Empower 100 women as food entrepreneurs in India

The following is a postcard from Neeharika Tummala, GlobalGiving's In-the-Field Representative in India and Bangladesh, about her recent visit to YRGaitonde Medical Educational&Research Foundation.

Ever heard of an NGO that creates entrepreneurs and is environmentally friendly? The Eco-Kitchen model really blew my mind as it is one of the most different models I have seen throughout my travels. It’s a model that all about enablement, where the NGO takes the work out of the cooking and enables entrepreneurs to sell and earn extra income in a really short period of time. 

I visited two cart owners, who proudly showed off thier cart as well as the food. Their customers seemed to love the simple, healthy, home style cooked meals at a very competitive pricepoint. The couple in the first photo, spoke about how the extra revenue really helped to make ends meet and the work is not so strenuous so its something they can easily do for a few hours at lunch everyday. From the second entrepreneur, I got her opinion on the food business, where her customers come from and if she thinks that the price is competitive. She was really impressive, as she was able to give an overview of her customer base and what they look for when they come down for lunch. After all, it is up to her to bring in customers and sell at least 30 plates a day. She definitely looked like she knew what she was doing. 

Finally, the tour of the actual kitchen where the food is produced was equally impressive. All of the fuel for cooking is made with bricks which was made with organic matter. Large drums for food preparation, a staff dedicated to taking orders, inventory management, and delivery was working throughout the day as part of a well oiled machine.  I even got to taste some of the food from the kitchen and it was yum yum yum!