Restaurant Design and Management

With increasing urbanisation, rapid expansion in food delivery services, and rising disposable income in the country, the restaurant segment is set for a rapid growth. The market value of the Indian restaurants and food service industry, including both organised and unorganised segments, was about four trillion Indian rupees as of fiscal year 2020 (Statistica, 2021). During the pandemic, the restaurant service industry also experienced a modest growth with accelerated digital transformation such as introduction of online ordering and delivery services. We witnessed new virtual kitchen setups and restaurants integrating their ordering and kitchen service platforms with delivery services. In 2020, the digital restaurant delivery increased 67 percent globally from 107.44 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.

Today, common business challenges across all restaurant formats include managing several cost items such as high costs of food wastage, high operational costs, high rental costs, and high costs to hire and retain staff. How can restaurants manage their costs in the light of thin margins? How can the restaurants leverage technology and operations to boost and sustain their business? With enhanced digital presence, restaurants can optimise their performance with data analytics. Restaurants use social media for promotions but would also need to manage customer reviews. How can restaurants target the right customers? With an increase in the consumer's discretionary choice of restaurant services, the demand for better service quality at restaurants or delivery is gaining much attention.

While the growth and disruptions in restaurant space are visible, there are limited restaurant management training programmes, which can help the restaurants to design, benchmark, innovate, compete, and grow their business. To address the management training needs in this area, this programme aims to skill the participants in four primary areas:

(1) Design and managing performance of restaurant operations

(2) Managing restaurant revenues and menu pricing

(3) Design thinking for nurturing innovation and integrated user experiences in restaurants

(4) Strategies for a successful restaurateur.