Budgam girl transforms her passion for baking into business venture

Budgam, Nov 29: A 26-year-old girl from the Charar-i-Sharief area in central Kashmir’s Budgam district has turned her baking passion into a business venture.
Mehak Ashraf Akhoon after completing her diploma course in bakery & patisserie from Truffle Nation Delhi started her venture “Bakeify by Mehakashraf”.
Mehak completed her primary and secondary education in his native village, Charar-i- Sharief. After completing his secondary education, she qualified for the entrance exams and was selected for the B. Tech. in Food Technology programme at IUST Awantipora, where she completed her degree in Food Technology in the year 2020.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, Mehak said that when she was pursuing education at the Islamic University of Science and Technology in Awantipora she got an idea to start a home-based bakery shop, where she can prepare various kinds of baked goods and cakes.
“After discussing the idea with the university teachers, they appreciated my idea for starting this home-based venture. In the year 2021, I moved to Delhi to do a diploma course in bakery and patisserie at Truffle Nation Delhi. After lockdown, I returned to Kashmir and in September 2021, I moved back to Delhi, where I completed the diploma course,” she said.
Mehak said that when she received the first order, her grandmother passed away. “I decided to prepare the cake. During the night, I came back to my home and prepared the order.”
“In the month of September 2021, I started my own unit with Rs 20,000, through which I purchased raw materials and other necessary equipment. So far I have received 250 orders from the various areas, which include Srinagar, Chadoora, and Charar-i Sharief.
Mehak said that presently she is making various kinds of cakes, which include wedding cakes, birthday cakes, customised cakes, dry cakes, doughnut cakes, and cupcakes. “Before two weeks ago, I had also received a food licence from the concerned department. I am also going to prepare the biscuits which was not possible for me without the proper licence.
“The people have provided me with a lot of feedback and have also asked me to introduce the biscuits in my venture.” “I have grown my business through the social media platforms, especially Instagram and WhatsApp, through which I have received a lot of orders during the last 13 months,” she added.