COVID-19 Lockdown_ Quotes from Hospitality brands

PM, Mr. Narendra Modi, the nation goes under a complete lockdown of 21 days for our safety. 

Mentioned below are a few viewpoints from our hospitality clients respecting the decision which could help you for the story. Please let us know if you need anything else.

Would be pleased to help.

• Gudiya Chadha, Owner and Proprietor, All Elements -  "Keep afloat, it's hard and challenging to know that what we are facing is uncertain and the government is taking measures against it. We all need to make choices of disciple and responsibility towards supporting the government. Prayers, hope and faith in each breath"

• Sneh Jain, Co-Founder and Managing Director - The Baker's Dozen- We at The Baker's Dozen completely support PM Modi for his bold and proactive steps for our nation. The decision was the call of the hour to control the current situation of COVID-19 and it's increasing pace. Being an essential service that provides customers with their daily bread, we will be operational in a limited manner. We sincerely urge customers to remain at home and will deliver their needs to the best of our abilities. We request customers to not hoard or buy in panic as stocks are limited and that prevents everyone from getting their share. We are on our best foot to ensure each customer need is fulfilled as soon as possible. Stay safe, stay healthy.

• Vipul Hirani - Co-Founder, Crafters The announcement made by Hon. PM Modi last night for a complete nationwide lockdown is a step in the right direction so that we can restrict and recover from the impact of COVID-19 on the health of the nation. However, most of the states including Maharashtra had already announced these measures on Monday. Hon. CM Uddhav Thackerey sir seems to be on top of things and the state machinery is taking all possible steps necessary to maintain a peaceful and calm environment for the general public. As far as the hospitality sector is concerned, while we are hurting right now, once things get settled we will definitely see the demand returning to the sector. The challenge that we will be facing the most is with respect to finding staff as most of them have returned to their home towns given the uncertainty. The NRAI has already reached out to the government with regard to helping out the hospitality industry to get through these tough times. I wish that we get through this phase quickly and with the least damage to the health of the nation. At this point in time, nothing is more important than the health of our nation and its speedy recovery. Hoping for every citizen to stay safe and stay healthy  

• Vishal Karia, Founder, Epitome Global Dining and Bar (Opening soon in Lower Parel)- As our country goes through a tough testing time and we as citizens need to come together to fight the deadly Covid 19. EPITOME applauds our Honorable PM for the 21-day lockdown for the safety of the citizens. We care for our staff, guests and nation and we are fully prepared for the lockdown and restore things to normal soon. We also would like to thank, people in central and state government services,  as they are doing a noble job,  risking their health selflessly for nations cause, this effort of our people will not go in vain until we don't follow shutdown. We are sure to come back, and we will as a nation bounce back as we have done in the past and prosper.

• Subbaraju Penmatsa, Managing Director, Prost Brewpub, Bangalore and Hyderabad- We support a move that has been initiated by the Government of India. We all should be in self-isolation and maintain social distancing as much as possible to help the situation to get better. Though the industry is taking a  big hit, we will be a support system to all our employees in this hard time that we all are in.

• Pankaj Gupta, owner of Taftoon Bar & Kitchen 
  "I really appreciate the proactiveness of our Prime minister in containing the Pandemic. I think it requires a lot of fortitude to sit on his chair and pass a resolution like a Total LockDown for almost a month! However, there has been a lot of ambiguity since a week about the availability of essential commodities. He should have thrown in more clarity about the fact that supermarkets/grocery stores /medical stores would be open throughout the lockdown to avoid a panic situation like the one witnessed yesterday evening across the city. People just rushed to all the stores and started piling up as they assumed that none of it would be available for the next 3 weeks. There was also no clarity whether the restaurants / dark kitchens can operate food deliveries as it comes under essential commodities and there have been many circulars going around issued by the BMC  approving of the food delivery operations. However, the police aren't allowing any delivery boys to be on the street and are even shutting down kitchens. The financial services like the BSE, RBI and the banks are still operating and they do rely on restaurant take-outs for their meals. So a clarity by the PM on the food delivery operations would have been highly appreciated. Irrespective, I highly appreciate this boldness by our PM and it's my prayer to the citizens of India to adhere by it as long as it takes to curb this pandemic" 

• Senil Shah- Founder of New York Burrito Company - "On the business end, everything will be shut. So there will be a complete loss. Two major fixed costs are rentals and salary. On rentals, we are trying to reduce it. On the salary front, we are not firing any of our guys, as we believe to stand with them in this crucial time. But overall we are positive on the front that when the restaurant industry opens up there will be a spike in sales as so many people who are addicted to eating out are waiting to eat out.

• Mr. Rahul Bajaj; Director and Conceptualizer at Out Of The Blue and Deli By The Blue says, "The decision of PM Narendra Modi to announce nationwide lockdown was a must and need of the hour to curb the spread of COVID-19 and it is increasing at a deadly pace. As this pandemic ends, we all will come out stronger together. To maintain utmost care and cleanliness discipline, we have made a lot of our staff members to stay and quarantined at our Le Sutra hotel. We are keeping the staff well-equipped with food. We are also making them engage in recreational activities like carrom, table tennis, and other games to keep them physically active and healthy. We are also training and teaching them the process to ensure proper sanitization, safety measures, etc in the form of fun engaging team activities. Proper care and safety measures are taken in terms of the staff taking precautions like wearing masks, using sanitizers at regular intervals, etc while performing these team tasks. We are also being creative with regard to these activities so that our staff is not bored with the same drill and at the same time takes some learning out of it. If anyone out there is in need of food, we are also providing them with that in a perfectly sanitized manner. We have also ensured the staff that they would get their salaries and no would be losing their jobs. The staff is provided with face masks, sanitizers, Dettol and basic food for themselves and their families, watchmen, sweepers and security guards in the neighborhood areas. We have also started keeping food and water by our restaurant for the stray animals and birds so that they don't starve while people can't go out and feed them during these times.
  
  
  
  The bakers and the staff that is living with us are hygienic and also follow proper steps of sanitization. We at Deli By The Blue make fresh loaves of bread every morning and other food items that are not easy for the people out there to get hold of at the moment. We are selling an extensive variety of fresh bread products like donuts, bagels, bagel sandwiches, etc to satisfy their palate. The deli also has vegan cheese, savory treats like croissants and quiche, keto meals, ready-to-pick sandwiches. To keep your health and nutrition quotient in check one can also choose from our range of juices that are pure, natural with no added sugar. For those who like to make their own sandwich suiting their taste buds, we have a unique variety of mustard sauces to add the right amount of spice and flavor."

• Aakash Sethi, Co-founder of Sweetish House Mafia, "It's a strong move in the right direction. However, the Government needs to understand that most restaurants have already shut and the ones open have barely any revenue. There needs to be supported to cover fixed overheads like rent salary interest payments etc failing which you will see mass layoffs. The government has to come up with some sort of schemes or subsidies for MSME's to heal the burden whether it's from a taxation perspective, salary cost or the rent. Otherwise, we are going to see a tough time ahead.

• Prasuk Rajendra Jain, Managing Director- Chiliad Procons Pvt Ltd said, “We totally support the curfew implemented till the 14th April as it’s not easy to lose family members. PM is thinking for the betterment of the nation and all the citizens without any self-interest. However, the spread of coronavirus has now turned into a disruptive financial contagion globally and it will take time for several businesses to recover and that is only possible with the support of the Government. We should unite today for a beautiful tomorrow”.