19 and May 2020 for “Contactless food services
delivery-only delivery”
 Unorganised services  In this quarter,
market was the first  Q3 FY21 showed the food services
to take a hit due to  The food services healthy growth in market is estimated
hygiene concerns; sector sales went the sales figures as to have recovered
organised chain down by 90% as many restaurants to almost 70% of
restaurants were compared to were allowed to the pre-Covid-19
relatively less pre-Covid-19 open again for level
impacted estimates dine-in services

Note: Quarterly data are as per Fiscal year;

Source: Technopak analysis as on December 2020

Compared to developed economies, India is far behind in terms of

frequency of ordering, which shrank even more when the pandemic hit.
However, in sync with global trends, India’s QSR category witnessed a
semblance of a recovery, doing better than casual dining. However, this
preference was not merely driven by the average order value.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 37

Covid-19 led iniaves
QSRs CDRs

Contactless experience/hygiene branding

Takeaway/on-the-go/Curb-side

Own mobile application

Third-party aggregators (Swiggy/Zomato)

Value offerings / Combo family packs

Source: Emkay Research

A country like India, where most people live with families — and which
was more so during the pandemic after the reverse migration — value
offerings and combo family packs have been particularly important in
choosing the restaurant to order from.
Due to consumers’ preference for QSRs, fine-dining chains have been
turning to asset-light, cloud, or dark-store models to optimise costs and
improve margins as they build their way to recovery from the pandemic-
induced shutdowns. For example, Massive Restaurants plans to launch
six virtual brands by FY21, and Lite Bite plans to add 50-60 brands in the
next three years. The latter currently runs eight virtual brands.

38 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Listed India players performance
Lockdown Recovery vis a vis
CY Q4’19

Q3’19 Q4’19 Q1’20 Q2’20 Q3’20 Q4’20 Q1’21 Q2’21 Q4’20 Q1’21 Q2’21

Barbeque Nation, Barbeque Nation, India, CDR

2,115 2,120 1,905 98 761 1,948 2,264 1,020 92% 107% 48%

Speciality Restaurants, Mainland China, Oh!Calcutta, Sigree Global Grill, India, CDR / FDR

885 1,063 754 83 196 568 654 304 53% 62% 29%

Burger King India, Burger King, India , QSR

2,112 2,279 1,910 676 676 1,632 1,961 1,497 72% 86% 66%

Jubilant FoodWorks , Domino’s, India, QSR

9,981 10,714 9,088 3,884 8,163 10,693 10,379 8,932 100% 97% 83%

Note: All figures are in INR million for calendar year

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 39

 The way
forward

40 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

We are a New Age sort of a Shopify for restaurants. That is how
we started our journey — a ‘shop’ version equivalent for the
consumer. A lot of people over the years have tried to build this
Shopify for restaurants, but for whatever reason, prior to us
nobody got into logistics and payment.

Dhruv Dewan
co-founder, Thrive Now

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 41

The future of F&B cannot be
imagined without tech integration
Despite the heavy losses suffered during the year, 2021 estimates show that
the Indian F&B industry is on its way to recovery.
The second quarter of FY22 witnessed easing of lockdown regulations,
and businesses going back to their usual hours of business. However, the
changes incorporated in operations are most likely here to stay.
Tech integration in the F&B industry was underway even before the
pandemic broke out. As with most consumer categories, the industry
had started to attract financiers over the last five years. While hospitality,
and especially F&B, continues to be a challenging industry due to its cost
structure, including rentals, the operational part of the business has
been adopting technology to automate the process of getting an order
from the kitchen to the table in the most efficient manner.

42 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

An example of this is Chaayos. One of India’s leading tea QSR brands,
this venture-capital-backed enterprise has been using bots enabled by
Internet of Things to take orders from the point-of-sale terminal. With
the help of this technology, the brand is able to bring down the average
time to serve a cup of tea from five minutes to two minutes and 15
seconds.
Venture-capital funding enabled tech adoption in the F&B industry, and
the pandemic has only catalysed the process.

Strategies adopted by the industry in the

backdrop of Covid-19, India

Focus on food Contactless Digital Private UV-sterilized Sanizaon /

delivery / delivery menus dining cutlery & temperature
takeaways pods Plexiglass checks
barriers

Food delivery: Restaurants are focusing on listing and/or promoting

themselves on food-delivery platforms to generate sales. This is being
practiced by all categories of restaurants, irrespective of Indian or
international. Online food delivery was the only channel of revenue
generation
Contactless delivery: This is fast becoming the standard procedure for
deliveries. Temperature checks and use of face masks and gloves are
becoming mandatory for delivery executives.
Digital menus: Digital menus with QR codes are replacing traditional
reusable menu cards. This is one of the most common tech-enabled
changes in the industry. Disposable menu cards are also being used to
limit contact. In a pre-pandemic world, one could expect at least two
servers attending to a table in a fine-dining restaurant, and at least one
in all other categories. Technology is helping maintain social-distancing
norms and keep human contact to the minimum. Now one server takes
care of more than one table. However, this will impact the industry’s
employment-generation capacity in a big way.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 43

Private dining pods: Several restaurants have imposed limits on the
number of diners that can be present at a time. They have created private
or semi-private spaces so that diners can maintain social distancing — a
practice more common among full-service restaurants, and restaurants
in five-star hotels.
UV-sterilised cutlery and acrylic-glass barriers: While some
restaurants are using UV-sterilised cutlery wrapped in paper, others
have installed acrylic-glass barriers between tables customers.
Sanitisation and temperature checks: Daily and hourly cleaning and
sanitisation protocols have been put in place. Customers, chefs, delivery
executives, and staff go through regular temperature checks.

Online ordering in and aggregators

One of the biggest challenges for the F&B industry was to work around
the delivery logistics. While running a restaurant chain is a challenge
on its own, the logistics of the business needs a significant amount of
attention. Zomato and Swiggy have been at loggerheads with the NRAI
for a few years. Driven by the high-commission structures by these food
aggregators, restaurant runners have been fighting this battle for a while
now.

Food delivery in India is still in its early stages of evolution;

Huge headroom for growth
Market size Online food delivery users
(USD billion) as a % of internet users

90

50

36

21

9
4

India US China India US China

44 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Global food delivery landscape: large outcomes
achieved across markets
Revenues of major players in USD billion, as of CY2019
9.6 Indian Delivery
players

3.2 2.9
2.2
1.8

0.4 0.4
0.05
China Korea, US Germany, and US India India Japan
Japan The Netherlands

Then came the pandemic. Since restaurants remained shut for the better
half of FY21 due to social-distancing norms, the only business came from
online orders, led by millennials and the Gen Z population.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 45

 Food delivery segment driven by increase in Internet
and smartphone penetra
on
India is positioned to have ~950 million internet users by 2025
Internet and smartphone penetration in India has nearly doubled from 2015 to 2019
CAGR: 9% 950-1,000

CAGR: 16% 570-600

310-330

2015 2019 2025P

Internet
24% 43% 68%
penetration
Smartphone
17% 33% 58%
penetration

Internet users in million

Note: 1. CAGR / Penetration for ranges taken from middle of ranges

Breakup of food services market (in USD billion): Online food delivery
market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19% to reach USD12 bn

CAGR
87 Market sizing
(FY20-FY26P)
12 16% 27 million
19%
Acve food delivery users
x
56 24 24% 3.2
4 6% ~ 38 orders/month
7%
17 Number of orders per year/
acve user
29% 52 x
35 60% ~ INR 300
7% Average order value
64%
USD 4 billion
FY20 FY26E Market size
Out of home dine-in Takeaway Online food delivery
Note: 1. Average Order Value tracks the average amount spent each time a customer places an order on a website or mobile app

46 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Indian Food Delivery: per order economics
Order value in INR

Average order value 300

Commission revenue 70 -22% “take rate”

Delivery fees 26 -9% of average order value

Total revenue 96

Less: Logistic spends 38 - 150% of delivery revenue

Gross profit 58

Gross margin (%) 60

Discounts 39 12-13% of average order value

Contribution/order 19

Contribution margin (%) 20

As an industry with a raonal duopoly, food delivery generates posive margins. Zomato currently
holds 45% of the market, and Swiggy holds 47%. The remainder of the market is owned by smaller
fragmented players. With scale and further opmisaon of costs, companies are
likely to see steady expansion in margin profile.

Besides, the evolution in food delivery helped drive this trend. On the one
hand, Internet and smartphone penetration in India has nearly doubled
from 2015 to 2019, and on the other, the food-delivery segment has seen
significant consolidation in the past five years. Currently, Zomato and
Swiggy dominate the aggregator landscape.
In terms of unit economics, the food-delivery industry is a duopoly
generating positive margins. With scale and further cost optimisation,
companies are likely to see steady expansion in margins.
Another cost-efficient segment that came into being before the pandemic
broke out and has now become a permanent part of the industry is cloud
kitchens.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 47

Zomato and Swiggy: Peer comparison, Zomato’s Valuaon is
nearly three mes that of Swiggy

Launch year 2008 2014

Market share 45% 47%

Cities present 556 523

Commission rate 22% 22%

Restaurant partners 1,32,000+ 1,60,000+

Number of delivery agents 1,61,637 1,60,000+

14,200 26,050 27,800

Historical revenue / 12,970
Net loss (INR million)

Revenue -20,260 -23,860 -23,640

-37,700
Losses
2019 2020 2019 2020

Key investor Info Edge, Ant Financial Naspers, Accel Partners

Funds raised till date USD 1.7 billion and capital raise of USD2.9 billion
USD 1.3 billion from IPO listing

Valuation USD USD15 billion USD5.5 billion

Note: based on latest market cap for Zomato and latest capital raise in July 2021 for Swiggy

The success of the food-aggregator business was further reiterated by the

launch of Zomato’s IPO in July 2021. Zomato is an Indian multinational
restaurant aggregator and food-delivery company. Its business includes
core B2C food delivery and dining-out services. Using Zomato, customers
can search and discover restaurants, order food delivery, book a table, and
make payments for dining out. Its B2B segment generates revenue from
Hyperpure (supply of high-quality ingredients and kitchen products to
restaurants) and Zomato Pro (customer-loyalty programme).
The proceeds from the IPO will be used mostly for organic and inorganic
growth. On the day of listing, the shares closed at around INR125, 64%
higher than the issue price of INR76. The IPO was subscribed 38x, with
demand inclined towards institutional investors.

48 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

Zomato gross order value
Figures in INR million Summary of the offering

Issue period 14 July, 2021 - 16 July 2021

29,810 Price range INR72-INR76

27,853 26,849
20,952 Final issue price INR76
10,936
Offer size USD1.26 billion
(Primary USD 1.2 billion)
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
Pre-money valuation USD6.8 billion
FY20 FY20 FY21 FY21 FY21
at offer price

Post-money valuation USD8 billion

Transacon Highlights at offer price

Market capital USD15 billion

First IPO by a Unicorn
as on 27th July, 2021
startup in the Indian market
Listing date 23July 2021
Largest primary issuance in India
Selling shareholder Info Edge (Partial exit)

Cloud kitchen
Cloud-kitchen restaurants are businesses that run kitchens solely meant
for food preparation and delivery and do not have dine-in facilities.
Leveraging the fixed costs of tightly packed, centralised kitchens, they
serve customers willing to get their food from an outlet that may not
carry a name like a restaurant does. Cloud kitchens may also tie up with
portals such as Swiggy or Zomato. In short, they have no dining space,
and exist purely for the purpose of deliveries.
Cloud kitchens are better suited for customers who want to stay socially
distanced than dine at traditional restaurants. Quality, consistency, and
reasonable pricing are essential to make the cloud-kitchen model viable.

Direct delivery
Despite the success of aggregators, there are some restaurateurs who
do not want to partner with them. A tech-enabled solution to resolve
logistical issues that has emerged during the pandemic is direct delivery.
One company in this segment is Thrive Now. Its USP is to set up a food-
ordering system in 15 minutes. This Shopify for restaurateurs enables
them to deliver food without paying a heavy commission to logistics
providers.

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 49

Cloud kitchens are not a new concept, but is now expected to drive
the restaurant business in the new future
Cloud kitchens have been serving the
purpose of solving the supply gap

Cloud kitchen

Kitchen Reduce cost

Online order Customer data

 Cloud kitchen Quality control Delivery

restaurants are essentially
businesses that run Pros and cons of cloud kitchen
kitchens solely meant for
food delivery and do not
have dine-in facilities Streamlined order process Online visibility only

 Leveraging the fixed Low-operational cost and Dependence on

costs of tightly packed, low risk technology
centralised kitchens, they
serve customers who have
Easy expansion and high Less customer
no idea where their food is
prepared profit margins interaction

 Limited to food Multiple brands out of a Challenging Brand

preparation and delivery or single kitchen establishment
tie-up with food-ordering
portals such as Swiggy and India currently has 3,500+ cloud kitchens
Zomato

 Cloud kitchens are better

suited to customers during
the pandemic who want to
socially-distance than
traditional dine-in
restaurants GMV growth of ‘Cloud Kitchen’ in India

 Quality consistency and 2019 USD400 million

reasonable pricing are
essential to make the 2024F USD2,000 million
model visible

50 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

The company positions itself as a restaurant-first platform rather than
a consumer-first one. An international comparison of this business
could be drawn with ChowNow and BentoBox in the US. It provides
restaurants a complete integration, with delivery partners, payment
gateways, bank linkages, etc. to run offers, get orders, and deliver them
without taking the commission route.
From a consumer standpoint, the value addition is minimal from this
tech-enabled solution except that price-sensitive consumers would
especially appreciate not having to pay high delivery charges. Thrive Now
charges its restaurants a mere 3% to get them online, with the help of
their direct delivery platform, as compared to Swiggy and Zomato, which
charge anywhere between 20-40% of the final order value. Although
the business models of aggregators and direct delivery platforms are
vastly different, and one caters to the restaurants, while the other the
consumers, the restaurant runners finally have a solution of getting
online without having to give away a substantial portion of their
earnings per order. Also, Thrive Now allows consumers to pre-order by a
few days — a feature that neither of the leading aggregators offers. While
pre-ordering may not appear to be a big draw, 5% of all sales fulfilled by
Thrive Now’s restaurant partners during the peak lockdown period were
pre-ordered. It was also popular when consumers were ordering from
restaurants which had a higher average order value, think fine-dining
restaurants. The company has 6,000-7,000 restaurant partners already.

Sources used for data in the report

n Zomato, Barbeque Nation and Burger King DRHP
n CLSA: India online food delivery sector outlook report
n RedSeer reports, press articles and VCCEdge
n Annual reports/ Investor presentations of listed companies

Sources used for images in the report

n Cover image: Getty Images
n All other images: istock

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 51

 Heads behind the report

Shishir Prasad Deepesh Garg

Editor, ET Prime Founding Partner, o3 Capital

Shishir Prasad, the editor of ET Deepesh Garg is a founding partner

Prime, writes on technology, finance, at o3 Capital and co-heads the
management, and strategy. He has investment banking division. With
worked at Forbes India, The Economic over two decades of dealmaking
Times, Business Standard, and experience, Deepesh has been a
Businessworld. He is the recipient key strategic leader and financial
of the inaugural IE Business School advisor to a range of large to mid-
Award for economic journalism. size companies across verticals.
He has also spent time outside He has been instrumental in
journalism, most recently at TCS. the development of o3 Capital’s
These assignments have sharpened investment banking activities and
his understanding of the business has advised on 50+ transactions
of technology and how companies in the consumer markets space in
take decisions. When not writing to his banking career. Deepesh holds
a deadline, he loves to read, listen to an MBA degree from K J Somaiya
Indian classical music, or play squash. Institute of Management and is a B.S.
He is a great foodie. graduate from Rajasthan University.

52 I The business of restaurants during a pandemic

For questions, or further discussion on the report,
please contact

Shishir Prasad, Editor, ET Prime

[email protected]

Shabori Das, Senior Writer - Consumer, ET Prime

[email protected]

The business of restaurants during a pandemic I 53