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Discussions were held on how sustained cost pressures are beginning to influence operational decisions in areas that directly impact long term efficiency and risk
Industry leaders, regulators and operators across India’s food service and hospitality sector recently convened in New Delhi for Saksham to address the growing impact of cost pressures and evolving compliance expectations on business continuity and sectoral growth.
At a press conference held alongside the seminar, industry stakeholders and leaders from across the HoReCa and F&B space highlighted that rising energy costs, input volatility and tightening margins are increasingly influencing everyday operational decisions bringing sharper focus to maintenance practices, procurement choices and compliance consistency.
Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food Future Foundation and Former CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), said, “In a high-pressure environment, the risk is not deliberate non-compliance, but inconsistency in execution. In India, licensing is still often viewed as a compliance requirement, whereas it should be seen as a foundation for quality and safety. The real shift we need is from enforcement to building systems that work on the ground. Platforms like Saksham can play an important role in driving this change by enabling industry-wide understanding and practical adoption.”
Rahul Singh, Founder and CEO, Beer Café, Trustee, NRAI, said, “Growth in this sector cannot come at the cost of discipline. As costs rise, staying within defined operational and regulatory boundaries becomes even more critical.”
Sustained cost pressures are also beginning to influence operational decisions in areas that directly impact long term efficiency and risk. Highlighting the execution gap, P Sravan Kumar, Excellence Hospitality Projects, said, “The client and the owner, in a food business, are on the same page, contrary to popular belief, since they cannot survive without each other. But the real founding principles for the business to survive are the three fundamentals of Safety, Sustainability, and Compliance. Failure on any one of them is sure to have a spiralling effect on the other two. In the short term, one may resort to cutting corners, but in the long run, ignoring these will lead to collapse of not only the individual business but also the food business eco-system. At Saksham, we attempt to sensitise the stake holders, with a hope that each one will take one forward step, one step at a time.”
Sanjay Jain, Director, Elanpro, said, “The focus now has to be on enabling businesses to move from intent to execution. Saksham is designed to create that shift—by bringing together the right expertise, frameworks and industry dialogue to support more structured and consistent operations.”
The seminar in Delhi brought together key industry voices including Chef Manjit Gill, Pawan Agarwal, CEO & Founder, Food Future Foundation, Rahul Singh, Founder and CEO, Beer Café, Trustee, NRAI, Animesh Gupta, VP, Varun Beverages, Swapnil Deshpande, Vice President – Business Development, Swastik Synergy and Vikas Ahluwalia, AVP & National Head – Zone, The Park Hotels among others, reflecting a cross-section of leadership across operations, policy and hospitality.