April 20 2016, 11.18 AM IST || Pocket News Alert
April 18, 2016 Mumbai: Travel Food Services (TFS) India’s largest F&B concessionaire in the travel retail segment, has been selected as the F&B concessionaire for Gatiman Express – India’s first semi-high speed train operating between Hazrat Nizammuddin Railway Station New Delhi to Agra Cantt. Running at a maximum speed of 160 KMPH the train came on track from April 05 and was flagged of by Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways.
TFS with unmatched operational expertise in the travel retail segment, and committed to transform travellers’ experience, caters to about 110 million passengers across major airports in New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. While TFS continues to rapidly scale its airport-centric operations through world class lounge facilities and bringing in greater levels of innovation, globally matched services and a tremendous diversity in F&B offerings, the company has taken steady steps to expand its F&B expertise in the railways sector too.
For Gatiman Express, TFS has brought in a whole new presentation of F&B services drawing from experiences in the aviatio ,sector. For the very first time in India, a new menu with continental and Indian menu is being served including chicken sausages, Spanish omelette, date and walnut cake while the Indian menu includes an exciting assortment of health food with whole wheat upma, kanjeevaram idli, and fresh cut fruits. Quick bites with delicious snacks is also available with aloo kulcha, dosa, chicken roll, swiss roll and other items well suited for a train journey. All food is served by well-trained stewards and stewardesses who have undergone extensive training at TFS to serve passengers on train. With this TFS has introduced a whole new paradigm to train services and a global appeal adapted to Indian environment. The staff is well dressed and styled as well as colour-coordinated with that of the train and is a much welcome change to the currently available facilities in other train services. The level of hygiene maintained is also very high as all services are conducted in very sanitised conditions including meal preparation in secured pantries and kitchens, food is served by gloved staff and very high levels of cleanliness is ensured in all compartments.
While catering in Gatiman Express is TFS’ maiden foray in on-board train catering, TFS has already won F&B concessions for Vizag (Vishakhapatnam) and Pune stations for station-side food plazas which will offer a wide variety of global and domestic F&B brands for train passengers.
Speaking on the development, Mr. Varun Kapur, Executive Director TFS said, "The launch of Gatiman has brought in a new era of high speed train and rail travel in India. TFS is delighted to be a part of this history to lend its expertise in F&B in a segment that has always required much transformation. Aligned to our commitment of ‘transforming the travel experience’ we have brought in several transformations being implemented for the very first time with great success. Railways has been a core focus area of the current government and this development has enabled India to take a step closer towards modernising the country’s aging rail network. TFS as India’s largest F&B concessionaires in the aviation sector has brought in considerable expertise and is committed to taking F&B in railways to the aviation level.”
About Travel Food Services:
Travel Food Services Limited (TFS) is India's leading dedicated F&B concessionaire in the travel infrastructure segment. It is one of the largest airport F&B Concessionaires in India, catering to over 90 million customers, with major operations at Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi Airports. With a commitment to transform the F&B experience for travellers, the company has created a superlative portfolio of some of the best brands to cater to discerning passengers at travel locations including proprietary brands Dilli Streat, Terminal F, Cafeccino, Idli.com, Curry Kitchen, Noodle Wok, Swich as well as global favorites such as KFC, Domino's Pizza, Haagen-Dazs, Ultra Bar, and Cafe Coffee Day, to name a few. TFS has been founded by Mr. Sunil Kapur, the visionary business leader and founding promoter of Blue Foods - one of India’s largest F&B retail companies. Mr. Kapur is also highly acknowledged for the creation of iconic restaurant brands such as Copper Chimney, Spaghetti Kitchen, Gelato Italiano, Blue Sea, Noodle Bar, Bombay Blue and a host of others, having led individual brand expansions across the length and breadth of the country. Drawing upon the group’s extensive heritage in the Indian F&B industry, Travel Food Services is committed to transforming the F&B landscape within large scale travel infrastructure projects across the entire region. TFS is a K Hospitality Group company. www.travelfoodservices.com