Meals for ₹20, daily sales of ₹3 L: Former Kerala Min Thomas Isaac hails 'Samridhi' hotel as marvel

Former Finance minister of Kerala, Thomas Isaac, writes in his facebook post about a food venture by Kochi Corporation, 'Samridhi, with a post starting with ‘Want best food for reasonable prices in Eranakulam?’ He posts on social media.

Thomas Isaac’s Facebook post

"If you're looking for good, quality food at reasonable prices in Ernakulam, I recommend the ‘Samridhi Hotel’ located near the North Railway Station on Paramara Road. Even now, lunch costs just Rs 20, and Rs 38 for a full meal. This is possible thanks to a government subsidy. However, the meals are cross-subsidised by other food items, allowing them to serve over 2,500 meals daily. There's also a parcel service, but an additional Rs 10 is required.

The breakfast menu includes 25 different items such as idli, various types of dosa, appam, poori, idiyappam, porotta, puttu, upma, millet kanji, rice kanji and more. For lunch, they offer fish, various meats and over a dozen special items. Biryani is also available. They serve free meals like breakfast, and there's also a free tiffin. For just Rs 20, you get 4 idlis with a generous helping of sambhar. Food is available until 11 pm. The hotel can seat about 200 people at a time. After paying for a token, customers can go to the relevant counter to collect their food.

How can I be so sure the food is tasty? The food court area is surrounded by serving windows. I tasted all the dishes, with the Chairperson of the Welfare Standing Committee, Sheeba, accompanying me throughout. I also had the opportunity to sample everything in different sections of the kitchen. The breakfast was prepared just for us, and I was able to taste the special dishes personally.

The daily sales exceed Rs 3 lakh, and there are approximately 150 staff members working here. The initiative is primarily led by women’s collectives. 115 staff members are involved in cooking alone. Separate kitchens cater to vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. The staff work in various departments, including cooking, distribution, parcel services, purchasing and storage, accounts and more, each with a department head. Staff have a special hall where they can sit and eat their meals.

The staff members are content with their work, with salaries ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 35,000 per month, depending on their grade and the number of extra hours they are willing to work. The balance between income and expenses is perfect, and the initiative operates without incurring any losses. However, they have not been able to pay out dividends yet.

Samriddhi in Ernakulam is truly a marvel. It has been running for over four years without any government or corporate subsidies. After Mayor Anil Kumar took charge, the idea of a community meal service gained momentum. Back then, the concept was merely a thought; today, it has grown into an unparalleled initiative. The growth of the project is astounding – while daily sales were Rs 30,000 last year, today they reach Rs 3 lakh. The demand continues to grow.

They follow very strict hygiene protocols, and there is no room for criticism in that area.

As I was leaving, I asked Mayor Anil Kumar, 'Why not expand this concept, similar to what we’ve seen in Majitha's Ponnani or Girija's Balussery, and turn Samridhi into a common kitchen for interested families in Ernakulam?'

He continued, "For working women, the biggest challenge is cooking meals. They have to prepare breakfast and lunch while getting children ready for school, before heading to work. No matter how hard they try, they simply can't manage to prepare food for the family. Why not offer a service where meals for breakfast and lunch are delivered to such households in containers on workdays? All they need to prepare is tea. Working women will have more time for their own activities, and it would be more cost-effective than cooking the same food at home. Of course, delivery charges would be paid by the customer, but it would still be cheaper than cooking the meal themselves."

The Mayor seems to be quite enthusiastic. This common kitchen initiative by the Kochi Corporation could very well be one of the largest gender-related interventions ever undertaken by a local government. There's nothing like it anywhere in the world."