Member Article

Five years to save the curry industry

Restaurant boss Avi Malik is on a mission to save the curry industry from collapse…and he’s calling on spice lovers for their support.

The businessman – dubbed the North’s Curry King after his establishment, Raval Luxury Indian Restaurant, in Gateshead, was named the region’s best at the 2013 British Curry Awards – has set his sights on saving the industry by 2020.

A shortage of skilled chefs has resulted in a curry crisis, with two restaurants closing every week across the UK.

The industry is suffering because new immigration controls make it prohibitively expensive for most restaurants to hire qualified chefs from non-EU countries.

Meanwhile, young British Asians who at one time would have followed in their parents’ footsteps to run the family business are choosing not to – opting instead for white collar careers.

Mr Malik explained: “Chefs coming here from outside the EU must be paid at least £29,570 – that’s already £3,000 above the average UK salary.

“But in reality, it costs restaurants much more than that. When you take into account the cost of hiring professionals to process the application and government fees, it’s more like £40,000. Most restaurants simply can’t afford that sort of money.

“The industry cannot operate without skilled chefs. Indian cuisine is complex. The subtle use of spices and the many regional variations that exist in the subcontinent mean it can take five years to fully train chefs to create authentic dishes.”

He argues that the solution is for the government to agree to a compromise – allowing qualified overseas staff to be brought in on more realistic salaries and on temporary visas, so that the knowledge they have can be passed on to UK workers.

He stressed: “I am not advocating opening the floodgates. I totally understand and agree with the need for controls on immigration.

“What I am talking about is a short-term measure to get the industry back on its feet. Beyond that, we need a long-term strategy that will ensure its sustainability.”

That long-term strategy should, he says, include attracting more women to an industry that is largely male dominated – certainly in terms of kitchen staff.

And he believes restaurant bosses also need to tackle head-on the threat from cheap supermarket curries by educating customers about how inferior they are to freshly prepared dishes.

Mr Malik has worked closely with business associates and contacts – some of whom are regular Raval customers – to formulate what he calls his 2020 Vision for British Curry.

The group has drawn up a five-point plan to rescue the industry over the coming five years.

In a statement, it writes: “The British Curry Industry has five years to avert a crisis. Clear vision is required to see the way ahead. Unintended consequences of the Government’s current immigration policies have pushed the industry into a critical shortage of chefs.

“Our 2020 vision has a five point plan:

1.Addressing skills shortage

2.. Instituting a Curry curriculum in schools and colleges

3. Setting up a National Federation for the curry industry

4. Engaging consumers to support us

5. Local authorities and stake holders to devise a local curry strategy

Our campaign will;

* Work with schools to transfer skills and inspire the younger generation

* Make curry a truly British success story

* Save 100,000 jobs in 15,000 outlets around the UK and help save a £4bn

industry

* Champion the cultural diversity of our country

* Export British curry abroad

* Make the British Curry Industry potentially double its current size

Mr Malik added: “We need the public’s support too. If you love curry, then please back us by signing the petition on Change.org You can also find a link on the British Curry Vision 2020 Facebook page.

“It calls on the government to agree to temporary visas for overseas chefs and the relaxation of salary caps.

“We would welcome feedback from members of the public too, which can be posted on the British Curry Vision 2020 Facebook page.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ken Oxley .