Munishwar Srivastava - Software and Technology Ease the Big Calculation or Wrong Calculations in Terms of Planning and Projections (Associate Vice President at Wow! Momo From India)

Food wastage in this industry is a very gray area to think upon. So what we as a brand and as a leader aim at is working more on our projections. We have to be more precise and logical and use artificial intelligence and machine intelligence technology to forecast better for the future.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

Basically, I am a graduate from Delhi university. At that time my family had some financial crisis and so I started working early as a part time team member at McDonald's. I worked with them for almost four years and left as an assistant restaurant manager there. Then I got an opportunity to work with SRS cinemas where I joined as a cinema manager, taking care of the entire cinema property. During the 1.5 years that I worked there, I opened 3-4 cinemas for them.

Joining KFC as a restaurant general manager was a good career move for me. I spent around five and a half years there, working in different capacities, in new store opening concepts, business analysis, and evaluations, and then got promoted as an Area Head for Punjab market. And under my leadership, I've opened almost 18 restaurants in Punjab. Working over there I learned about business development, how the business can be turned around, business analysis, and many other things.

Also, when I was in KFC, I was simultaneously preparing for Civil Services. And when I left KFC and joined Hamleys, I got my IAS call letter for the examination. So now I had to decide between taking the civil services examination or continuing with the job. I decided to take a six month break and focus on my exam and if I end up clearing it then I would be in a different phase of my career. But unfortunately, I was not able to clear the mains.

Then I re-started working and joined Airport Operations, Mumbai for Devyani. I worked with them for almost one year, heading the entire airport food and restaurant operations for them. And I got an opportunity to explore my skills in the fitness industry in Talwalkars. I joined them as a zonal head for the northern market and later I was heading the North India business there. It was a lovely journey with them and I learned many things working there.

Then I got an opportunity to come back to the restaurant chain again that was with Wow! Momo. So earlier when I got interview calls for both Talwalkars and Wow! Momo I joined Talwalkars. Wow! Momo looked for me again in 2017 and I joined there as an Associate Vice President. I am mainly taking care of the northern market for them, and have taken the journey from 8 restaurants to 130 in the northern market under my leadership.

Sagar, the CEO of Wow! Momo is also my mentor and has taught me many things like how an entrepreneur thinks, how to take charge, how to set up your own business. So he has given me a good free hand to work upon, to make decisions, face challenges, convert those challenges into your strengths.

2. Why did you decide to be in the food industry?

When I was in 12th I had no idea, no thought process to be in the food industry. When my father got a heart attack that time and we had a financial crisis, I started to earn bread and butter. In the initial year, I was just working without a fixed plan but later on, I was guided by mentors to the food industry. At that time the food industry was in a growing phase and so I realised that if I put in my heart and soul here I would also be able to grow with the organisation.

3. What are some of the day-to-day business challenges that you face & how do you overcome them?

In the last couple of years, COVID was the biggest challenge for all of us in this industry though we have overcome this by putting our efforts and getting more into the delivery concepts. Another major business challenge that is emerging in the entire industry is manpower and talent acquisition. People are switching jobs on a frequent note and stability becomes a challenge in the market as we get more inclined towards Western countries for jobs.

So here we play a vital role in connecting with the employees both at professional and at emotional levels. Also, post-pandemic people suffered from personal and financial losses which impacted the mental health of many employees. We as a leader have the responsibility to speak with the people and understand their problems and help them overcome these mental health problems so that they can excel in their careers.

4. What according to you is the solution to the wastage in the food industry?

If something is going to be discarded in a couple of days due to shelf life issues and simultaneously we are putting efforts to get suggestive selling in a better way, using AI can help reduce food wastage to a great extent. So, I believe, projection and planning are most important to control wastage.

5. How do you leverage software & technologies for business efficiency?

Software and technology ease the big calculation or wrong calculations in terms of planning and projections. Software and information technology become a big point of support in business because people who work in the industry at ground level usually don't have much knowledge in projection and planning, and software technologies help give an idea of how things are working, how we have to take it forward or what planning-projections we need to drive.

6. How do you manage your supply chain; discovery of suppliers and inventory management?

From the perspective of an organization, we have in-house logistics these days though we are also exploring the 3PL logistics. We have a defined supply chain and a purchase team where whatever the requisition is required for any product we just flash it in the market and then go with the bidding process for the contract with vendors. With the best-rated bid, we hold discussions internally with quality and other requirements to be taken care of. This makes the entire system cost-effective as well.

7. Which is your favourite book and why?

While I went for training in YUM! Brands I came across this book “Taking People With You: The only way to make big things happen” which is written by David Novak- the CEO of YUM! Brands itself. This book has taught me that people around you, working with you are more important. If you have to grow, as a leader you have to also make the people around you grow together by helping them build their capability, understand them and train them into future leaders.

Interviewed By - Nimisha Dutta