Technology and The Akshaya Patra Foundation

A combination of mechanization and technological innovation is a core feature that allows Akshaya Patra to carry out large-scale cooking operations on a daily basis. To prepare over 1.3 million meals every day, Akshaya Patra’s centralized kitchens are efficiently managed and engineered to provide quality and quantity. These industrial-sized kitchens have the capacity to cook between 50,000 to 150,000 healthy and hygienic meals.

To reduce the risk of contamination, the three-tier kitchens are equipped with a gravity-flow mechanism to prepare meals. Chopping and cleaning is done on the second floor, cooking on the first and packaging on the ground floor. The food passes from each floor through steel ducts. It is cooked at a temperature of up to 93°C to keep it free from micro-organisms.

Akshaya Patra’s centralized kitchens have received ISO certifications. Automated processes ensure efficiency and hygiene from preparation till delivery of meals to the children. Kitchen workers wear uniforms, gloves, caps and face masks and other protective gear.

In Akshaya Patra kitchens close to 6,000 kg of rice, 4.5 to 5 tonnes of vegetables and 6,000 litres of sambar, can be cooked in less than six hours.

In 2002, to suit the palate of North Indian children whose staple diet is dominated by wheat and not rice, it was decided that rotis would be served to them, and so roti-making machines were introduced in our kitchens. After many innovation attempts, efforts and modifications this mammoth machine can now churn out 60,000 rotis per hour.

Freshly cooked mid-day meals are packed in stainless steel containers and transported to various schools in custom-built vehicles that are insulated to keep the food hot till it is delivered and consumed by the children.

For its efficiency, quality and success, Akshaya Patra’s mid day meal programme has been a Harvard Business School case study.

Technology is the greatest resource available that makes it possible to ensure a glitch-free process every day.  State of the art cooking facilities and efficient management of its extensive operations help Akshaya Patra be the world’s largest school lunch programme.