Impresario Handmade Restaurants – which runs some of the country’s most innovative food experiences brands like SOCIAL, Smoke House Deli, Ishaara, and more – is getting serious about sustainability and environmental impact.
Organisations that heavily utilise plastic products and packaging are in dire need of interventions and solutions to address the waste they generate. Starting 2021 on a positive note, the L-Catterton-backed F&B company is partnering with AtWorks, an impact-focused entrepreneur support organisation that runs the Circular Impact Market Accelerator (CIMA). The goal of this first-of-its-kind partnership is to find entrepreneurs who can help the F&B industry adopt innovative new solutions to deal with plastic use and waste generated by their operations.
As part of this pan-India pilot covering over 20 Impresario restaurants across 3 cities (Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi), the six-month program will offer a platform to find solutions that help reduce the amount of plastic used by Impresario’s restaurants.
By using alternatives and channeling plastic waste to recyclable and recoverable means, the two companies will seek to eliminate plastic waste from reaching landfills via a serious push towards plastic circularity.
Riyaaz Amlani, CEO & MD, Impresario Handmade Restaurants, says, “Sustainability is an important part of our DNA, and our philosophy of ‘minimal intervention, maximum upcycling’ has played a big role in our design process over the years. While we’ve been taking small steps here and there to run a more environmentally conscious enterprise, this partnership with AtWorks will really help us channel that vision into concrete action.”
He adds, “Our internal teams are constantly thinking about how we can reduce our plastic usage and look to more sustainable alternatives, and this accelerator program will help us identify entrepreneurs and startups that can provide real-world solutions. At the end of the study, we hope to create a playbook of sustainable practices for the F&B industry in India, and drive adoption of the same over time.”
Shravan Shankar, Co-Founder & COO of AtWorks, says, “Most innovations offering alternatives to plastics or tackling plastic waste are upcoming or have not commercially scaled. We need to create opportunities between businesses who need sustainable innovations and startups building impact solutions and need to validate and grow their innovations. With Impresario’s help, we will be able to understand the real-world implications and scalability of such innovative ideas. Impresario is leading the charge for the F&B industry in India, and we’re excited to work with them to drive a wider shift.”
The Circular Impact Market Accelerator
The Circular Impact Market Accelerator is India’s first product accelerator to increase the adoption of alternatives and solutions to plastic use and waste in mainstream industry.
Run by AtWorks, with support from The Incubation Network (TIN), the program aims to help bridge the gap between game-changing solutions to plastic use and their acceptance in mainstream markets. The Incubation Network (TIN) is a catalyst for action and investment to improve waste management and recycling systems aimed at preventing the flow of plastic waste into the world’s oceans.
For more information on the program and to apply, check out https://at.works/cima
Impresario Handmade Restaurants was founded in 2001 with its maiden venture Mocha – Coffees & Conversations. Today, Impresario boasts of a network of 57 restaurants across 16 Indian cities and multiple brands. Its umbrella of brands includes SOCIAL, antiSOCIAL, Smoke House Deli, Goodness to Go, Salt Water Cafe, Ishaara, Slink & Bardot, Souffle S’il Vous Plait, Prithvi Cafe, and Mocha. The company’s core strength lies in understanding the changing dining habits of young India and delivering quality experiences tailored to delight its patrons.
AtWorks is an entrepreneur support platform committed to driving impact and positive change through entrepreneurship and innovation. Since 2014, AtWorks has worked with over 500 entrepreneurs and 300 startups helping them launch and grow their business from their early stage roots to achieving scale and product market fit. Companies like Pickyourtrail, Chargebee, Swiggy, Ather Energy, SymphonyAI, and more have used the AtWorks platform and network at various parts of their life cycles to build and achieve the success they have been recognised for.
