Women SHGs to promote Indian laddus as non-processed, nutritious snack

The Resort Hotel at Madh-Marve has been using innovative methods to empower disadvantaged groups. In their latest corporate social responsibility initiative, they conducted a free workshop for women self-help groups at the hotel recently.

As part of the 'Laddu Mahotsav' initiative, the hotel teamed up with nutritionist Sonali Kocharekar to train underprivileged women on how to make assorted laddus with nutritional values. This gave them the opportunity to increase their product varieties for large-scale mass production and help them earn a better livelihood for themselves and their families. The trained women were given the opportunity to showcase their skills at a 'Laddu Fair' which was hosted in the hotel. The Mahotsav was graced by actors Supriya Pilgaolkar, Kishori Shahane Vij and Megha Dhade to encourage these women.

The Resort embarked on this initiative when they observed that the pandemic has made people very health conscious and are looking for healthy food options to consume. As time progressed and life returned to normal with a busy schedule, people again preferred ready-to-eat processed and packed foods that were high on energy but expensive and not affordable to all. Besides the cost, the consumption of too much processed food also brings its fair share of health issues. On the other hand, unprocessed, long lasting, and affordable laddus which are made with equal nutritional values by these women can be a very good option to supplement processed packaged food. But more important, an initiative such as this provides marginalised women with livelihood-centric skills. It will help instill a sense of confidence in them, make them financially independent, train them to be self-reliant and rise up the socio-economic ladder.

Speaking about the initiative, Satyajit Kotwal, General Manager, The Resort Mumbai, said, “We at The Resort accord high priority to activities that have a social dimension. Most importantly, an initiative such as this provides marginalised women with livelihood-centric skills. It will help instill a sense of confidence in them, make them financially independent, train them to be self-reliant and rise up the socio-economic ladder.”