An Overview of the Restaurant Industry in Bangladesh

The research was conducted by  Marufur Rahman Abir

The market size for the restaurant industry in Bangladesh has been growing for quite a few years now. It was not too long ago when there were very limited options and people would have a hard time to find a decent budget friendly place to socialize with others over some quality food. The days of despair are now over and there is ever growing love for the dining out culture.

There was a prominent gap in the restaurant industry which was explored and experimented with by only a handful number of restaurants. Over time, it has turned out to be one of the industries with the highest potential for high profit margins.

The fast food scenario took off in the early years of this decade with the emergence of food carts in residential areas and city centres. The people in Dhaka was introduced to all the different types of cuisines. With new food carts popping up in almost all the corners of this busy city, people started to actually consider trying them out. These carts offered fast food at a highly competitive price in contrast to the fewer posh restaurants without compromising too much on quality.

Restaurant Industry in Bangladesh

Over the years, food-cart businesses like Takeout, Chillox or Madchef (popular local burger joints) became household names in the city. More and more restaurant businesses in Dhaka are opening up to cater to budget friendly customers, which in turn have seen a boom in the growth of these restaurants and cafes.

RESTAURANT TYPES IN BANGLADESH

There was once a time in Bangladesh, when if you wanted to go for something as simple as coffee, the number of specialist coffee places or a café was non-existent. Now, there is Crimson Cup, Second Cup Coffee and Gloria Jeans among numerous coffee places, and that too in Dhaka city.

With the entire world becoming smaller day by day and with state-of-the-art communication and technology, thanks to globalisation, a large proportion of the population seeks a lifestyle where they are able to eat foods, which maybe are sought out by their favourite food blogger on YouTube.

Today there’s popular cafes in Dhaka like the ones mentioned above where a group of friends can sit around and gossip as they take a sip on their caramel lattes. With a large part of this population belonging to the middle-income group, casual dining and family style restaurants are also on the rise. Ethnic restaurants selling different cuisines like Lebanese, Japanese and Indian are also gaining popularity amongst people.

It is safe to say that Bangladesh currently has almost all the types of restaurant – from small sized fast food to premium exotic dining, nothing is excluded.

POPULAR FOOD ITEMS THAT WE PREFER

With over 50% of the population in this country being under 25 years of age, fast food is what majority of us prefer when eating out. Also considering the fact that a large proportion of the population is also working population who are always on the run and often struggle to get proper meals throughout the day and thereby reliance on fast food is increasing. Pizzas, pastas, burgers, hot dogs and coffee are some of the favourite. A large part of the market segment also demand for cheap, filling and tasty food in a crisp environment and thereby restaurants today are offering plenty of buy one get one offers, discounts on payments, and so much more. Food platter or set menu has a high number of loyal customers too; and you can’t forget about the local champions – biriyani, kacchi, and grill with naan. A large group of young people also experiment for all new kinds of food and they have special preference for exotic and rare foods. Sushi, seafood, and steak have an increasing demand as well.

CURRENT STATUS OF RESTAURANT BUSINESS IN BD

One of the integral reasons behind the increasing number of restaurants in Bangladesh is that it’s deemed to be quite profitable. Bangladesh today is known as the tiger economy in Asia due to the high economic growth rate. Along with high economic growth and developments in the country the living standard and disposable income for people is on the rise. When we go to a restaurant, it’s not only because of the food but rather a bunch of other variables come into play before we actually make a decision.

We visit restaurants to spend quality time, for the good quality food, the hygienic condition and the whole dining experience matters to the modern-day consumer. As a result, people do not mind paying a little extra for the value-added services that a good restaurant provides. Restaurants with good interior designing and premium quality food are at a competitive advantage and the high prices they charge is thereby justified.

However, starting a new restaurant here in Bangladesh can be a costly venture. Quite a lump sum amount of initial capital expenditure is required to get things started. Starting with the rent of the location, the interior designing, raw materials, hiring employees and so much more. Also provided that the food quality monitoring authorities in Bangladesh has aggressively started to investigate into the food industry given the current condition of food contamination practices in our country. This is why restaurant owners have to be extra careful about hygienic conditions and ensure top notch quality to avoid paying hefty fines which adds up to business costs.

The dining-out culture is becoming increasingly popular for reasons like an increase in the income levels of the general population which led to a decline in the number of people who actually don’t carry home cooked food with them like they used to because we are becoming busier every day. Changing consumer tastes and preferences has also caused a lot of people to seek out foreign cuisines. Availability of decent quality food at affordable prices which is appealing to the students has also contributed to the growing popularity of restaurants. More to that, the ease of getting food has increased due to rise in food delivery services all over Bangladesh; uber eats, pathao food, and food panda are few great examples.

There is a major growth potential for the restaurant industry in Bangladesh. According to various data collected from social media groups concerning food reviews has shown that the market for restaurant business is growing exponentially!

A STATISTICAL REPORT ON THIS BUSINESS

Khurshid Irfan Chowdhury, executive director of Transcom beverages ltd, says that the fast food market is going to be huge within 2022, and they are expecting that the market value will worth 450 crores. More to that, he says, this industry will create huge employment opportunities in the future.

On the other hand, the whole restaurant market of Bangladesh has estimated at BDT 4500 crores in the last year and by 2021 the restaurant sector will contribute 2.1 percent of the country’s GDP by the recent report.

LOCAL AND MULTINATIONAL BRANDS IN BANGLADESH

Due to increasing market demand, the multinational brands understood the opportunities available for them in this country. One by one many major brands came to Bangladesh and they are statistically doing well. Few example can include Dominos, Burger King, Pizza hut, KFC, Cold Stone Creamery, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Baba Rafi, Nando’s, SBARRO, Mr.Manik and others.

The affluent class in Bangladesh travels abroad and has a fairly good idea about the food brands out there, and that creates a natural demand for those brands in local community. More to that, the globalization led by social media and movie industry is a huge factor that got the local people in acquaintance with these international brands.

LOCAL BRAND (BANGLADESHI BRANDS) IN FOREIGN MARKET

A great example of local brands in foreign market is Takeout lanka. The renowned burger joint “takeout” of Bangladesh has officially launched their outlet in Srilanka. There are no other significant example of local restaurant brands in foreign market at this moment. But we are hopeful that our beloved local brands will grow beyond the border of this country.

FUTURE OF RESTAURANT INDUSTRY IN BD

Bangladeshi restaurant market is getting saturated day by day. The businesses are getting more competitive and they are coming up with all new ideas in the market. But according to the statistics, the customer segment is still on the rise and demand is not exhausted yet. People are getting more busier, and they want to outsource food making to the specialist, hence it is safe to say that the market will expand a lot more in the upcoming years and there are great opportunities for those who want to get a piece of this business.

We Bangladeshi people love to eat; it can be rephrased that – people out there eat to live, and we live to eat. Eating out is a becoming a cultural integration of our country gradually. Maybe we cannot predict what the future exactly holds, but we do know that, the demand from the restaurants are still on the rise.

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References
https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/others/eating-out-international-food-chains-operating-locally-1511273112
https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/public/index.php/economy/bangladesh/hotel-and-restaurant-sector-set-to-post-higher-growth-1523184592
https://businessdaily24.com/bangladeshi-young-entrepreneurs-should-invest-food-industry/
https://www.bproperty.com/blog/rise-food-service-industry-bangladesh/
FBG 1 – https://www.facebook.com/groups/foodbankbd/
FBG 2 – https://www.facebook.com/groups/foodbloggersbd/learning_content/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_industry_in_Bangladesh