Christmas, New Year on Thursday, long weekends keep F&B industry on tenterhooks
BENGALURU: This is the best business season for the Food & Beverage (F&B) industry in pub city, with Christmas and New Year celebrations, but this year owners of pubs, bars, resto-bars, lounges are keeping their fingers crossed. For one, Christmas is on Thursday. The long weekend ahead may mean Bengalureans will end up celebrating the festive season outside the city, away from the traffic chaos, they said. Most Bengalureans leave the city during a long weekend. Resorts on the outskirts are booked for Christmas and New Year. But in the city there are hardly any bookings for the two big festive days in most restaurants and watering holes, said owners of prominent pubs and bars, who didnt wish to be named. There may be some rush for bookings next week onward. We hope to do some good business this season after a long lull, they said. The recent Goa fire tragedy and Chinnaswamy stampede are also weighing heavy on the F&B industry, which banks largely on Christmas celebrations and New Year revelry. People are worried about safety. We welcome checks and stringent security measures. Its incumbent on us to satisfy the authorities and our guests. Such unfortunate incidents affect business. There will be crowd restrictions, they added. Overall, the F&B business has been slack for the past six months, said the owners. We are seeing a dip of 20 to 25 per cent in revenue post the 50 per cent hike in Excise fee and alcohol prices. There are reasons for the switch; from dining out every weekend to staying at home and calling in food. Corporate spending has been sized down. Hence, there are fewer corporate parties, which are big and a regular source of revenue for the F&B industry. Job insecurity is another big concern, and hiring in the corporate sector is frozen till March/April so people are wary and have rationalised their budgets. In the city, people are tired of long commutes and traffic congestion, and dont want to be on the road on weekends. Instead, they go out of the city to relax and detox, said the owner of a popular chain of pubs. The format of celebrating is also changing with people wanting to host house parties, and some in the F&B business are also catering to them. While there are no bookings as of now for our pubs and bars, we are overbooked for house parties, said the owner of a popular chain of pubs in the city and outside. Most reservations for house parties are from Indiranagar, Koramangala and villas in North Bengaluru, he added.
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