This success story comes from Pyndensakwang, a remote village located in the South West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. UNI Bakery was established in December 2018 by Smt. Numberlin Ramsiej and her husband. Prior to becoming a part of the SHG movement and delving into the domain of food processing, Smt. Numberlin was mainly engaged in farm-based activities like livestock rearing and paddy cultivation while her husband was working as a daily wage labourer. She was quite interested in baking for a long time but could not pursue it due to a lack of financial capital and proper training.

The initial idea to start the enterprise was conceived after her husband had completed a training program at Don Bosco Technical School, Shillong. They were getting dozens of orders from their friends and relatives to bake cakes for special occasions which made them realize the potential for bakery products in their area. They saw the setting up of a bakery unit as an opportunity to tap into a wider customer network via events, meetings, and other occasions. At the time of setting up their bakery processing unit, they faced several challenges like availing a loan and the absence of financial linkages for procurement of raw materials, machines, toolkits, storage space, etc.

Things changed after she associated with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and schemes such as the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY). She gained access to financial linkages, and received training at Don Bosco Technical School Shillong, Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), District Commerce & Industries Centres (DCIC), Shillong, and several other institutions. This enabled the couple to gain expertise in bakery and set up a family business at the village level.

On 3rd August 2021, she received a Seed Capital amount of Rs. 40,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme. With the help of this amount, she purchased an oven, a refrigerator, and raw material. Since the purchase of the oven, the production scale of the enterprise has improved and increased drastically. Initially, the enterprise was only taking orders and baking cakes for weddings, birthdays, and other occasions. After the purchase of the oven, the entrepreneur has started preparation of products such as cookies, biscuits, cakes, etc. on a much larger scale to meet the daily requirements of the local stores.

At present, the enterprise is marketing its products like cakes, biscuits, cookies, bread, and doughnuts in Mawkyrwat and Pyndensakwang. Smt. Numberlin is planning to expand the business in other villages such as Laitlawsnai and Mawthawpdah where competition is still low and therefore, hopes to witness an increase in the sales of the enterprise. The financial turnover of UNI Bakery for FY 2020-21 was Rs.1,60,000.

Business Details
Location: Pyndensakwang
District: South West Khasi Hills
State: Meghalaya
FSSAI Registration No.: 21721010000008

(Content shared by National Rural Livelihood Mission)