Farm to Bakery: College of Agriculture Pune’s bakehouse a hit; leads to plans for baking technology courses

PUNE: Among Pune’s many charms are its iconic bakeries. From the century-old Royal, Persian and Husseny Bakeries dishing out the classic Shrewsbury biscuits, brun pav and mawa cakes to the new outlets hawking trendier, supposedly healthier fare such as Italian sourdough breads and Japanese loaves, the city’s culinary tradition has been diligently preserved and suitably reimagined over the years.

Two years ago, in May 2023, a new bakehouse opened in Pune at an unusual place. Away from the typical tourist and shopping hotspots like MG Road and FC Road, it’s tucked inside another city landmark – the sprawling campus of the College of Agriculture Pune (CoAP), at Shivaji Nagar. Besides satisfying the taste buds of Punekars and visitors, Phule Bakers, as the establishment is named, seeks to serve a more lofty purpose – to train the city youths in baking technology and business and help them become self-employed.

It’s not out of place for an agriculture college to run a business. The way agriculture education is structured in India, research and extension activities become part and parcel of any institute running agriculture courses. Many colleges and universities around the country have been engaged in profitable activities around farming, dairy, fisheries, animal husbandry, poultry, food processing, fertilizers and a host of other allied fields. While offering hands-on training to students and farmers, they also drive research and innovation in the sector.

Phule Bakers manager Syed Sikandar Ajaz (right) inspects the bakehouse's fare

In fact, CoAP, which was established in 1907 and now functions as a constituent college of the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri – one of Maharashtra’s four public agricultural universities – has an entrepreneurial legacy. It's home to the university's Indigenous Cattle Research cum Training Centre (ICRTC), which looks after a government-owned dairy farm predating the college. The centre has been producing milk and other dairy products such as ghee, paneer and sweets, and selling them under ‘Phule Amrut’ brand.

The seeds of MPKV’s ‘Phule Samarth’ onion variety are perhaps its most popular product, selling like hot cakes among farmers, with the university often deploying police to control the unruly buyers. The proceeds of the sale are generously shared with the students working to produce these items as part of their final-year experimental learning component.

CoAP’s Phule Bakers

The idea for setting up a full–fledged bakery at CoAP came up during a meeting of officials at MPKV, whose food science department already runs a small baking unit at the agricultural university’s Rahuri headquarters. The new venture is envisaged as a replicable model and training ground, not only for the college students but also others, even homemakers, looking for a source of income.

“There's so much rush in the city’s bakeries in the morning. If you make an innovative product, there’ll be demand for it. An annual turnover of Rs 5-10 lakh can be achieved,” said Syed Sikandar Ajaz, manager of Phule Bakers. Ajaz retired as an assistant registrar at CoAP last year, but has been retained by the varsity to spearhead the project.

The project comes at a time when agriculture graduates are struggling to find jobs after their education. The new National Education Policy 2020-aligned curriculum , prepared last year by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) Sixth Deans’ Committee, places much emphasis on equipping students with practical skills and entrepreneurial aptitude .

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Ajaz points out that, with the central government’s vision of doubling farmers’ income, which was set to be achieved by 2022, various subsidies are available to those investing in agricultural businesses. “A bakery can come up in every village. It will be an asset,” he said.

The project got a modest seed funding of Rs 10 lakh from the university, while an additional Rs 20 lakh was raised from the District Planning and Development Committee (DPDC) to purchase machinery. A storage area in the college premises was repurposed to set up a bakery, while much of the equipment and furniture either manufactured in-house or purchased at a bargain. The university's own ‘Phule Satawik’, a high-yield soft wheat variety meant for bread, is used as the main ingredient, while fat-free milk is sourced from ICRTC dairy.

The business has turned profitable within two years, with Rs 43 lakh in receipts as of March this year. Phule Bakers now employs a staff of 10, producing around Rs 400 kg of baked delicacies every day. Most of the retail sale is through online food delivery platforms and temporary ‘exhibition-cum-sales’ avenues. The products are sold in bulk to other retailers and even corporate firms and educational institutes.

The key to the initial success, according to Ajaz, is the bakery’s focus on quality products for a health-conscious clientele. “We don't prepare many cream cakes. There's a very good market for wheat, nachani and jowari biscuits as well as multi-grain breads. The healthy products are more popular” said Ajaz.

The Phule Bakers outlet at CoAP campus

CoAP: Baking technology courses

With a viable business model in place, the college is ready to begin the training process, possibly from the upcoming academic year. A proposal has been submitted to the vice chancellor to start month-long training modules, with batches of 30 trainees. The course could cost around Rs 30,000. There are plans to have more advanced as well as short-term (three-five days) training programmes as well. Baking technology will likely be added to the 10-odd modules available to final year students of B.Sc Agriculture course at CoAP for experimental learning.

The college is also planning to tie-up with the nearby Maharashtra State Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, a government-run hospitality studies college. “They will run technical aspects of the courses. A few businesspersons who make exotic products will also be roped in,” said Ajaz.

The institute also has plans to keep expanding the business. It's contemplating buying larger machines to produce greater quantities of cookies. Various herbs – including varieties of thyme and rosemary – zucchini and foxtail millet are set to be grown on campus and used as ingredients in the new products. Hiring of a digital marketing team is also in the pipeline to promote the brand.