Indian restaurants earn more than US, UK: Forbes
Gourmet food and drinks are not the only things that have soared in value over the past year.
India has a booming e-commerce market and is in the midst of the first phase of its $1.8 trillion food and beverage sector.
Indian restaurants are earning a significant amount of revenue from e-sales, while restaurants in the US and the UK are getting less.
“In India, we are getting more and more food sales every day,” said Vadiveesh, who has been an entrepreneur for the past 15 years.
“We’re selling more, more, and more items.
I’ve noticed an increase in the prices of everything.
And the prices are very competitive with the rest of the world.
But the difference is that we have an e-store, so it’s easier to sell food.”
In the US, the number of food sellers is estimated at more than 40,000.
In India, there are just over 30,000 food sellers.
“The market has grown significantly in the last 12 months,” said the executive, who is also a managing director of a food services company.
“I believe the Indian economy will reach $2 trillion in GDP within the next five years.”
India is a big player in the food and beverages sector, with a population of just over 12 million people.
It is estimated that about half of the total revenue from food sales comes from e (food) and drinks, with the remainder coming from food, restaurants, and retail.
There are currently about 500,000 Indian restaurants in North America.
“Indian restaurants are the biggest players in the world,” said Anand Suresh, founder and CEO of The Indian Eatery, a digital platform to market Indian food.
“You can find all kinds of restaurants in any country, and they can offer the same food, the same price, and the same service.”
He added that Indian restaurants have become more sophisticated with more and better food.
Indian eateries are selling more than 100 per cent of their food in-store to customers in the United States, while in the UK, they’re selling about 70 per cent.
“There are many restaurants in America, but not many that can compete with the quality and service of the best Indian restaurants,” said Suresha.
Indian food sales are expected to reach $1 trillion by 2025, with e- and drinks accounting for almost half.
In the last two years, e-sellers have opened more than 20,000 new restaurants in India, and an additional 20,965 restaurants are opening each year.
Indian restaurateurs have also begun to expand into the US.
“India is a great market for us to start expanding,” said Jyoti Shastri, CEO of Rizvi Restaurants, a major restaurant chain in New York City.
“It’s the fastest-growing market in the Middle East and South Asia, which has been very important to us.”
While the number and size of Indian restaurants has increased, the overall food sales of the country has stayed relatively stable over the years.
While food sales have grown, the food industry has been able to stay competitive, according to Anand.
“Since we have a low turnover, it’s not an issue for us,” he said.
“With an increase of the sales, the margins are better than in the past, which is good for the business.”
Indian restaurants also see a bigger role in the future of food sales in the country.
“Today, there’s a lot of opportunity for us in the market, because we’re growing,” said Shastris.
“And we’re not only growing the business, but also we’re trying to create a whole ecosystem that is based on our values.”
In India’s food sector, most of the food products are produced in the state of Karnataka.
“All of our food products were produced in India before the advent of e-Sale,” said Arjun Chatterjee, president of the Karnataka Food Processing Association.
“But after e-Sales came into the market in 2008, it was very difficult for us, because the product had to be produced in a factory.
But with eSale, we can produce more products.
We can offer our products at lower prices.”
For the past decade, Chatterji’s company has been exporting about 5,000 tonnes of food per day.
“Every day, we export a lot more than 5,500 tonnes of produce, which means we have enough produce to feed our population for the whole year,” he added.
He believes that e-sale will help India grow its e-food industry in the next few years.
In 2016, Karnataka was the fourth-largest producer of e products in the World.
In 2019, the state exported 1.9 million tonnes of e product.
“As India has been on a journey of e commerce for the last 15 years,