Satara start-up provides ready-to-eat packets to isolation centres
A Satara-based start-up that works in partnership with the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, is supplying ready-to-eat food packets to Covid-19 isolation centres and frontline workers across the state, thus also helping reduce food waste in these facilities.
Trilok Foods India processes fresh agricultural produce to make preservatives-free ready-to-eat packets that have a shelf life of up to one year. “All you have to do is place the packets in hot water and enjoy the meal,” said Gourang Potnis, managing partner of the firm.
The retort processing technology to dehydrate food items and increase their shelf life used by the start-up was developed by Smita Lele, a food tech engineer and a professor at ICT.
“In most isolation centres, there is no fixed head count and the number of food consumers varies every day. If fresh food is cooked, it either falls short or there is excess which gets wasted. Our ready-to-eat packets are handy in such situations,” Potnis said.
Trilok is supplying two meals a day and a breakfast to three isolation centres in Pune and also serving frontline workers in Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur. “We have supplied sample packets to a few centres in Mumbai as well. We are hoping to start delivering food in Mumbai soon,” said Potnis.
While the breakfast menu includes Poha, Shira and Upma, meals include chapatis, rice and curry.
The start-up was established three years ago with the intent to provide quality and hygienic ready-to-eat snacks and staples for mobile consumers, particularly those who do not have the access to home-cooked foods due to hectic lifestyles. The manufacturing facility situated near Satara has a capacity of processing 1.5 tonne of food each day and is equipped with requisite technology that produces ISO 22000 certified products. It is a public-private enterprise between the start-up and ICT, Mumbai.
Lele said the start-up was working with 80 farmers in Satara who are paid assured prices. “Unlike most companies offering a fixed contract to farmers, Trilok provides assured prices irrespective of market fluctuations. Trilok also lets farmers sell their produce directly in the market if they get a better price, so farmers have a lot of freedom,” she said.