The changing face of restaurant business

King Oyo (R) hands one of the night’s winners the plaque. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA.

What you need to know:

The growth of Uganda’s middle class, though not properly documented, could undeniably be a major influence that has had meaningful impact on the country’s restaurant business as more people tend to eat out than ever before. Last week Jonathan Adengo attended the inaugural Kampala Restaurant Awards that, in no doubt, seeks to benchmark good standards in the industry as well as recognising excellent services

The ideal part of food is you can’t fail to tell which is tastier - at least going by one’s own definition of what is good.
No one can ever distort the taste of a delicious meal because the taste buds will have a different story to tell.
Indeed it has been a long journey for Ugandan restaurants as they have had to ride through years to arrive at the high table.
Uganda has thousands of eateries but few can be classified as worth the bother due to their limited menu variety.

World class fast food eateries and restaurants such as KFC and Mr Tasty, among others have had to join the Ugandan eating bandwagon not considering that some such as Nandos and Steers have in the same measure found reasons to live the country.

Nandos, formerly owned by businessman Amos Nzeyi and a group of others, entered into a partnership with Café Javas recently, ending its almost two-decade relationship with Ugandans.
Steers also left Uganda recently making two exits of South African eateries from Uganda.

Therefore, what better time to celebrate than now? cheering the growth that has organically carped in a market where the culture of fast foods and restaurant is only but a luxury.
The growth has been uniquely driven by the arrival of online food portals revolutionising the way people view and associate with fast food outlets.

The revolution, according to Ron Kawamara, the Hellofood managing director, is a multi-faceted approach driven in part by the fast growth in information technology and the internet.
“The internet is the real kick here that is why some restaurants and individuals are able to deliver on the go,” Kawamara said during the inaugural Kampala Restaurant awards.

Hellofoods, which partly organised the awards, is an online food delivery portal working with close to 200 restaurants across Kampala.

Through such services, King Oyo of Tooro Kingdom, believes the youth can get an opportunity to showcase their innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Innovation, entrepreneurship and excellent service are the qualities that will move Uganda to a new era of sustained development,” King Oyo, who was the chief guest at the awards night, said.

The innovations, King Oyo said, will show case Uganda’s ability to grow through the challenges of unemployment that can only be fought through benchmarking small and medium businesses.
The night was a key highlight for a sector whose growth has been driven by the continuously growing middle income class among Uganda’s youth.

The awards could be a big statement that will benchmark the growth of Uganda and the middle income status.
Among the key winners were Medditeraneo, which bugged the restaurant of the year award.

Also on the winning list were the Lawns (Best Customer service), Serena (Best fine dining - Pearl of Africa), Shaka Zulu (Best African Cuisine) and Khana Khazana.

The awards, according to Kawamara, will be a key benchmark for excellence in the restaurant and hospitality industry in Uganda with the view of meeting international standards.
The night was headlined by singer Maurice Kirya and guitarist Myco Ouma with smooth ballads.