G. Mathi Vathanan, Honourable Commissioner cum Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department
A centre of economic and cultural importance in Eastern India, Bhubaneswar is the capital city of Odisha. It also houses the GMP standardised centralised kitchen of The Akshaya Patra Foundation. The three storeyed kitchen stands in a radius of 35 kilometres.
Schools
Students
Rice per Day
Dal per Day
In July 2004, the city was venerated with the first mega-kitchen built in advanced technology which served as a model for the later Akshaya Patra kitchens.
• Usage of briquettes as cooking fuel that are eco-friendly
• FEFO- First Expiry First Out
• FIFO – First In First Out
• Pulses and groceries are being procured in 15 days interval
• Vegetables and paneer are procured one day before and preserved in cold rooms
• It is ensured that the raw materials and vegetables are of good quality
• Vegetables and pulses are properly cleaned and sanitised
• Raw materials as well as vegetables (cold room) are stored in proper temperature (<5oC)
• Temperature of food is being monitored during production
• Testing the cooked food before dispatching it to the school
• Usage of briquettes as cooking fuel that are eco-friendly
• Cauldron sterilisation
• Rice chute sterilisation
• Equipments are sanitised with iso-propyl alcohol
• Suma tab is used for vegetable chlorination as well as equipment sanitisation
• Pest control is used to restrict pest entry in the premises of the kitchen and also inside the distribution vehicles
Weekly menu is being maintained with consideration of above mentioned recipes
• Identifying workplace risk and implementation of suitable controls
• Implementation of effective communications across all levels of the organisation
• Process to identify and correct non-conformities
• Implementation of continual improvement process
• Pre-production
Checking whether all utensils are sterilised before usage
Chlorination of raw materials and fresh vegetables
Ensuring that the vegetables are stored in proper temperature to maintain their freshness
Checking whether the vegetables are cut properly
Checking of the rice cleaning process
Checking of the seasoning process
• Production
Proper sterilization of rice and dalma cauldrons, equipment, vessels and utensils
Checking of cooking process
Checking the temperature of food at the time of production
Post-production
The packed food is loaded into sterilised custom-designed delivery vans. It is also ensured that the vans reach the schools at the right time.
• Raw materials are being checked through visual inspection-Batch number, manufacturing date, expiry date etc. are checked while receiving the goods
• Moisture metre is used to determine the moisture content of the selected items
There is a supplier quality Mgt. audit (SQM Audit) conducted exclusively by HO quality team.
Hygiene standards are implemented in the kitchen for ensuring safety measures for food preparation.
The type of energy used for cooking is steam. The form of fuel used is briquettes in solid form. The quantity of steam generated for cooking is 1.2 ton/hour.
The vegetables are procured daily. The raw materials and dry rations are stored in pallets. After cleaning and cutting, vegetables are being kept in plastic crates and stored in cold room.
The kitchen employs kaizen initiatives for the effective functioning of the kitchen. Here are some of them,
• Automatic rice weighing machine
• Installation of paneer cutting stainless steel table
• High pressure water jet machine installation at vehicle washing area
• Mesh is installed in front of exhaust fan to prevent pest entry and proper ventilation