KOCHI: The dishes prepared by the inmates of Kakkanad District Jail and sold online has been receiving an overwhelming response. On the inaugural day, all the 50 combo packs were snapped up within an hour by food connoisseurs through Uber Eats.
For now, the sale of the food items through Uber Eats will be carried out on a trial basis. It is expected that full-fledged operations will begin in a few days.
"Soon after the inauguration on Thursday, we received orders for 50 combo packs. The dishes were put on sale at 2 pm. Even before 3 pm, the entire packs got sold out. On Friday, we operated the app for nearly an hour and food worth Rs 8,000 was sold," K V Jabadeeshan, Superintendent of Kakkanad District Jail said.
A combo pack comprises of one chicken biriyani, five chappatis, chicken curry and a one-litre bottle of water priced at Rs 125. Combo packs will be available only through Uber Eats app. Besides combo packs, chappatis, chilli gobi, chilli chicken, chicken 65, ghee rice, chicken biriyani, vegetable curry, egg curry and chicken curry can be ordered separately.
In Uber Eats, jail food is listed as 'Freedom Food Factory'. Currently, the jail food will be available through Uber Eats within 8 km radius from Kakkanad District Jail from 11 am to 4 pm.
Every day, 45 persons are involved in preparing food. These inmates work in two shifts - 3 am to 9 am and 9 am to 4 pm. Around four sacks of wheat flour and 25 kg of chicken are used to make chappatis and biriyani.
The delivery is taken from 'Freedom Food outlet' functioning outside the jail. "Unlike other hotels, here we don't have to wait long to collect the food as it is packed quickly enabling us to deliver it to the customers without any delay. On Thursday most of the orders were from people working at the nearby Infopark," Arun, a food delivery boy said.
Jail food has already become a hit among employees of adjacent IT firms in Infopark. "Before the online facility started, many employees from Infopark and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) used to buy from the jail food outlet. Residents in Kakkanad and nearby areas also purchase food from us," a jail officer said.