Dikhyaa Mohanty 
By promoting millets, hotels will raise the standard of living for small and marginal farmers and women’s self-help organizations. According to Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, during a consultative meeting with Hotel and Restaurant Association (HRAO) organized by Odisha Millets Mission (OMM) on Monday to brainstorm and develop a strategy for promoting millets, they can act as a catalyst and harbinger of change in the discourse surrounding millets and the palate of urban consumers.
Participants at the conference included HRAO representatives from Swosti Premium, Food Junction, The New Marion, Pal Heights, Swosti Grand, Hotel Excellency, Barjorjis Hotels, Suryansh Hotels, and other companies. FICCI, the tourism department, and other departmental representatives also attended the conference.
In order to organize millet cuisine festivals, Prem Chandra Chaudhury, Director of Agriculture and cuisine Production, advised working with HRAO members. Snacks made of millet can be kept in hotel rooms. Brochures with information on the benefits of millets can be left in the visitors’ rooms. To raise awareness among hotel visitors, video clips and standees can also be put up. He said that millets are a diet of the future and provide hope for many ailments related to a sedentary lifestyle. The millets market is expanding daily. OMM collaborates with physicians, dietitians, and others to spread the word about millets.
Dr Joanna Kane Potaka, Deputy Director General, International Rice Research Institute (IRR), who previously led the Smart Food Initiative on millets expressed her happiness on the comprehensive interventions on millets. She suggested that simple communication tools should be developed and displayed in the different places in hotels. She also suggested organising workshops with Chefs to bring them on board for promotion of millets.
Representatives of HRAO made many suggestions for scaling up millet promotion through hotels/restaurants. They suggested that a framework and standard operating protocols for preparation of millet recipes should be developed for reference of hotels. This will help hotels to standardise their products more effectively. A recipe bank for traditional and modern millet recipes should be prepared and shared widely. In addition, massive awareness campaigns on health benefits of millets can be taken by the Government. HRAO said that they are interested to engage with OMM to streamline the supply chain of millets.
Milind Gupta, Food Junction & Secretary General, HRAO shared that they have been engaging with OMM for last one year. HRAO members have actively participated in millet session of Make in Odisha and promoted millets actively during the Hockey World Cup. K.K.Rao, Executive Secretary, HRAO shared that hotels such as ITC have already started special millet buffet for special occasions. Things will improve once the demand increases among the consumers. He said that many hotels have already started serving millet recipes in pilot basis. Hariom Kumar, F&B Manager, Swosti Premium shared that they are including the millet-based bakery products in their hotel. Atish Kumar Baral F&B Manager, Swosti Grand shared they have also included Ragi upma in pilot basis in few locations and response has been very good.
Representative from Tourism Department shared that they have already included millet menu in OTDC hotels and are keen to scale up the millet promotion through their department. In addition, millet standees have been placed in all the hotels of OTDC. Promotion of millets shall also be taken up in eco-retreat locations, tourist destinations, etc. Tourism department is also keen to collaborate in promotion and branding of millets through the regular tourism promotional activities of the department.
