We want to make hospitality education accessible and inclusive through endowments: Kunal Vasudeva, ISH

In a major initiative to bring hospitality students and the burgeoning Indian alco-beverage industry closer and create a win-win for both, ISH has recently announced the setting up of a dedicated centre of excellence for alco-beverages. The Centre for Beverages Innovation (CBI), as it is called, is the second centre of excellence after Allana Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) the ISH has set up to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship among students and support it with funds.

Talking about the initiative and the objectives, Kunal Vasudeva, co-founder & MD of Indian School of Hospitality, said that while alco-bev is a large industry in itself and India is really making waves across the globe by creating premium single malts, craft gins, tequila out of Agave, best of craft beers, etc., hospitality schools in the country haven’t been able to tap into opportunities presented by the sector so far.

The centre of beverage innovation, he said, will offer exposure to the students about the industry, not only in terms of production, but about diverse activities involved between production and consumption like logistics, warehousing, branding, marketing and distribution, etc.

Similarly, for the industry, it can join hands in mentoring students through customised programmes in the way stakeholders of the hotel, aviation, luxury retail, etc. collaborate with ISH, he said.

“If tomorrow, a student wants to start a kombucha factory, the idea can be incubated at our Allana Centre for Entrepreneurship and mentored by the beverage industry through Centre for Beverage Innovation. We are doing our bit and asking the industry to come and work with us,” he said.

He said that industry mentors will be visiting the campus every week and interacting with the students as part of the initiative.

Vasudeva said that the ISH is “changing the paradigm” of education by introducing endowments with the support of the industry so that the best and quality education reaches the deprived sections of the society who are aspirational but don’t have the wherewithal to access it. “Attempt is to bring inclusivity into education,” he said.

“Passion is the only quality we consider while selecting students,” he says citing the tell-tale incident of a student from a poor background from a remote village in MP who completed his culinary programme and got placement in JW Marriott Aerocity New Delhi who later on picked up by a guest to work in his resort in South Africa. After that four other students from the same village also enrolled through the endowment route and received training at the institute.

Vasudeva cited the India Talent Development Initiative that ISH and Somet Education Foundation signed with Accor group recently. As per the programme 30 Indian students from the underprivileged sections will be pre-selected and given one-year culinary training with guaranteed job in Accor hotels over a 3-year period. “It’s a fully sponsored program by Accor. Tuition fee, boarding, lodging, everything is included. The pre-selected candidates are Accor employees from day one,” he said.

The institute also runs PG programmes with 50 percent course fee endowments by JLL, MakeMyTrip, Thomas Cook, etc. The students are pre-selected with guaranteed employment with these companies, he said.

“In the last four years, we have disbursed approx INR 80 million in scholarships and endowments to the needy students. This is not subsidised education. We raise endowments from the industry and we match the same amount from our side for a cause which is making quality education accessible to the needy,” he said.