Kolkatans are becoming more and more conscious about "health-friendly"foods like never before, despite the boom in restaurants in the city, according Nitin Kohli, director of the popular establishment, Grain of Salt (GoS). | |
| In response, Grain of Salt has drawn up a strategy to cash in on the healthy eating habit of Kolkatans. |
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| GoS will organise a series of health friendly food festivals, with the first being flagged off with the 'Washington Apple Festival' recently. |
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| Kohli, who is also the secretary general of Restaurant Association of Calcutta region, said GoS will focus on the healthy aspects of foods through the food festivals. |
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| "We are starting the food festival with fruits with focus on health,"he said. |
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| According to him, healthy eating was gaining popularity in Kolkata and diners were restricting spicy foods. |
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| "Out of our total customers, 25 to 30 per cent are opting for health-friendly items. This is our everyday experience and the number is growing,"he said. |
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| Kohli feels that in next 2-3 years the number of customers opting for healthy diet could go up to 50 per cent of the total foot falls. |
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| Kohli pointed out that eating out was slowly becoming a daily affair rather than a monthly affair in the past. |
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| "People are eating out so frequently that they have to become health conscious,"he added. |
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| Rachna Sharma of the SCS group, the body that promotes US grown fruits, said that imports of Washington Apple were growing in India. |
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| "India imported 10,000 tons of 'Washington Apple' last year, many times more than what it used to a few years back,"she said. |
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| Incidentally, Washington apple is the brand name of premium quality apples growing in the US state of washington. |
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