F&B Services

Gracing dining service

Service-ware is an inseparable part of foodservice and going for a simple but fascinating set is the best way of doing it. Praveen K Singh finds out about the latest offerings by exhibitors of HospitalityWorld 2007 who impressed the market with their variety.

The success of foodservice industry depends upon various factors - quality of food, ambience, service. But, explains Sunil Jain of ANI Glass Corporation, which deals in glassware, if an F&B outlet serves good food but fails to serve it in a quality service ware, it is not worth it.

Describing the significance of table tops, Oscar Fernandes of Bohemian Crystal Company (BCC), says, "The importance of utensils is proved by the fact that whatever we eat in restaurants or at any dining place is served with elegance. This is brought about by use of fine crockery. They bring in a definite charm to the dining experience."

He explains that crockery is seen, felt and handled by guests and satisfy their visual desires. "The importance of good quality crockery can never be ignored. It is supposed to be flawless in finish and of high lustre for sending out the right message. It has also been found that crockery relates to the guest's sense of satisfaction over the money spent by him," he says. BCC, which started in 1979, entered Indian hospitality industry in 1999 and since then has been associated with top hotel chains in the country.

Selection matters

Selection of suitable crockery needs to be performed judiciously. Vishwanath Tonse of Oasis Ceramics, says that attention should be paid towards the theme of the restaurant, the dishes to be served, the standard of the guests, etc. He says, "For example fine bone china is a material of high choice and is more suitable for theme restaurants."

Describes H Ahuja of La-Nave International, "Fine dining experience is incomplete without good quality crockery," adding that crockery could be metallic like stainless steel but they are no more used in fine dines. "The importance of lustre and smoothness is primary and with new kinds of crockery being offered, one can choose according to one's need - from the usual plastic to acrylic." He explains that patterns on them make for a crisp, simple and graceful presentation. Intricate designs are difficult to clean and they attract more dust and slime and should be avoided.

Popular choices

According to Ahuja, acrylic crockery comes in white and ranks high in popularity. They are unbreakable and needs almost no maintenance yet give a feel of bone china. Though they are made from plastic they do not resemble any characteristic physical features of plastic. They are odour and stain-free and are known for their strong character. He adds, "Acrylic crockery is even superior to melamine and better than stainless steel ones," stressing that acrylic crockery has captured almost 80 per cent of the market.

One can find other versions also. There is stainless steel ware, which are also used in foodservice purposes. "Acrylic is used in indoor as well as outdoor catering and goes well with all kinds of dishes - hot or cold, Chinese, Continental, Indian, Thai, etc." Hotels, restaurants, and even hospitals all over India are using them.

Serving right

Pravin Jaiswal of Stalion Tableware is of the opinion that hotels cannot manage themselves without having a good inventory of right service ware. Be it bone china or stoneware, crockery used for foodservice should be dead right and gel with the theme of restaurant or food per se.

"The elegance of bone china is unmatched - it is lightweight and comes in beautiful patterns, designs and shapes. The brilliant shine it provides adds to the fine-dining experience. Stoneware crockery is preferred where the restaurant theme demands such a setting," explains Jaiswal. Their weight is their beauty and they are more durable than bone china. The little roughness of their surface perfectly suits the mood of certain cuisines like the Hyderabadi and Rajasthani.

He adds that bone china and stoneware have conquered the hotel crockery market because of their quality and innovations giving us more shapes and sizes. "They can be managed in various shapes contributing towards different patterns and designs in service ware. These days, bone china and stoneware crockery can be custom made in accordance to the kind of food like continental, Thai, Indian and others," he says.

Tough competition has effectively controlled the prices of this type of service ware - crockery. Jayaraj Gopinath of RAK Mulder Porcelain feels that companies are coming up with a new range of economic bone china or stoneware or acrylic work piece every day. "With their huge demands and constant search for better equipment, foodservice establishment constantly work towards establishing congenial crockery for their dine-ins. Aiming at perfection through service ware is another dimension of foodservice," he says.

Talking about the success of HospitalityWorld 2007, Krishna Kumar of Rinac India, says, "Express Hospitality has been successfully organising the HospitalityWorld exhibitions and these events have been helping operators in the industry to get buyers. We are pleased to participate in HospitalityWorld and look forward to future events."

Talking about the southern edition of HospitalityWorld, J K Khurana of Venus Industries, says, "HospitalityWorld at Hyderabad has been successful in evoking response from the industry as we have received several enquiries and orders from the southern part of the country."