The grand three day convention was attended by more than 250 delegates from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and UAE.

MOHAN DESHPANDE and NITIN NAGRALE led HPMF hosted the ninth edition of the Annual Convention of “Hospitality Purchasing Managers’ Forum” along with the seventh edition of Procurement Excellence Awards 2019 held at Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty from 10 to 13 October 2019.

The grand three day convention was attended by more than 250 delegates from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and UAE.

While, HPMF lays out the thickest red carpet for its guests, this year was no different. “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which means “The World Is One Family” was the theme and treatment of guests could be best described as lavish. 

With host numbers surpassing any previous year, his year’s event presented an opportunity for all the delegates to network and experience the magical world of Kerala through cultural shows, local cuisine, visits to historical places, exotic display of produce from Kerala and ancient sports.

The Convention and Awards got a resounding start with a special gala dinner organised at - The Kochi harbour terminus station. This railway station platform which was not in use for the last 13 years, was spruced up for the dinner where traditional Kerala dishes were served to the delegates in traditional Kerala style. 

With discussions and presentations from industry experts on various subjects such as the latest trends in hospitality procurement, buyer preferences and path-breaking innovations from market leaders, corporate speakers from leading firms also addressed the gathering.

Like has been the stand out feature of any HPMF convention, there was a lot for suppliers of goods and services with patent HPMF B2B sessions. There were over 40 vendors from across India and overseas in attendance.

The Annual Procurement Excellence Awards, the first-of-its-kind, conceived and rolled out in 2012 and now in its seventh year, was the main attraction. Sports personalities honoured at the event included Abhilasha Mhatre, Akansha Singh, Akash Anand, Ameya Waingankar, Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal, Dilip Tirkey, Girish Sharma, Jaya Sharma and Suyash Jadhav. On the final day, a grand boat race in the Kochi backwaters was organised. Snake boats were rowed by not just Kerala’s traditional oarsmen but by many of the delegates as well.

Nitin Nagrale, Founder and General Secretary, HPMF said, "The key objective of the Forum is to educate purchase managers to make them confident and thereby self-reliant." He added that, despite many challenges, the HPMF team has tried to put together one of the best conventions in Kochi. BW HOTELIER endorses the Views of Nitin Nagrale.

Established in 2010 and headquartered in Mumbai, HPMF is a non-profit organisation of purchasing managers from the hospitality industry representing star hotels, catering companies, stand-alone restaurant chains, retail chains and airlines, set up to provide a platform for buyers from the hospitality industry. It has chapters in many parts of the country. International chapters include Sri Lanka, Maldives, The Middle East, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the UK. Training and Development of procurement professionals, Consolidated procurement, industry product standardization, volume discounts, improved professionalism in the purchasing process, development of potential vendors, green initiatives, corporate social responsibilities are some of the key elements of HPMF.