Food Connoisseurs India Convention – West India Edition’ concluded on Feb 15 2023

The West India Edition of the Food Connoisseurs India Convention (FCIC), one of the most influential business-to-business F&B shows in the country was concluded successfully on February 15, 2023, at NESCO Centre, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai in the presence of some of the biggest names of the industry. The brainchild of Industry Live, the convention witnessed participation from over 500 brands from the restaurant industry, along with more than 2000 delegates.

“Supported By” The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), “Co-Powered By Food Partner” Nestle Professionals, “In-Association With Beverage Partner” Granules n Beans, and “In-Association With Hotel Education Knowledge Partner” Ajeenkya DY Patil University, the unique FCIC forum brought together all the stakeholders across the Food & Beverage industry on one platform to deliberate on the industry trends, areas of growth and innovation, disruptive business models and the future course of action to revive and thrive in the New Normal. Celcius joined hands as the “Associate Partner”, ZEE Business as the “Telecast Partner”, Red FM as the “Radio Partner”, NESCO Foods as the “Hospitality Partner”, BIRA 91 as the “Merch Partner”, Vahdam India as the Gift Partner, Tagtalk as the “Digital OOH Partner”, Hospibuz.com, World of Hospitality and Better Kitchen as the “Media Partners”. This one of its kind event was further supported by the Indian Culinary Forum, Western Chef's Association, All India Food Processors' Association, and Hotel and Restaurant Association – Western India.

The convention kicked off with an Inaugural Address by Conference Chairperson Mr. Sanjay Vazirani, Chief Executive Officer, Foodlink F&B Holdings India Pvt. Ltd., who highlighted the changing face of the restaurant industry in India while sharing what is new and what is next in the F&B industry.

The convention was replete with a power-packed agenda distributed over thirteen different sessions on various topics such as - New Age Restaurants - Keeping it short and crisp, Unlocking new potential through Food-Tech, Culinary Tourism – Wander lusting through the plates & platters, Cloud Kitchen – New frontier for Indian F&B segment, Scaling up post-pandemic, Going Glocal with homemade liquor and Venture into a food & beverage business: turning dreams into reality.

The sessions were joined by 40+ eminent industry leaders, including the likes of Mr. Rocky Mohan, Brand custodian, Old Monk, Author Founder, Gourmet Passport & Chef Pin; Chef Ajay Chopra, Chefpreneur, Restaurateur, Consultant & Judge (MasterChef India); Mr. Raghav Joshi, Co-founder, Rebel Foods; Mr. Eshwar K Vikas, Co-Founder & CEO, Mukunda Foods; Mr. Tarak Bhattacharya, Executive Director, and CEO, Mad Over Donuts; Mr. Jasmit Tibb, Managing Director, Tibb’s Frankie; Chef Shipra Khanna, MasterChef India Season 2 Winner, Cookbook Author, TV Host/Producer & Consultant; Dr. Vikram Kamat, Founder Chairman, The VITSKamats Group; Mr. Dheeraj Gupta, Founder and MD, Jumboking; Ms. Aditi Dugar, Director & Founder, Masque & Urban Gourmet India Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Abhayraj Singh Kohli, Founder, Tori, Grandmamas Cafe, MRP & The Roll Company; Mr. Ankit Patel, Executive Director and CEO, The Belgian Waffle Co; Mr. Sunveer Sondhi, CEO & Founder, La Pyramid Hospitalities Pvt. Ltd., and Mr. Vikas Panjabi, Co-founder & MD, The Chocolate Room (India) Private Limited.

The event concluded with Food Connoisseurs India Awards. Celebrating the best in the Indian restaurant Industry, the whole fraternity came together to celebrate excellence and to raise a toast to outstanding achievements in the industry so far. A vastly experienced jury panel comprising Mr. Sanjay Vazirani, Chief Executive Officer, Foodlink F&B Holdings India Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Kunal Vijayakar, Broadcaster, Food Writer, Author, Actor, and Television Personality; Chef Ajay Chopra, Chefpreneur, Restaurateur, Consultant & Judge (MasterChef India); Chef Abhijit Saha, Founder & Managing Director, Ace Hospitality & Consulting; Chef Koushik S., Celebrity Chef, Consultant, Master Chef Tamil Judge & Founder, Eatitude; Chef Davinder Kumar, Executive Chef & Vice President, Le Meridien Hotel, New Delhi & President, Indian Culinary Forum judged winners across 190 categories. Few of the prestigious award winners were Chef Hemant Oberoi, Founder, OB Hospitality and Hemant Oberoi Hospitality Goa, Founder, Michelin Selection Martabaan by Hemant Oberoi for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Hospitality Industry – Male’,  Chef Amrita Raichand, TV Host & Judge, Lifestyle Chef, India’s Cultural Ambassador, Tedx Speaker for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Hospitality Industry – Female’, Chef Shipra Khanna, MasterChef India Season 2 Winner, Cookbook Author, TV Host/Producer & Consultant for ‘Celebrity Chef of the Year’, Ms. Rachel Goenka, Founder and CEO, The Chocolate Spoon Company for ‘Restaurateur of the Year- Female’, Mr. Rakshay Dhariwal, Founder & Managing Director, Pass Code Hospitality Pvt. Ltd for ‘Restaurateur of the Year – Male’, Ms. Sonal Holland, Master of Wine Founder Director, Soho Wine Consultants & Sonal Holland Wine Academy for ‘Best Beverage Expert of the year’, Chef Varun Inamdar for ‘Chocolatier of the Year’, White Plate By Chef Jason for ‘Best Luxury Dining Experience - WEST INDIA’, ISHAARA for ‘Restaurant Serving the best Modern Indian Cuisine’, All the Jazz luxury bakes for ‘Best Newcomer- Bakery (Mumbai)’, The Cookie Dough for ‘Best Café of the Year (Mumbai)’, Janshakti Industries for ‘Best Kitchen Equipment Brand of the Year’, Tandooriwala for ‘Most Promising Franchise Brand – Restaurant’, Fogueri Caterers for ‘Best Caterer of the Year (Goa)’, Kasbaa Hill for ‘Restaurant Serving the best Indian Cuisine (Nagpur)’, The Castle for ‘Best Family Restaurant – WEST India’, and many more.

View the entire list of winners here. 

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