Nostalgia and festivities with Hyderabad’s Vellanki Foods

Vellanki Foods, the 35-year-old traditional sweet store launched by Sankara Rao Vellanki and Radha Rani, is changing with the times

Nostalgia is the foundation of Vellanki Foods in Hyderabad. The 35-year-old sweet-savoury store with a heart for simple and traditional treats aims to ‘bring back grandmother’s recipes and introduce them to a new generation.’ Here is a peek into its metamorphosis over the decades.

With Dussehra celebrations underway, Vellanki’s eight stores across Hyderabad are a destination for a wide variety of delectable snacks and sweet treats, especially its prasadam platter, which features poornalu, garelu, pulihora, palathalikalu and chakkera pongali (250 gm each for ₹700).

Childhood memories are rekindled when the platter brings families together, believe Vellanki’s founders Sankara Rao Vellanki and his wife, Radha Rani. If their will shaped their journey of entrepreneurship, their daughters Vijitha and Vineela are continuing Vellanki’s culinary legacy with passion and creativity.

To pursue dreams

A native of Kalavapamula in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, Sankara Rao came to Hyderabad in the 80s for a government job and then quit his job to fulfil his entrepreneurial dream. His newly-wed wife, Radha, was a polytechnic graduate and anxious about his career shift but eventually joined him. His father, a farmer, encouraged him but agreed to support them financially only after three years.

Traditional wedding items

Diversifying into the wedding sector, Vellanki transformed into a one-stop-shop for renting out traditional wedding items such as pamu kollu (wooden footwear worn by the groom), rolu rokali (mortar and pestle to crush turmeric in brass and wood), bhaasikam, pelli peetalu (wedding planks) and puja mandapam (mandir) trays and packing material. “In villages, such wedding items are usually shared among neighbours, but here in a city, it is tough to source all items from one place. Through us, parents save time and enjoy traditional festivities with a sense of nostalgia and vintage grandeur,” says Radha.

The couple started a small-scale pickle business and later, launched their first store in Ameerpet in 1989 with three employees. Radha say, “His (Sankara Rao’s) belief in me and my skills propelled me forward. We grew confident that if we create goodies for customers the way our parents did for our children, we will grow.”

From different varieties of pickles, chutneys and podis, Vellanki diversified into making homestyle savouries and sweets such as janthikalu, murukulu, chegodeelu, vaampusa, ariselu, bobbatlu, thaati boorelu, bellam kaja, pootharekulu and gavvalu.

Return to roots

The daughters observed that even youngsters enjoy Vellanki’s traditional treats. Convinced of the enduring charm of the items, Vijitha and Vineela joined the family business in 2016 and 2018. “Our parents had the dream to create on a scale much bigger than the regular Swagruhas,” says Vineela. “There is a lot of potential and we should take it forward,” says Vijitha, who had worked in Qualcomm and did a management course at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad before she joined the family enterprise. Vineela did her business management degree in Pune and worked as a marketing manager at Glaxo. “With so much hierarchy in big companies, my decision-making would be limited. I would rather work for my own business.”

Over time, Vellanki kept expanding its portfolio by adding new items. With more people incorporating millets into their diet, they introduced Jonna (sorghum) murukulu, jowar mixture and laddoos made of millet, dry fruits, sesame, flax seeds and jaggery. This expanding range of snacks, and around 400 varieties of sweets in different categories helped them establish a substantial customer base in Hyderabad. Digital marketing efforts took their products to customers across India.

Around 300 employees work at their central production kitchen in Serilingampally, from where items are distributed to the units daily. Following the ‘build one store and expand slowly’ approach, they plan to grow steadily, taking one step at a time.

Culinary exploration

Traditional items offer a unique and flavourful experience and sometimes their preparation is complex. For example, , the soft filling in ariselucan turn hard due to jaggery or rice. “One can prepare many sweets with a cashew nut base, but traditional sweets are different; even the preparation of jaggery syrup (string consistency to bind) is not the same for ariseluand boorelu,” says Radha, who is always on a quest to discover unique recipes. One such discovery is kajjikayalu,which comes with a fresh coconut filling just like it is made at Komarolu village in Andhra Pradesh. Radha had this unique sweet at a wedding and was quick to introduce it here. “We feel proud we make it available for city dwellers,” she says.

The family of four have their roles earmarked in the business. While Sankara Rao is the brain behind business ideas and Vellanki’s growth, Radha takes care of production and culinary ideation; Vijitha looks after machinery and Vineela handles marketing. Vellanki follows a strict procedure while using cooking oil. “We don’t use oil beyond three times for frying and sell it as seconds to soap factories,” says Sankara Rao, who grows vegetables and fruits on their farml in Nagarjuna Sagar.

Vineela and Vijeetha hope to carry forward their parents’ legacy and concentrate on their next project at TSCII Food Park at Arkathala in Ranga Reddy district, Telangana. “Our parents never thought any work was lowly for them and always stepped in to ensure the job was done. We hope to live up to their expectations.” says Vineela.

Published - October 10, 2024 12:19 pm IST