Slump in foodies’ footfall puts restaurant owners on tenterhooks

KOLKATA: Footfall in restaurants across the city dipped in the January-March period, prompting many of them to defer the annual menu price revision. Usually, summer is the peak business season when restaurants witness 20% rise in footfall.



But this year, the dull business has not only sprung a surprise on the restaurant owners but also put them on tenterhooks. They fear that the ongoing elections, which will go on till the end of May, may slow down their business further.

“There has been a sharp 15% decline in the footfall since January. Initially, we expected the footfall to rise after the completion of the exam season last month, but no change has been noticed in this regard. Even the IPL is not drawing crowds unlike the past decade. With the elections being on the cards, the footfall could make a further plunge,” said Sudesh Poddar, chairman of the administrative committee of the Hotel and Restaurants Association of Eastern India (HRAEI), who owns the Song-Hay restaurant.

Turnout of visitors at Amber on Waterloo Street has also been on the decline since January. “It has never been so bad during January and February in previous years. The business did not pick up pace in March either. One of the reasons could be a general slump in the local economy. We expected a turnaround in April as May could again be bad due to the elections,” said the owner Sanjay Khullar. Most city restaurants have kept the annual revision of menu prices on hold ever since the GST came into effect in July 2017. As it made food and alcohol marginally cheaper by lowering the taxes, higher sales offset the rise in raw material prices.

“It worked for more than a year but then inflation makes the price revision inevitable. But the drop in footfall has made us defer the annual price revision. It could further affect sales,” rued Poddar.

Transport problems as well as law and order issues usually keep many people at bay from eating out in the election month, pointed out Pratap Daryanani who owns Oasis restaurant on Park Street. “This is the time when people prefer to have meals in the air-conditioned restaurants. Exams have just ended and we are keeping fingers crossed to get more customers. But once the elections start, things could worsen. We are also worried about the dry days when polling happens in Kolkata,” said Daryanani. However, Peter Cat and Mocambo on Park Street are not bearing the brunt of the footfall dip but the owner Nitin Kothari feared that the business at these two places might be affected due to the elections.

“The dry days between May 17 and 19 will be difficult. Unchanged prices post-GST may have helped us with a booming business but revision of menu prices will be inevitable soon. We haven’t raised prices for more than a year since sales have been good after GST was rolled out and we could absorb the inflation. Given the current scenario, we shall have to raise the prices,” he said. Still it was not the right time for most of the city restaurants to revise prices, felt Poddar. “A price rise at this stage could lead to a further dip in the footfall. It will be difficult for us if things don’t improve in the next two weeks,” he said.