Heartbeat: Rampur Kitchen
Past, present and future of independent businesses
(Heartbeat is a series about catching up with entrepreneurs, to know how they are navigating through COVID19)
Rampur Kitchen is famous for homely Muslim food from Rampur and Lucknow regions of Uttar Pradesh. In 2004 it started in Khan Market, Delhi. Then it shut down. In 2012 it took rebirth in New Friend’s Colony.
Independent restaurants such as Rampur Kitchen were rewriting the culinary map of India. COVID–19 had shut it down. In 2019 I had met Akif, one of the partners at Rampur Kitchen. He was about to complete two years as a first-time restaurateur. We had talked about his learning, dos and don’ts and future plans. What does future hold for Rampur Kitchen post lockdown?
Part1: early learning
As a first-time restaurateur, Akif applied principles of marketing. He focused on customers by understanding their needs and behaviour. He improved product, distribution, pricing, and promotion. There are eight key building blocks for a successful restaurant.
1. Happy customers mean sales
To increase the sales he focused on listening to customers. The restaurant got a new menu, crockery and interiors. Sales picked up within the first four months. Social media helped to spread awareness. Rampur Kitchen’s Facebook page has more than 20000 followers.
2. Staff is the soul
The restaurant employed 12 member team. Akif stressed that service and kitchen should work as one team. If kitchen falters, service staff should step in. Retaining staff was a challenge. It’s important to keep backups for chefs and service staff.
3. Food delivery is the new reality
Rampur Kitchen listed on Swiggy and Zomato. About 80% of the restaurant’s existing home-delivery customers shifted to food delivery apps. Corona pandemic dragged online food orders down by 90%.
4. Vendors are the backbone
Good vendors ensure quality and consistency. Kitchens cannot return raw items such as chicken. It will affect the day’s business. Customers desire consistent taste. Lack of demand affects vendors and then producers.
5. Best ad: word of mouth
Delicacy food restaurants are difficult to run. People go to delicacy restaurants because of the word of mouth, and not hype. Rampur Kitchen did not run online ads on Zomato or other online platforms to attract customers.
6. Un-ease of doing business
Restaurants require more than 10 licenses to open a restaurant. They cannot put up display boards. Even after online licensing, authorities care trouble. Honest restaurants lose money by adhering to rules such as installing waste management plants. Others bypass the rules to save money.
7. Bootstrapping is the key
Akif and his partner did not take loans for the restaurant. Both grew it by bootstrapping. They wanted to expand to West Delhi. But, it had to wait due to economic slowdown, and then then the lockdown.
8. Cloud kitchens affect the quality
Rampur Kitchen doesn’t own a cloud kitchen yet. Food from the cloud kitchens loses texture and taste, as they are delivered. Galawati kebabs, roti and naans become soggy. Only a few dishes such as curries and biryanis remain intact. Rampur Kitchen uses its restaurant for online deliveries. Swiggy and Zomato offer loans for building cloud kitchens.
Part 2: dos and don’ts
Akif’s advise for aspiring restaurateurs was to focus on fundamentals. People should not run a restaurant to become famous. As per CNBC Around 60 per cent of new restaurants fail within the first year. And nearly 80 per cent shutter before their fifth anniversary.
1. Learn to multitask
Akif multi-tasked to run the restaurant. He said that an owner should be ready to be a manager, a cashier, a supervisor, and the service staff.
2. Don’t ignore location
The right location brings in footfalls and a higher probability of success. Owners should also focus on their strengths rather than following the trends. The current location in New Friends Colony had always attracted the crowd.
3. Delight customers
Old and new patrons love the restaurant. People from Gurgaon ordered Galawati kababs. Someone took 100 Galavati kebabs USA. One family came from Karnataka and drove 50 km from Dwarika.
4. Don’t do discounts
Customers love food, not discounts such as Zomato Gold. It would help attract more customers, but the net savings would be the same.
5. Focus on costs and margins
One should start small. Al Bake had kickstarted the shawarma craze in Delhi. It started with one table. Restaurants should focus on food with higher margins and higher volumes. It is important to save money in everything from napkins to plates to wastage.
6. Don’t stop learning
To learn Akif had interacted with other owners and chef. He visited marriages to discover new dishes. Food in Kolkatta is economical and tasty. Hyderabad has a fast menu and large crowds. Kanyakumari and Mysore are about clean local food.
Part 3: Future of Rampur Kitchen
COVID–19 has forced restaurants to shut down. Restaurants are in financial stress due to fixed costs such as interest, rent, insurance, and maintenance. The demand has also plummeted.
I spoke with Akif again. He was hopeful about customers. They might return to their favourite restaurants. In the meanwhile, he is again working on the basics; new rules, rentals, staff, growth and the rising cost of supplies.
1. Survival is the key
Before COVID–19 economic downturn had reduced footfalls in restaurants. After the lockdown restaurants cannot just survive on take-away and deliveries. They are about 15% of the total sales. Akif is waiting for the new rules of social distancing for dine-in. He suggested that selling meal-kits may help the restaurant. It is too early.
2. Celebrating legacy
Akif had planned hold events focusing on regional cuisines. He wished to collaborate with Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express. Akif called Rampur Kitchen’s Tar Corma as opera of dishes. Either one liked it or didn’t. Earlier he had wanted to showcase ‘khichadi’ in gourmet plates.
3. Sound policy for the restaurant industry
Restaurant owners should focus more on policy issues such as plastic ban, licensing, deep discounting and food deliveries. As per Akif National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) could work better such as clear and helpful guidelines for the restaurants post lockdown.
Dig more: Food of Delhi and Rampur
