Meals On Wheels: This MBA Is Establishing A Street Food Culture In Kashmir Valley

In Kashmir, street food culture has got a boost after the opening of ¡®Chew N Brew - Eat On The Go¡¯- a mobile food van in Srinagar city. The food joint is first of its kind in the valley.

The venture is the outcome of hard work of 40-year-old Sajad Ahmad Bhat, an MBA graduate from Bharatiya Vidyapeeth University (BVP), Pune.

¡°I started this venture back in 2016. Before that I worked in many multinational companies in India,¡± Sajad told Indiatimes.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

¡°I opened a Kashmir themed restaurant in Pune in 2014 but after eight months when I visited Kashmir it was hit due to devastating floods and I couldn¡¯t go back and that¡¯s when I decided to open my own venture and serve my own place,¡± he said.

The aim of opening this food van was to start the street food culture in Kashmir. ¡°We also wanted to provide the food at the cheapest rates to those who can¡¯t afford big restaurants and make it easier for the passerby to get the food,¡± he said.

Sajad¡¯s innovative fast food outlet is sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) under its Seed Capital Fund Scheme (SCFS). This is a 15 lakh rupee project in which 35% is subsidized while 65% has been paid by the bank.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

¡°It was very tough to motivate the JKEDI officials for the loan because we already had one mobile food van then, titled, ¡®Just Bites¡¯ and that couldn¡¯t perform well. Then there were a lot of issues in procuring the permissions from other authorities because Kashmir was witnessing this facility for the first time and it was a unique concept,¡± he said.

¡°Now, thankfully we are registered with all the important government departments like Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Industries and Commerce, Labour and others,¡± he said.

¡®2016 Unrest Affected Us¡¯

After the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July 2016, the valley witnessed lockdown and curfew for some six months causing massive losses to the business sector. ¡°The lockdown affected our business completely. The conditions were so ugly for us that I used to sell tea outside a prominent Srinagar hospital so as to pay my bank installments,¡± Sajad said.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

He added, ¡°Since my staff is non-local, I have to send them back to their homes as we were unable to pay them the salaries then.¡±

He said things were initially very tough after the abrogation of Article 370 and COVID lockdown as well. ¡°I have to pay the salaries to my employees from my pocket but later business started coming back on track and we started delivering at customers' homes,¡± he said.

Sajad estimates a loss of around Rs 12 lakh in these three lockdowns.

Delivering Across Srinagar

Sajad is currently catering to Srinagar city but is now planning to expand his business in near future. ¡°We are a team of 12 people. We are reaching out to schools, colleges, offices and hospitals as well,¡± he said.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

¡°We get over 80 delivery orders in a day while at the van counter there we get over 150 orders in a day,¡± he said.

Regarding the business expansion, Sajad said, ¡°We are also going online soon, which will help the customers to book their order online and pay there only.¡±

¡°Currently, we have one van which remains parked in Wazir Bagh area of Srinagar but once business starts growing, we will purchase more vans and put them in every nook and corner of the city,¡± he said.

No Professional Cooks

He said no one among the team is a professional cook. ¡°We all have learnt from each other and now I too cook with them and I don¡¯t shy away,¡± said Sajad, who has many awards to his credit.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

Chew N Brew sells the food at the cheapest rates which is affordable for a common man. ¡°We sell Chinese to Mughlai, Veg to Tandoori, Special Thalis, Combos and others,¡± he said.

Before signing off, Sajad hoped that the right institutions would connect with him so as to create more employment for the youth. ¡°I have faced a lot of harassment on the part of authorities but now I want things to go smoothly. I expect the help from the right institutions so as to take this venture a long way,¡± he said.

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