– Press Release
As a responsible Industry body, NRAI strongly feels that getting vaccinated is the first and the most important step towards winning the fight against COVID and achieving some semblance of normalcy. NRAI is committed towards helping the industry achieve 100% vaccination and has found some very generous partners such as Beam Suntory India, Diageo India, Pernod Ricard India and United Breweries Ltd towards achieving this objective. Armed with the support of these partners, NRAI has initiated ‘Santosh & Vyoum Vaccination Drive’ as a tribute to two of its long serving Managing Committee Members, Late Mr Santosh Jindal and Late Mr Vyoum Ghai, whom we unfortunately lost to COVID this year.
Through this initiative, we aim to vaccinate more than 20,000 Restaurant Warriors across our member establishments nationwide. As cities begin to reopen, safety and wellbeing of employees and guests is of utmost importance to us. Therefore, NRAI is conducting multiple Vaccination Camps across various cities like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Goa.
Anurag Katriar, President of NRAI said “I reckon that getting our employees vaccinated is key to achieving normalization and therefore, we have launched this initiative. This could not have been possible without significant contribution of our longstanding Partners – Beam Suntory India, Diageo India, Pernod Ricard India, United Breweries Ltd. On behalf of the fraternity, I sincerely thank them for their timely support during this time of crisis, which has brought our sector to a standstill. We are very grateful to all these four trade partners for always being the thought leaders and pioneers in such deeds of giving back to their channel partners.
He further added, “The need of the hour is to vaccinate as many as quickly. Our trade partners’ contribution will help us vaccinate thousands of restaurant staff across our member establishments nationwide. This initiative will help them return to work faster and fearlessly, creating a safe environment for our guests. We value our relationship and look forward to work with them on many more causes for the benefit of our fraternity.”
Neeraj Kumar, Managing Director, Beam Suntory India said, “The F&B community are our greatest champions and they will always have our support especially in these difficult times. As the backbone of the industry, their health and safety is key, making vaccination the need of the hour. We are grateful to build on the support that Beam Suntory India has already provided to NRAI and committed to stand with them in their work towards community relief. Supporting our people and the community are central to our business and fundamental to our ‘Growing for Good’ values. We look forward to continuing to work with our people, our partners and our industry in the path towards recovery.”
Shweta Jain, Vice President Luxury Commercial, Key Accounts India & South Asia, Diageo India said, “We are glad to partner with NRAI in their commitment to helping the industry achieve 100% vaccinations. India’s F&B industry witnessed unprecedented challenges during the pandemic, which has severely impacted our communities. As the industry opens operations, our aim is to support the community under our ‘Raising the Bar’ program so that their business and employment can revive.”
Rajesh Mishra, Chief Operating Officer, Pernod Ricard India said, “Health and Safety of our stakeholders remain our utmost priority, and our partnership with NRAI is a sincere effort in providing a safe working environment. Through this initiative, we aim to vaccinate the F&B staff across our restaurant partners and ensure trust and safety amongst our staff and guests. We hope that this contribution will help orchestrate and accelerate the business operations which have been severely hit due to the pandemic.”
Gurpreet Singh, Marketing Head, United Breweries Ltd said, “United Breweries is delighted to join hands with NRAI in conducting a large-scale drive to enable 100% vaccination in the industry. This is one of the most important steps to enable businesses to get back to regular operations. As a responsible corporate, we at United Breweries Ltd strive in supporting our partner outlets and restaurants to ensure the health and safety of each of our patrons.”
