Street food vendors get lessons in hygiene, chance to expand business, courtesy BBMP

BENGALURU: In a city where lakhs of people consume food from footpath vendors every day, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is giving training to street food vendors in maintaining hygiene while also onboarding them with food aggregator platforms to increase their business.

There had been several complaints of lack of cleanliness and usage of poor quality food stuff at roadside eateries. In the light of this, the BBMP arranged training for street food vendors through the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). On completion of the training, the street food vendors are issued certificates.

As part of the training, street food vendors are taught the importance of maintaining personal hygiene by wearing caps, gloves and aprons. The FSSAI certificates help BBMP link the vendors and food aggregator platforms, thereby increasing their business while also making food available at low cost to a wider customer base.

Karnataka Roadside Vendors’ Federation state president Suresh.

The state president of the Karnataka Roadside Vendors’ Federation, Suresh, said, “This is a welcome step since it is being done free through the government. The initiative is to create awareness among vendors to maintain hygiene while also providing quality food at lesser rates. Linking the vendors with food aggregators will help improve their business. It was decided to train 1,000 vendors in each zone in the initial stage. In Rajarajeshwari Nagar zone itself, 840 vendors have undergone training.”

Chandrashekar, a chats vendor, said, “We came to know about so many things after undergoing training. I’m hopeful of doing better in my business.”

Shobha K, who runs a non-veg outlet.

Shobha, who runs a non-veg food outlet, said they were taught about the importance of maintaining hygiene. “Our business have improved after linking up with Swiggy and Zomato. The training was very useful for us”.

The initiative has has benefitted both vendors and customers by way of increased business and quality food at lower prices. It remains to be seen if the initiative is taken to other parts of the state.