Hyderabad: Baanali, a cloud kitchen that makes traditional Telugu home food that was started by two women senior citizens last year, opened its first store in Bowenpally here.
After inaugurating the store, Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary, IT, said, “I call start-ups like these home-preneurs. It gives me immense pleasure to know that Baanali intends to employ physically-handicapped women.”
The motive to start Baanali was to bring traditional Telugu foods to the younger generations and grow as a business, said the founders, the sisters Penmetsa Usha, 61, and Datla Rajeshwari, 62. With roots in west Godavari district, the sisters began taking interest in cooking from the time they were 16.
In addition to traditional dishes, they next propose to introduce various kinds of biryanis.
The kitchen has an all-women staff of 10. Only women were being hired, said P. Lalitha, daughter of Usha, because they have an understanding of cooking and they are easier to work with. “Our whole idea of starting this kitchen was to set an example for other women endowed with an entrepreneurial attitude,” she said.
P. Sudhakar, who manages the store’s sales and operations, said, “The idea emerged during the pandemic. We did a study and realised that there is a huge market for traditional food but there was a huge demand and supply mismatch.”
Talking about the ease of doing business in Telangana, he said, “Jayesh Ranjan encouraged us. The business culture in Hyderabad is conducive to such start-ups.”
