RUPEE BLUES FOR FINE DINE RESTAURANTS

Five-star hotels and fine dining restaurants have registered a decline of over 20 per cent in footfalls in the last three months as they have revised menu card rates in the backdrop of falling rupee, says a study by industry body Assocham. The fine dine market registered a decline of over 20 per cent in the last three months compared to same period last year, particularly, in major metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, it said.
"Due to fall in rupee, five-star hotels and fine dining restaurants are revising their menu card rates as weak rupee pushes up prices of spirits and imported food ingredients used for preparing dishes," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said. With rupee depreciating, prices of imported products have shot up to 35 per cent, the study said adding that some restaurants import 85 per cent of their ingredients from Japan, Italy and Thailand for its signature dishes. Also, prices of imported spirits increased between 7 per cent and 12 per cent during the period under review, it said. The rupee devaluation has mainly impacted imports of meats, seafood and cheese, and there is hardly local substitutes which are available for these items. As a result, restaurants are bound to revise the prices of their menus, it said.
The rupee today fell by 50 paise to 61.27 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to heavy demand for the US currency from importers amid a lower opening in the equity market. The study said the current size of Indian food industry stands at Rs 2,50,000 crore per annum and is expected to touch a staggering Rs 4,25,000 crore by 2018.