Ensuring the high standard and uniformity of your offerings holds immense significance in meeting customer expectations and fostering loyalty. This principle is vital for both individual national and international food services. Emphasizing quality within your restaurant operations guarantees a delightful experience for your patrons, leaving them content. This positive encounter often translates into favourable reviews and recommendations, contributing to an increased influx of guests in subsequent times.
Travel Food Services (TFS), recognized as India’s rapidly expanding travel food and retail enterprise, presents an extensive selection of both National and International Cuisines, delivering a refined dining experience. Their diverse portfolio encompasses over 70 brands, addressing the varying requirements of travellers. Every brand and concept is meticulously designed to provide a specialized offering, reflecting a dedication to detail. TFS customizes its brand assortment at travel hubs, considering specific locations, traditions, and cultural aspects.
Vikas Kapoor, the Chief Financial Officer at Travel Food Services, is a highly experienced finance expert with a deep passion for technology. His primary strengths lie in finance transformation and successfully integrating technology at TFS, contributing significantly to the organization's growth and success. During an exclusive interview, he provided insights into both the industry's operations and the company, while also delving into his early personal life and future aspirations.
Could you summarize your tenure as an operations leader and highlight the significant milestones you've reached during your CFO career?
Currently, I hold the position of CFO in a service company that operates within the vast sphere of F&B at travel locations. In terms of my professional background, I am a qualified chartered accountant with a strong foundation in strategic management. Throughout my career, I have gained diverse experience by working across various sectors, from pharmaceuticals to oil and gas, consultancy, and even media through my stint at Tata Sky before joining my current organisation. I attribute a significant portion of my success to this multifaceted experience, which has shaped me into a CFO who sees the role as more of a business partner, valuing holistic business growth rather than just a purely financial perspective.
How would you define the positioning of Travel Food Services as a company?
The company is dominant in the travel sector's on-the-go catering market. Operating primarily in transportation hubs, we are recognized as industry leaders, particularly in airport lounges and Food and beverage solutions. In India, we proudly stand as the largest player in this sector. Travel Food Services is a collaborative effort between K Hospitality (Owner of Iconic concepts like Copper Chimney, Bombay Brasserie, and Irish House) and SSP, a UK FTSE 250 listed company. Our operations extend beyond lounges, bringing renowned brands such as James Martin Kitchen and Brioche Doree for the first time to an Indian Airport. Additionally, we curate our own in-house brands, including a coffee chain named 'Cafeccino' that has been adored by countless consumers, as part of our growth strategy. Moving forward, we aim to enhance operational efficiency by establishing standardized procedures and expanding into new segments such as highways and fuel stations.
Could you elaborate on your operational expertise and the strategies you employ to propel company growth?
As the individual overseeing finance, legal matters, and secretarial matters for the company, my primary role revolves around ensuring the company's financial strength and corporate compliance. Given our operations within a highly regulated domain, compliance remains a top priority. Operating within secure, highly controlled environments is crucial, particularly in handling food where service, hygiene, and quality are paramount to prevent incidents and ensure customer satisfaction. The emphasis is on maintaining incident-free operations while meeting customer expectations. Additionally, from a financial perspective, my role involves driving business expansion, establishing strategic alliances with compatible partners to increase market share, and ensuring profitable business growth.
I believe you become a leader when you have fostered a culture of respect & empathy within the organization whereby not only your team, customers but even any other colleague or person feels empowered enough to come up & share his views freely
Could you delineate the key business challenges you encounter in your present position and the strategies you employ to surmount them?
Some of the challenges I've encountered in my professional journey, particularly revolve around driving business value. Introducing initiatives to enhance business value inevitably presents its own unique set of obstacles. For instance, implementing a price-sensitive product for one of the pharmaceutical manufacturing companies within a tight timeframe was a significant challenge. From application to streamlining processes and systems, it was demanding but highly gratifying once successfully executed. Another notable instance was optimizing GST benefits within the company, specifically in all India presence with simultaneous billing. Leveraging the free trade agreement between India and another country, we managed to reduce procurement costs significantly over four years of operations in that company. Covid hit us in the present company and ensuring we are able to keep operations on for spikes and troughs of demand, was crucial with tight cost control.
How do you inspire and lead your workforce for enhanced performance? What's your leadership philosophy?
My leadership philosophy emphasizes two core principles. Firstly, it advocates for attentive listening to understand individuals' goals and provide necessary support as a leader. Micromanagement is actively discouraged, allowing team members the freedom to thrive within a broader framework. Secondly, the importance of fostering a culture of respect, and people-first behaviour extends not only to team members but also to all those they interact. As a service-led organisation, it is important that not only our team members in front of the house but also in the back of the house have a sense of service in all that they do. These principles are deemed crucial for effective leadership.
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