Headed out to Hetauda
After weeks of planning, Bimala didi, Sunita, and Sabina got on a bus to Hetauda, a city about 150 miles west of Sindhuli.
The purpose of this trip was to find information on market possibilities outside Sindhuli and someday even be able to branch out to Kathmandu. Following calls back and forth between the milk candy co-op and the food administration Office in Hetauda, one of the officers relayed to the group that they should travel to the office on Friday, November 12, 2021.
Off we go
Bimala didi, Sunita, and Sabina woke up early for the trip, leaving Sindhuli around 4am that Friday, reaching Hetauda 6 hours later. It was Sunita and Sabina’s first time in the city and they were beyond excited for the new experience. One of the first things they noticed when they walked into the office building, they said, was its size. “It was humongous”, said Sunita.
Som Kanta Sharma, the officer in charge that day, was helpful and directed them to Shova Shrestha, the administrator and account assistant. Shrestha’s job is to take samples, cut invoices, etc. She turned out to be a superb guide for the team.
Official Feedback
They had taken 300 grams of samples along with them. Shrestha’s team at the office took a look at the samples, along with their packaging and labels and provided constructive feedback — the packaging needed to be air-tight, the writing on the labels needed to be bigger, etc. The Sindhuli Lollipop Industry had begun sending in official documents in March. However, due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, the administration had to pause this process. Luckily though, the old documents were still valid.
The whole appointment took only three hours, and the team left around 2:30pm. They walked out with the guarantee that they would receive the results of the tests in seven days and the contact of Ashok Gautam, the lab administrator.
Hetauda Delights
Following their appointment, Sunita, and Sabita made their way to Martyr’s Memorial, a Hetauda landmark.
They went sightseeing, walked around, and took photos and selfies along the way. Meanwhile, Bimala didi went back to the hotel and rested. They met up again around 4pm and then made their way to the shopping outlets. They had brought 30 packs of the Saughat milk candies along with them and showed them to the people working at the shops there. They agreed to sell the product in their stores and discussed how to move forward with business. They also asked for masaura (lentil nuggets) and gundruk (fermented and sun-dried vegetables), which Bimala didi promised to supply them with as much as she could.
COVID Aftershocks
Bimala didi used to supply many more candies to be sold at stores, however, they were still recovering from all of the milk candies going rancid during the lockdown. Saughat had supplied the stores with 11k candies just ten days before the COVID-19 lockdown started. Unfortunately, lockdown meant few customers, and the candies started growing mold and going bad and had to be trashed.
Full Circle
As a parting memento of Hetauda, Sunita and Sabina shopped for some winter clothing and hair bands in the market before returning to the hotel.
They experienced a sweet full-circle moment. The year before, a group of 25 women from Hetauda had travelled to Sindhuli to see the milk candy co-op to learn about how women entrepreneurs such as Bimala didi are running successful businesses. Bimala didi got to meet them again in their home turf and catch up — in a way this trip to Hetauda was reminiscent of these women’s trip to Sindhuli a year prior.
The next morning the team took a bus to the Nepali city of Bardibas and ate a quick breakfast. At Bardibas they visited a store called Ghar Sansar who carry anarasa (cookies made with rice flour) from Saughat. This is a fairly successful product, as they sell about a thousand pounds of these cookies every year.
The people working there gave them some great feedback on the packaging — pointing out that it was a little too loose and not durable.
The co-op wrapped up their trip to Hetauda with guidance on how to move forward with their candy business. Verifying their certification made them so much closer to their goal of expanding their business.
This week, Saughat heard back from a branch of the Food Administration Authority food authority. They came in for inspection and have informed her that she will hear back from the office this week.
Armed with certification, the candy co-op will be one step closer to capturing a bigger market. In the meantime, Sabina, Sunita, Bimala didi and I are planning more field visits — next stop is Kathmandu!
