Cancellation of catering orders poured in from Sunday evening, hours after the government announced that not more than 50 people will be allowed at wedding receptions and other gatherings, the curb issued in response to a sudden spike in Covid cases.
While some of the cancelled events would have witnessed a footfall of 150-200, a few others were small parties NRIs had planned with an invitee list of 80 to 90 for each.
As of now, the restrictions will be in place till January 15. The wedding season in Bengal starts just after that.
But several families have told caterers they had hired that they were not ready to take chances with a window of just five to six days for inviting people and making other arrangements.
Most have decided to postpone the events.
“An organiser called up and cancelled a small gathering scheduled for January 4 on Rashbehari,” said Chandan Guha Thakurata of Bijoli Grill caterers.
“From January 20, we have several bookings for weddings. We believe most of them will be cancelled. Last year, we had incurred huge losses and we don’t know what is awaiting us this time.”
With the last two years proving to be disastrous for the majority of those in the food and catering trade, most caterers were banking on this season of festivities for a turnaround.
A slew of small and medium-range gatherings between end-November and December 25 led many in the catering business to dream of a bumper season that they hoped would stretch well into 2022.
The restrictions announced on Sunday, though widely anticipated because of the sharp spike in Covid cases over the past few days, came as a blow to the trade.
“We had a big contract for a wedding on January 21. The client has called it off,” said Monojit Bose of Bhoj Caterers of Bhowanipore.
“We had a booking for 500 guests for a marriage ceremony at Mandeville Gardens in Ballygunge on January 30. The organisers have cancelled it,” said Ram Banerjee, a caterer from Kalighat.
“Calls have been pouring in since the evening with clients wondering how they can organise a wedding reception with just 50 guests,” said chef Rongon Neogi of Continental Catering Services.
“This is the peak business season for us and a beating now would mean limping throughout the year.”
