Moving from bytes to bites

From bytes to bites. That's exactly where Bosco Malapatti, the earlier chief operating officer and director on board of Intelligroup in India has moved to.

Very unlike his other counterparts who left IT companies to either set up their own IT ventures or get into the venture capital business.

After being in the IT industry for around two decades, Malapatti with his better half, Mukti K Bosco, took a sabbatical to start a bakery "� Ofen (oven in German) "� in Hyderabad, which not only claims to be disabled-friendly but also wi-fi enabled.

Besides, it probably also is the first in Asia to have a Swiss military wagon that has a six-foot long oven, water purifier and humidifier for baking food items and storing them too.

Says Bosco, "Starting a bakery has been a dream of 20 years and now I see it fulfilled. So with this sabbatical, I utilise my time to experiment in the kitchen, which earlier I couldn't." In fact, some of the results of this experimentation are now on the menu at Ofen too.

Mukti Bosco, managing director of the bakery, chips in, "Starting the bakery was his idea and I have implemented it." Mukti has been responsible for sourcing all the equipment, most of which has been imported.

"We decided to use the Swiss wagon because it is cost effective (it uses coal and not electricity), is eco-friendly and a novelty. Besides, coal gives a unique flavour to the baked items," she adds.

The Swiss wagon (worth 15,000 Swiss francs), that has been in use by the Swiss military since four decades for baking items while on the move, is being used in Asia at this bakery probably for the first time.

Mukti has also initiated the task of inviting Swiss bakers to train the staff in the nuances of baking food items ranging from Chocolate Barquettes, Lamingtons to Quiche and Croissants. Besides, the bakery also has Indianised versions of pastries like the one made from Chickoo powder.

Ofen has a seating capacity of 70 and will very soon have a small conference room to house business meetings besides a party area that can accommodate around 50 people.

"We are also building a play area for children and when we set it up we will invite kids for a day out wherein they can bake stuff in our kitchen," Mukti says.

The bakery has also launched its range of food items for diabetics that includes whole wheat bread besides sugar-free pastries and cookies.

"We have sourced a plant called Stevia which we will be using in these items instead of sugar," she says, adding that probably this is the first time that Stevia will be used in pastries in India.

Mukti now also plans to organise events in the bakery in the form of baking clubs wherein master bakers and food technologists will be invited from all over the country and probably abroad to teach baking to those interested.

"In fact, we have been receiving requests from many people in the IT industry to allow them to work in this kitchen on Sundays," Mukti says.

The thorough businessman that he is, Bosco adds in a lighter vein, "We are planning charge from people who wish to work over here occasionally. After all it will be a stress-buster for them."

A few years down the line, Mukti plans to take the Ofen brand across India.