Professors turned chefs! IIT Kanpur is giving a healthy twist to our quintessential sweet-laddoos

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Kanpur) is now making its presence felt in the dessert business by giving a healthy twist to our quintessential sweet, laddoos. 

Prepared by almost 150 farmer families under the Unnati Project, these organic laddoos are being transported and sold in 22 cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Indore amongst others.
The products will be made available in the market under brand name Unnati.

The journey of these laddoos first took a hike among the students of IIT Kanpur. As the demand grew, authorities started selling organic laddoos made from alsi (flax seeds), til (white and black sesame seeds), and gond (edible gum) in several cities. Now, even students who are settled abroad are helping expand the business in overseas markets.

IIT-K is also leveraging the blockchain technology to help the business flourish. With the help of this technology, buyers will get to see the field or house where the food product was prepared. As per reports, IIT-K is keeping strict tabs on quality control, packaging, and distribution of these laddoos.

The Unnati Project was launched eight years ago in five villages of Kanpur's Bithoor region to encourage scientific agriculture and impart quality education to village children through smart classes. The project, Unnati, basically intends to upgrade the skill-base of workers, and thereby improve their livelihoods, so that they can move from the current partial employment to full employment.

Besides the sweets, the IIT Kanpur also helps the farmer families sell nutritious 'hareera' (a nourishing beverage) in different states.