Kitchens are the heart of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Our centralised kitchens have the capacity to undertake large-scale feeding, typically up to 100,000 meals a day, whilst ensuring safe handling, preparation and delivery of the food. These units manage all operations from a single point of control. These include receiving and storing raw material, preparation and delivery of meals, and even maintenance. The scale and operational efficiency of these semi-automated kitchens help us maximise the impact of the school feeding programme.
Cooking in the centralised kitchens begins early in the morning. All the kitchens are equipped with cauldrons, trolleys, rice chutes, dal/sambar tanks, cutting boards, knives and other similar equipment, which are sanitised before use. Each rice cauldron has a capacity of 500 litres and each dal/sambar cauldron has the capacity to cook 1,200 litres to 3,000 litres of dal. Our menu is designed in accordance with the local palate. As roti is an integral part of the North Indian menu, the kitchens in the North are equipped with roti-making machines, which have the capacity to prepare 200,000 rotis from 6,000 kg of wheat flour. All the vessels are of stainless steel 304 food-grade material.
We have adopted the decentralised model in locations where difficult geographical terrain or improper road connectivity hinder the feasibility of setting up and operating large infrastructure. In these kitchens, meals are cooked by local women as per Akshaya Patra’s kitchen process and operations module. Each of these kitchens typically serves a single school.