Healthy eating has a new name in Ranchi.
Teffe's, the RMC-licensed chicken and fish outlet trio at Piska More, Ratu Road and Kokar, is the latest addition to the shopping itinerary of homemakers and professionals alike for their hygienic ambience as well as guaranteed quality and quantity, things that unlicensed roadside vendors cannot and do not offer.
If the retail chain's young owner is to be believed, the daily footfall at each outlet is more than 30. "We sell 40kg of fish and a quintal of lean meat every day at every shop. Our USP is value for money. Our stocks are daily fresh and hence, strictly healthy," said Rakesh Roshan, the 30-year-old entrepreneur.
According to Roshan, fresh fish - mainly rohu and katla - are brought from Mandar and Tamar thrice a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. These are priced between Rs 160 and Rs 250 per kg.
The cost of dressed chicken is Rs 170 a kg while that of the boneless variety is Rs 230 a kg. Quail and duck meat are also available at Teffe's for Rs 180-250, depending on the weight. While duck is purchased from poultry farmers in Bundu and Tamar, quail is brought from farms in Hajipur, Bihar.
Unlike roadside shops, which do business illegally without licence from RMC and thus do not care to maintain minimum hygiene or block stench, the air-conditioned Teffe's outlets are a class apart. Each shop sprawls over an area of 300sqft or more. They boast surveillance cameras and various processing machines like automated feather cleaner, blood strainer, hot water washer and meat dicer.
"Teffe's members of staff are required to maintain a decent degree of personal hygiene and must wear caps and gloves all the time while handling customer orders," said Roshan. He added that the Kokar outlet opened this January while the other two are almost a year old. "The machines alone cost Rs 10 lakh while the cost of set-up has been Rs 7-8 lakh per outlet."
Roshan's customers heartily agree that the money has been well spent.
"I am a regular at Teffe's. The primary reason I go there is the ambience. You don't have to worry about any kind of contamination," said Mukesh Kumar Singh, a medical practitioner and resident of Piska More.
Kokar-based consultant Sanjeev Shukla echoed Singh. "There is no foul smell at Teffe's unlike at roadside stalls. The stocks are fresh. The employees are friendly and well informed. In a nutshell, one does not have to worry about quality or quantity. I am all for processed chicken. Sometimes they have good discounts and offers too," he said.