Detailed E-handbook of SOP and Safety Guidelines for Front of the House (FOH) and Back of the House (BOH) is available free of cost on NRAI Website

The Restaurant Industry has been badly affected due to COVID-19, the biggest global pandemic faced by the living mankind, and the resultant lockdown. The contours and rules of the consumption in the sector is expected to see a paradigm shift, with safety becoming the most important factor for a restaurant. NRAI realized very early that one of the biggest early challenges will be to create awareness and ensure compliance of these new norms by every restaurant across the country. Every restaurant may have intents to do so but most of them may not have the wherewithal to do it and a few may not have adequate resource for this.

NRAI, as the most responsible industry body, recognized this problem and hence, partnered with Releski, a Bengaluru based skill-tech company that has hospitality in its veins, to create the most comprehensive set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the post-pandemic era.

Amongst the challenges that we foresee in building procedures and earning consumer confidence are issues concerning social distancing, reducing touch points, receiving and handling of goods and general health sanctity of the employees. These SOPs cover all these issues and much more. It seeks to provide our consumers with a feeling of safety in the restaurants rather than instilling a sense of panic. 

These SOPs also cover all available safety guidelines issued thus far by bodies such as WHO, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and FSSAI. We have also developed some multi-lingual visual training aids for employees who may not be in a position to read the entire SOP.

Speaking on this subject, Anurag Katriar, President of NRAI; CEO & Executive Director of deGustibus Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. said, “Every restaurant cutting across formats is facing the harsh reality of subdued to shut business volumes in the present and the uncertainty of business environment in the future. One thing is certain that Hygiene and Safety will be a key differentiator in the post-pandemic restaurant operations. With various agencies of the Government releasing their own version of SOPs, we felt that it is important that NRAI releases its own set of comprehensive guidelines to its members which encompasses all the critical guidelines issued by everyone. Idea was to create a document that is practical, easy to understand and easy to implement for our members”.

“Our endeavor is to ensure that our Restaurant Members surface back quickly and this is only possible if we are able to win back the consumer confidence in quick time. This SOP, combined with the visual training aids, is an important tool in achieving this objective. I am really happy to partner with Releski as our Learning & Training Partner. Pravesh Pandey, Founder of Releski, who is also a successful Restaurateur himself, understands the practical challenges of running a Restaurant as well as their practical solution. I am sure these guidelines will prove to be an important milestone in the journey of making the Restaurant Business COVID-Proof,” he added.

These Guidelines cover detailed steps of operations and guidelines for Front of the House and Back of the House. Statutory compliances have also been well-defined in the guidelines. More importantly, it focuses on the new operating procedures for all possible departments of Restaurant in all the formats.

The association also understands that Training of employees will be a very critical factor in implementation of the guidelines, failing which these SOPs will be rendered useless. We believe that Training support is extremely critical to prepare and sensitize every employee to the new hygiene realities. Releski, which is India’s first e-learning platform made for & made by the industry have also created some easy to understand and implement training modules, which are available at a very nominal price to the NRAI Members. The COVID-proof Restaurant Course include multi-lingual, easy and short video lessons showing the guidelines for all departments and every single role depicting the SOP mentioned in these guidelines. 

Pravesh Pandey, Founder of  Releski; Director – Partner of Byg Brewski Brewing Co.; NRAI Member said, “After spending 20 years in the Restaurant Industry, I realized that the need of the hour is a skilled landscape in the Restaurant Industry, as with more than 7.3 million employees and growing, the industry is purely dependent on its people. 65 per cent of the Industry is unorganized, my intent is to help them getting organized through Training support. We are super thrilled to partner with NRAI in standardizing the COVID-Proof guidelines through our platform. I wish every single Restaurant to have a speedy recovery through these guidelines and hope that these videos help their employees with better implementation. Through short videos in up to 6 languages from expert instructors, we are dedicated and passionate about the growth of every individual who owns or works in the Restaurant Industry.”