The foodservice sector in India has seen exceptional growth during the past decade and continues to expand at a fast pace. The Food Service industry marked the highest growth and innovation in the year 2019. The reliance on technology and sustainability has raised the expectation of compounding this growth in the year 2020. The types of equipment that serves its emergence this year are:

● Service trends: These trends are focused on keeping the business concepts fresh and competitive. Allergen friendly kitchen, zero waste strategies, plant-based food options, food halls, all-day breakfast, and diverse kids menu are few examples of the new service trends of 2020.

● Delivery trends- Easily available software applications like Uber eats, Zomato, Swiggy, and Grubhub, etc. have increased the demand for home delivery services and has begun to take over ordinary delivery services.

● Restaurant technology trends- Smartphones have drastically changed the way we order and also the way we pay for our food bills. Latest trends like digital menu boards, data mining, tap-to-pay devices, voice-operated ordering kiosks are the common tools of these technology trends. The point-of-sale software has gone beyond being a mere restaurant billing software and evolved into an end-to-end restaurant management tool.

● Restaurant equipment trends- The latest equipment and product trends are driven by a demand for greater efficiency and versatility. The kitchen space is shrinking as rent prices go up. As a result, many restaurant owners are choosing smaller kitchen equipment that can perform multiple functions to optimize their space.

The year 2019 of the Food Service Industry...
Dine-out preferences of Indians have changed significantly and contributed to the foodservice market of the country. There is an increase in the frequency of eating out, experimenting with new cuisines, and growing brand consciousness gave a new path to the Indian foodservice market. Indian Foodservice Market includes segmentation of the food services by:

● Full-Service Restaurants
● Quick Service Restaurants
● Cafes/Bars
● 100% Home Delivery

The year 2019 witnessed great innovation in terms of food services and technology, with big dine-in, delivery-only kitchens, and food aggregators, the process of bringing lots of better food choices and services to consumers turns out to be the basic priority.

New delivery services have expanded throughout the country for larger consumer outreach. There are lots of delivery-only kitchens that have more than 10-20 outlets each, expanded rapidly this year. The quality of food has improved which means the staff spends more time in the kitchen. Casual dining restaurants have marked higher potential which led to this trend in the country.

Technological advancement with the introduction of POS
Point-of-sale systems are becoming an integral part of the modern restaurant's operations. Nowadays, the POS has gone beyond being a mere restaurant billing software and evolved into an end-to-end restaurant management tool.

The owners are keen on having the best POS systems for their restaurants, that are customized to suit their business operations. Advanced, tablet-based and quicker POS systems are introduced in the year 2019 to provide more convenient updates on order placed, delivery assignments, data management, etc. Modern POS software eliminates the need for calling professional maintenance and thus saves time and money.

Changing consumer expectations & behaviors will drive restaurants to meet shifting needs with re-imagined styles of service, menu offerings, pricing and targeted messaging in the year 2020

Waitlist Management
The waitlist management feature, where now your pos can manage your customer queues and no guard has to scream out the customer’s name and the customers do not have to stand waiting at the restaurant to be served. All of this is done through instant messaging and table tracking

Human Resource & Store Management
Whether a small takeaway joint or a 100 seat high-volume restaurant, right employees with the right combination of attitude, skills, knowledge, and abilities are essential for a successful foodservice business. The right employees will complement the existing business culture and positively provide the right direction. Making poor hiring decisions can be expensive providing poor customer experience.

Inventory Management in the Food Service Industry
Adhering to the food standards is the basis of the foodservice industry. Restaurants follow many regulations and norms to maintain health standards in food production and consumption. The new technology introduced monitoring and tracking of food through cloud-based inventory management systems. Strong inventory management solution provides:

● Optimizations in food safety standards to decrease food health-risk problems
● Proper management of perishable food items
● Cost reduction via optimization of transit and packaging processes

Customer Relationship Management Softwares
The customer relationship management software is the technique of the current era to standardized processes from purchasing to production and sales. Delivering high-quality standard products at the best possible price is the constant requirement of the food industry.

CRM software provides:-
● Cost efficiency with standardized processes
● Provide sales with mobile access to centrally stored data
● Seamless integration of third-party systems with one user interface

In India, the foodservice industry has evolved from homegrown, standalone, family-run business ventures to international partnerships with various business models. The franchise model remains one of the most attractive operating models for international brands foraying into India. India is now seen as one of the world’s largest and fastest emerging markets, and its vast population size and cultural diversity have made it a prime environment in which franchising can thrive.

Changing consumer expectations and behaviors will drive restaurants to meet shifting needs with re-imagined styles of service, menu offerings, pricing and targeted messaging in the year 2020. Technology will drive global advancements with faster food service, efficient kitchens, and real-time customer relationship management and marketing via mobile devices.