IPL final: F&B companies rejoice as demand at bars and cafes soars up to 50% amid lean summer
IPL) final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad fired up bookings at bars, pubs and cafes across India by 30-50%, compared to a regular weekend, executives said, with the heatwave adding to demand for cooler leisure options.
“Alcohol sales saw a big spike, as average time spent per consumer at outlets was more,” said Vikrant Batra, founder of Cafe Delhi Heights. “Malls also did phenomenally well because of the heatwave. That’s another reason we saw spike in sales at our mall outlets.”
During an otherwise lean season for pubs, bars and restaurants because of people being away on summer vacations, the IPL final in Chennai triggered a dramatic spike in footfall and sales across the cricket-crazy nation, executives said.
“The weather gets cooler in the evening and nothing beats dining and watching the IPL finals outdoors,” said Saurabh Khanijo, managing director of Asian cuisine chain Kylin, which operates Kylin Skybar. “We had coolers, misting and stadium vibes in place. We were booked for the evening.”
Batra of Cafe Delhi Heights, which operates 43 outlets across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Lucknow, said many prefer to watch at least one innings in full, so average bills are proportionately higher.
AD Singh, managing director of Olive group of restaurants, said, “We were absolutely booked out. People looked for places to watch that had lots of other people watching too.” Olive operates Olive Bar & Kitchen, Monkey Bar and SodaBottleOpenerWala.
Bars, cafes and pubs said
