The recent major initiatives announced by the country’s Prime Minister have undoubtedly inspired people like Arindam Chakraborty, the COO of Catering Collective, boosting their determination and enthusiasm. Both ‘Meet in India’ and ‘Wed in India’ initiatives hold significant business potential. If successfully implemented, they could surpass the targets set by Chakraborty and his business division.
Additionally, the growing demand for lavish weddings, including destination weddings, and the increasing popularity of large sporting events across the country present lucrative opportunities for organized catering services and venue management companies like Catering Collective.
Catering Collective, a division of K Hospitality, was established in 2004 with its first venue, Blue Sea in Worli, Mumbai. Today, the company manages six venues, with five located in Mumbai and one in Delhi. Over the past 20 years, the company has catered for numerous high-profile events and weddings both within India and internationally. This includes the recent pre-wedding gala for the Ambani family in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
Furthermore, Catering Collective is the preferred and empanelled caterer for various venues, stadiums, clubs, and other establishments, often enjoying the first right of refusal for catering services.
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With various business opportunities on the horizon, Catering Collective has strategically positioned itself to capitalize on these prospects and aims to grow at least fivefold over the next five years. Regarding the venues business, Chakraborty discussed a “venue-led approach,” forecasting an increase in the number of venues managed and enlisted in the coming five years.
“Catering Collective adopts a venue-centric strategy to launch additional premium and luxury venues nationwide. We are currently in discussions with partners in various cities, with Hyderabad being the next target. We have also pinpointed potential venues in the Delhi-NCR region. Following this, our focus will shift to Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and Chandigarh,” Chakraborty reveals.
Expanding on the venue-centric strategy, Chakraborty explained that this approach involves collaborating with venue owners for new projects, either designing venues to meet the company’s specifications or assuming the management of existing venues.
“We can efficiently transform and commence operations at venues within four to six months. However, for a greenfield project, the timeline is naturally longer, typically ranging from 1.5 to 2 years,” he states.
Chakraborty views destination weddings as another significant growth opportunity for the company. He mentioned that the company is actively searching for “boutique venues” to cater to intimate and upscale destination weddings in sought-after locations such as Goa, Rajasthan, and more.
“In Goa and Rajasthan, we are exploring unique possibilities for destination weddings that follow a different format from the bigger venues. Providing a more upscale and specialised experience will be our main goal. He clarified, “We seek to secure leases with specific provisions to manage such situations.”
Catering Collective’s operations revolve around food and beverage (F&B), and the company has established a notable reputation in the domestic and international arenas for high-profile catering. “Our longstanding legacy and renowned branding provide us with a unique advantage when approaching any venue, allowing us to secure several contracts,” he states.
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Catering Collective serves as the catering partner for prominent sporting venues and renowned teams in sporting leagues such as IPL, ISL, and others. As the company broadens its venue business to additional cities, Chakraborty is confident that they will have the opportunity to forge closer associations and collaborations with a greater number of sporting events and teams.
Destination weddings are an area where the company aims to excel in the upcoming period. “This year has been particularly successful for us in organizing high-profile destination weddings across various cities. We’ve executed upscale destination weddings in cities like Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mahabalipuram, and more. Additionally, we have catered to destination weddings internationally in locations such as the Middle East and Thailand. However, we see a significant opportunity to collaborate more closely with wedding influencers and planners to expand our business further,” he remarked.
Whether catering domestically or internationally, the company adheres to stringent operational protocols and quality standards, according to Chakraborty. Satellite kitchens are established at the venue, and they strictly follow a checklist of pre-event and post-event procedures. Additionally, the carbon footprint of each activity is meticulously measured.
Chakraborty emphasised the company’s dedication to sustainability by saying, “We have recently collaborated with the Centre for Environmental Research and Education (CERE) to evaluate the carbon footprint of our venues and recommend strategies to minimise and mitigate environmental impact.”