The Evolving Kitchen

Cooking up a small revolution

The Indian hotel kitchen has been experiencing an evolution of sorts, with incorporation of new technology, smaller space, etc. Praveen K Singh finds out the latest trends in kitchen design and foodservice equipment industry

As the hospitality industry thrives and evolves as per market demands, the kitchen area meanwhile undergoes a characteristic change. The development process in the kitchen is dynamic and ever-evolving - its pivotal role has grown in stature.

Let's look at what the evolution is. Talking to a cross-section of design experts, it is certain that there is a trend towards smaller and more efficient kitchens. However, some of them believe that it is not a trend in kitchen design but a necessity driven by an extraordinary shortage of qualified labour, ever-increasing battles for space and the nasty spectre of budget constraints.

M Ram Vittal Rao, a hotel consultant, says, "It's hard to call something that has been in the process of evolution for 50 or 60 years a trend. But we are certainly faced with a greater need to incorporate efficiency into our kitchen designs now than in the past."

He explains that there are no fixed trends in kitchen design but rather driving forces in the industry, such as consumer demands and economic forces, which shape kitchens.

Ashok Agarwal, another hotel consultant, says, "How often have we been faced with developing an appropriate kitchen and related areas, one which responds precisely to the concept, the needs of the market and the carefully researched demographics of a specific geographic area, only to find, for one reason or another, that the space made available has suddenly been reduced." He explains further, "Either that or the client or construction manager realised in mid-project that the budget for foodservice equipment also included all the fixtures for public toilets, the water heater for the entire building and the interior finishes for the kitchen."

These changes, Agarwal says, driven by project constraints can hardly be defined as 'trends'. But in the ever-more complex process of development and construction, the allocation of less space and less money to 'back-of-the-house' areas is becoming a consistent and wide-spread reality.

Theatre kitchens

The open kitchen or display kitchen is one of the latest trends in kitchen design. It is always prevalent in the restaurant concepts. What drives the decision to use it? Rao says, "Concepts are now being driven by far more perceptive and demanding customers than ever before. By restaurants, we mean almost every location where customers gather to select and enjoy food, so traditional restaurants, college campuses, food courts and healthcare dining facilities for ambulatory patients, staff, visitors and guests are all included in my definition."

In the past, the adoption of display kitchens were mostly driven by the demand for fresh preparation and the theatre associated with the culinary arts. Rao points out, "Today, a good proportion of the kitchens we craft include an open or display area. In many cases, a huge area is in view of dining customers. Almost 60 to 80 per cent of the food now is currently prepared, or at least given the final touches to, in full view of the diners to reinforce freshness and to entice customers' appetites." But Agarwal begs to differ. "Display kitchens are not a trend but are simply an evolution of concept and public demand," he says adding that almost every restaurant today is opting for a display kitchen.

Rao explains that another reason that display and open kitchens are gaining prominence is because they offer a way to express the concept of a restaurant in an area where budget is more likely to be in concert with identified needs. "But then, there is that ugly, misapplied term, 'value engineering'. There are extremely qualified value engineering consultants in the world but, in my experience, when value engineering enters a project it would be better categorised as 'slash and burn' or 'reduce the budget at all cost, quality is no longer a part of the project'."

Combining technology

Another factor that might be considered a trend is a shift toward more efficient kitchens with carefully orchestrated workstations that are ergonomically designed for efficient labour utilisation. But is that a trend or a necessary change based on today's labour market?

Rao explains that over the past couple of years there has been a distinct move toward the use of new technology, prominently among them those of convection, quartz light, microwave and induction to increase speed, reduce labour, improve quality and conserve energy. Sunil Khanna of Hotel Consult says, "The trend toward better quality equipment that operates with less down-time is certainly one that we embrace, and we are actually seeing positive results a bit at a time. The trend toward consolidation of manufacturing organisations may well spur a greater influx of research funds, which, in the end, will allow still further production of improved equipment. The need is there and we, as an industry, simply must continue to address it."

Changing distribution channel

Another trend we foresee impacting on spatial requirements and kitchen design is the technological changes occurring in the distribution channel. With the just-in-time inventory process increasingly being applied in the foodservice industry, storage needs, internal inventory and distribution, and adjacency issues will all be affected.

So are reductions in space and foodservice equipment budgets a trend? Rao justifies, "They certainly are a fact, and they occur because of necessity arising from overall project budgets. Today, a growing percentage of project budgets must be devoted to what customers see, feel and experience. As a result, what happens behind the walls of a kitchen must be reduced to the absolute minimum."

He adds that this cost-cutting leads to a disaster without exception. "It results in an inadequate production facility with inappropriate equipment - a situation that comes back to haunt the owner/operator and throughout the life of the affected kitchen." However, he adds, "Value engineering is a fact and, if we want to, we can call it a trend. Space is being cut and budgets are being reduced. Our only choice is to live with it and make the best of it, using our ingenuity to counter the so-called trend."

Equipment market

In terms of kitchen equipment, project consultants and owners have always been for a lookout for getting the best from the available service, not only in the country but also worldwide. Various international companies have appointed distributors service units and in fact some have also started their manufacturing units in India. Access to international brands is much easier now and local equipment manufacturers are putting in efforts to improve their product standards.

Khanna says, "The kitchen equipment industry is livening up with a host of foreign brands making their presence felt in the Indian market; institutional consumers suddenly have a vast choice. It is in these circumstances that the Indian manufacturer is vying to build custom-designed equipment to reflect particular needs."

However, this trend is not going to survive for long as standardisation is the key word in the coming days and 'customisation' could very well be seen as a fig leaf. Devender Kumar, VP (Food Production) at Le Meridien, New Delhi, says, "Satisfying the demands of ethnic culinary diversity will require more diligence on the manufacturers' part in the maintenance of the cookware category than simply having an array of cookware sets available for sale."

R Kumar, founder president of HOTREMAI (Hotel & Restaurant Equipment Manufacturers' Association of India), feels that the current market share of foreign equipment in higher category hotels is 50 to 60 per cent. "In restaurants, apart from specialty restaurants, equipment is mostly indigenous. The percentage of foreign brands among restaurants range from 10 to 20 per cent. Chinese and Thailand products are going to affect the Indian market as they are very low-priced," he says. He demands the Indian government to be sensitive about this and provide support to the Indian equipment industry. "The government needs to reduce the excise duty, which is quite high at 16 per cent," he informs.

However, Khanna is of the view that Chinese are not experts in institutional sale and are more concentrated in consumer items. "Refrigeration is the only segment where they can give us some competition. But when we talk about trends, the new-age hoteliers are buying more imported equipment than before. A healthy trend is to buy correct equipment based on projected revenues rather than for snob value," he feels adding, "Thus we see smaller dishwashers and fewer dryers due to better support from chemical companies like JohnsonDiversey."