~Let’s raise a toast to all the winners ~
~The NationalRestaurant Association of India and Kickstart Entertainment hosted the 2nd Edition of INCA on 30th September and 1st October 2017 in Mumbai~
3rd October 2017, Mumbai: The National Restaurant Association of India(NRAI) and Kickstart Entertainment in association with Budweiser executed the 2nd Edition of the India Nightlife Convention and Awards (INCA) on 30th September and 1st October 2017 at Four Seasons, Worli, Mumbai.The convention not only showcased the ever evolving and dynamic nightlife culture by highlighting the industry’s accomplishments but also promoted a sense of brotherhood among the industry’s most influential hospitality entrepreneurs and specialists.
Endorsing the nightlife culture in India, stalwarts of the hospitality industrysuch asRiyaazAmlani, AD Singh, Gauri Devdiyal, Zorawar Kalra, Rahul Singh, Chef Manu Chandra, Zeba Kohli, Ravi Krishnan and other influential individuals came together to mingle, imbibe a sense of fraternity and showcase the best that the Indian bars and nightlife have to offer for this 2 day national business convention.
Celebrities like Rishi Kapoor, Shriya Saran, Sameer Kochharetc. marked their presence to support the convention.
Prolific personalities from around the world such as Mirik Milan (Night Mayor of Amsterdam), Amy Lamé (Night Czar of London), Lutz Leichsenring (Club Commission of Berlin), Jorge Saza (Night Ambassador of Madrid), Frederic Hocquard (Deputy Mayor – Night Time Policies- Parisare)especially flew down to Mumbai to share their insights, divulge secrets, bring in a global perspective and help identify trends for making a vibrant and profitable nightlife and bar culture in the country.
The conventionbegan with a keynote by Ben Verhaert (MD Budweiser India) on the bourgeoning hospitality industry and the need to encourage nightlife in India. Amy Lamé, the Night Czar of Londonaddressed the audience about the nightlife economy in London, how the young population drives the nightlife in a particular country and what steps need to be taken to ensure residents aren’t disturbed by places being open 24*7. She also discussed multiple ways of ensuring women’s safety and lowering crime rates. These addresses were even more important in an Indian context as the nightlife culture in the country is still to a larger extent stigmatized and can often become a law and order issue.
The convention became grander with the presence of Aditya Thackeray (Head of YUVA Sena). He addressed the audience on how NRAI has supported and raised the bar of the nightlife industry and how the campaign of a 24*7 Mumbai that was introduced last year is now a proposed bill. He spoke about the fact that now Mumbai too will have hotspots, rooftop bars and food trucks in dedicated areas.
Influential specialistslike Faye D’Souza (Editor, Mirror Now),RiyaazAmlani (President, NRAI), Shobhita Kadan (Director- Marketing & Hospitality, Impresario Hospitality) and Varun Patra (Co-Founder, Homegrown), were moderators for panel discussions on topics such as ‘Nightlife Safety’, ‘The Next Step - Building the Music Culture’, ‘Annus Horribilis- Surviving the Worst Year in Hospitality’ and‘Building the Vibe in a Bar’.
Two sets of city awards were given away during the course of the two day convention. The day ended with everyone grooving to the music played by RaaChab (Sophrosyne) + Ankit Koacher (Ankytrixx) at the Corona Sundowner.
The second day on the convention was led by moderators like Vishal Dadlani (Music Composer and Singer), Ayaz Basrai (Architect and Interior Designer), DJ Akhtar, Aneesh Bhasin(Co-Founder and CEO of Hipcask) and Vivek Dudani(Head of Programming – Social & AntiSocial). The last panel of the day that was led by Vishal Dadlani along with thought leaders like Milind Deora(Former Union Minister of State and MP), Kaustubh Dhavse(Joint Secretary and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Hon. Chief Minister), Amy Lame, Mirik Milan and RiyaazAmlani.
Important topics touched onin this last but dynamic panel were as follows:
- Current hurdles towards actualizing the potential of India’s nightlife and food & beverage industry,
- Expanding the scope of nightlife by a curated culture economy, to be more inclusive and abolish the perception of being meant only for the bourgeoisie
- Ways of how Mumbai should capitalize on its own cultural equity and packaging these to appeal to a global audience, thereby benefiting all nightlife stakeholders, citizens and the government and eventually generating a larger chunk of revenue and employment opportunities
- The exponential employment jump that will be actualized on the back of even a slight policy easing from the government
- Drafting new policy for new spaces in the nightlife and food & beverage industry such as foodtrucks with insights from the night mayors of London and Amsterdam as to what has worked in their respective cities.
The session concluded with a unanimous consensus from all the panelists, even those on opposite political parties to work in unison with each other towards facilitating a more vibrant, safe,inclusive nightlife in the citythat can be replicated across the country, making this a thriving sector which contributes to the cultural and economic growth of India. The final panel session looks to set the stage for building an industry and political class backed manifesto towards realizing the goals and objectives set by INCA 2017.
Topics like ‘Mixing Magic - Beverage Trends in the Bar Business’,‘Music Shaping Nightlife’, ‘What's Brewing to Building Legendary Bars’, ‘Filling the Floor - Programming in Indiaand Mumbai Manifesto’ were discussed followed by the most awaited ‘Awards Night’ where finalists were recognized at both the regional and national level.
The list of winners is below –
Best Lounge – Marbella Beach Resort, Goa
Best Night Club – PlayBoy, Mumbai
Best Bar in a Hotel – Rock Pool, Goa
Best Bar Chain – Social
Best Beer Café – The Beer Café
Best Bar for Cocktails – Slink & Bardot, Mumbai
Best Resto-Bar – The Bombay Canteen, Mumbai
Best Sports Bar – Xtreme Sports Bar & Grill, Hyderabad
Best Dive Bar – High Spirits, Pune
Best Open Air Bar – Aer, Mumbai
Best Bar Food – Farzi Café, NCR
Best Venue for Live Performances – AntiSocial, Mumbai
Best Bar for Wines – The Wine Company, NCR
Best Concept Bar, Toast & Tonic, Mumbai
Best Café Bar – Café Zoe, Mumbai
Best Debut Bar – Whisky Samba, NCR
Best Bar Interior – Cyber Hub Social, NCR
Best Stand-Up Act in a Bar – Varun Thakur, Mumbai
Best Band – Parekh & Singh, Kolkata
Best Bartender – Vicky Thakur, PCO, NCR
Best Mixologist – Yangolp Lama Cocktails & Dreams, NCR
Best Pop-Up – Rumour, Mumbai
Best Promoter – RAGE, Mumbai
Best Restaurant/Bar Manager – Rahul Raghav, The Bombay Canteen, Mumbai
Best Artist Manager – Submerge, GOA
Best F&B Director – Kelvin Cheung, Bastian, Mumbai
Best Music Event/Festival – NH7 Weekender, Pune
Best DJ of the year – Ankit Kocher, Mumbai
Best Bar of the year - Social
Aman Anand, Director of Kickstart Entertainment added, “After the success of the first edition, we were anxiousfor the reception of the second one. Considering this was bigger and grander, we are proud of how it turned out to be. We had most of the important stakeholders of the industry attend and participate in the convention. With a lot of new ideas discussed and perspectives shared, we are hoping the nightlife industry in India will definitely benefit from this and will grow bigger and better”
Riyaaz Amlani, President, NRAI, says.”“Nightlife is an integral part of the cultural landscape of our country, and the NRAI is absolutely thrilled to support INCA in their endeavor to recognize and celebrate thought leadership in this space. Nightlife not only promotes tourism but it also plays a pivotal role in creating the cultural perception of a city or a country across the globe. It provides the push which is essential to any burgeoning city's economy and livability index. Last but not least, going out is demographic agnostic and thereby highly inclusive, making it a bigger propeller for change."
Kartikeya Sharma, Marketing Director, Anheuser-Busch InBev India & South East Asia says"We are happy to be associated with INCA 2017. It’s a great platform for us to meet industry stakeholders, discuss ideas and take ownership for our roles in shaping the future of the nightlife industry. India has witnessed a dynamic shift in nightlife culture and music is one of the key elements that are fueling this change. As culture shapers, we will endeavor to continue providing innovative experiences for consumers through music and nightlife.”
Prathmesh Mishra – Chief Commercial Officer, Diageosays, “We have been a part of the India Nightlife Awards that celebrates and recognises one of the most spirited and fastest growing industries in India from its inception. The platform has helped elevate conversations around celebration and nightlife, and it is a pleasure to be associated with then once again. Congratulations to all the winners and we hope
these awards inspire people to continue improving the consumer experience and achieving greater heights”
Social Media-
INCA is the first ever platform specifically designed to experience, celebrate and recognise the providers of the nightlife entertainment in India. It aims to establish itself as the first mover in the category with a long-term commitment from trade bodies creating a revolution. Being one of the largest revenue and employment generators in the service industry but not receiving the deserved gratification, INCA endeavors to promote accessibility, ideation, cross-pollination and development of a mutually inspiring community within the industry.
Kickstart Entertainment was founded by Aman Anand on 6th October 2014 with a vision – Customise,Creative, Content. In less than a year, his vision and commitment to these principles has seen.Kickstart bagged several prestigious corporate, personal, and film events. Kickstart Entertainment ishelmed by Aman, a veteran of the live events industry who has createdcustomised content andproperties for client and then driven them to fame across the world.
He is supported by a young, vibrant team with proven track records across events management, brandactivation and marketing, and design. The team strives as one to ensure that they don’t exceed budgetswhile always exceeding expectations.
In this short span of time the company has produced and executed some of the key events of the town like, The Star Box Office India awards on Star plus, The Salman Khan Kick Concert, High profile celebrity Engagement & Marriage (MadhuMantena and Masaba Gupta), High profile celebrity Marriage (Shahid Kapoor & Mira Rajput) and other private luxury events for celebrities and corporate level directors like Aditya Birla Retail Group (ABRL), Mpower Foundation – An initiative by Neerja Birla & Ananya Birla,Dabaang – Salman Khan Live Concert, Kelloggs event, Launch of Deepika Padukone's "Live, Love, Laugh" Foundation,Enrique Concert at Vienna Wedding,SREI Infrastructure Celebration of 25 yrs, T-Series "SuronKe Rang" a tribute to Gulshan Kumar and many more.
National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) was founded in 1982 and since been the leading association of the Indian restaurant Industry. Headquartered at Delhi, it represents 100000+ restaurants and an industry valued at USD 4 billion.
The association in its 33rd year has a pan India presence with members comprising of restaurants, suppliers and educational institutes associated with it. The Association represents interests of the members by offering advisory, training, research services and organizing industry events. NRAI works closely with a network of State and City chapter partners across India.
NRAI aims to:
- Lead the Indian restaurant industry in its growth by promoting and strengthening the Indian food service sector
- Advocate changes in the laws governing the Indian Restaurant Industry at local, state and centre levels
- Provide opportunities to educate members through seminars and knowledge platforms
Play a key role in promoting career opportunities for young professionals in the industry
Facebook: @NRAI.India
About Budweiser
Budweiser was introduced by Adolphus Busch in 1876 and is still brewed with the same care and high quality, exacting standards. What began as an American original 139 years ago is a global brand today, enjoyed by consumers in 85 countries. In accordance with its original recipe, this great American lager is aged over Beechwood chips for 21 days which results in a perfectly balanced flavor and a crisp, clean refreshing taste. Budweiser is considered the world’s most valuable beer brand*.
*SOURCE: 2015 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands
