Akshaya Patra Foundation has been serving wholesome food to children since 2000. Located on Vaikunta Hills, the V K Hill Kitchen of Akshaya Patra, which is also known as the Vasanthapura kitchen, is ISO certified.
In the five-storeyed kitchen, inaugurated on May 25, 2007, meals are cooked for around 90,000 students of 638 schools in the city.
The facility has 18 cauldrons, 3 trolleys, 9 rice chutes, 9 sambar tanks and a daal tank. The capacity of the rice cauldron is 500 litres, sambar cauldron 1,200 litres and that of the daal cauldron is 3,000 litres. The cooking process starts at 4 am and ends at 7 am on weekdays and starts at 3 am and ends at 6 am on Saturdays. The delivery, to the 600 and odd schools is done within five to 10 minutes.
They have adapted eco-friendly methods for cooking. A solar plant used in the building generates 70 units of power a day. They have a biogas plant and a Sewage Treatment Plant.
The organisation employees 242 men and 35 women who work in shifts. The organisation has 29 custom-made meal distribution vehicles. Vehicles are tracked with GPS. To prevent any accidents in the kitchen, the steam pipe has been covered with stainless steel. A stand of similar metal has been installed to prevent spilling of sambar from sambar chute. The strip curtain in the kitchen prevents pests and rodents from entering.