The pandemic has affected economy badly and few industries like Food & Beverage (F&B), Airlines and Hospitality sector have been hit hard as their majority revenue came from people traveling and exploring. The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has started ‘Rise for Restaurants’ platform to support the F&B industry in this situation. This initiative aims to provide support to the 7 million Indians employed in the industry. NRAI is associated with over 6 lakh restaurants in the country and stands for their interests.
NRAI is giving a medium to support the restaurants by buying virtual cash worth Rs 1000 at flat 25% discount from any of the expensive restaurants listed. They have to pay only Rs 250 now and have the chance to redeem it at their favourite restaurant in future. To provide security to the buyers, NRAI has made provision of them paying Rs 500 when they are dining. This will help the restaurants to provide salaries to the workforce.
This virtual cash can be used anytime within 6 months from the date of purchase. This gives the buyer limitless purchases and no minimum expenditure amount, blackout dates or other conditions. This scheme benefits both the parties by providing immediate solution to the restaurants and discounts in near future for dining outside. Some of the restaurants that are part of R4R initiative are Barbecue Nation, Farzi Café, Punjab Grill, Olive Bar and Kitchen, The Beer Café, Carl’s Jr among others.
In a statement, NRAI told that this initiative is to keep best interests of all the parties. Unlike other platforms providing gift vouchers etc, NRAI takes the concerns of consumers into consideration as well. They are confident that people will come forward to support them. F&B industry holds high stakes as proportion of fixed operating expenses is high. The current scenarios has stopped income for them for a good period which brings them to a position to just sustain enough to remain in industry.