If you are near Dr Lankapalli Bullaya College near Resapuvanipalem, in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, then you must have seen people sip their tea and then munch on the cups. No, the tea drinkers are not doing anything bizarre, aiming for any world record or trying to find the taste of clay. Manufactured by Sip with Bite, these are edible cups made with a combination of ragi and rice flour as well as sugar. The brain behind the enterprise is Tammineni Jayalakshmi, a homemaker-turned-entrepreneur. Jayalakshmi says it took her three months to finalise a method that can bind rice and ragi flour that not only tastes good but, most importantly, holds a hot/cold liquid for more than ten minutes.
Jayalakshmi recollects her journey: “I decided to start something of my own after my husband fell ill due to a plastic particle entering his digestive system accidentally and affecting his liver. Just when he was back and recovering, he got COVID; we were all devastated. That’s when I decided to do something to bring down plastic dependency, especially when eating out or drinking a beverage outside.”
Jayalakshmi considered many different things. She was clear that she would go beyond campaigns to produce an alternative for everyday use. “Since people drink tea every day near offices and colleges, I first thought of a teacup. I didn’t want to look at anything like paper or clay cups. The idea was to not add to the garbage.. Also, I wanted to make something indigenous, something that came from our Telugu States. In the process of experimentation to find the right combination, I spent close to ₹ 70,000 just for the ingredients. Since I make traditional sweets and snacks at home, I used the same methods to alternate and experiment different batter for edible cups. I combined different batters with different flours to see what lasts longer. Finally, I was able to zero in on ragi and rice flour.”
After deciding on the flour combination, Jayalakshmi looked for machines. Since edible cups made of a wafer were already available, she knew finding the machinery for the cup mould won’t be a difficult task.
Following months of practise, she finally set up a small enterprise in February 2021 along with a tea stall for a demo. Soon, she had people thronging her tea stall for the sheer fun of eating a cup after finishing the tea.
the edible tea cup
“The cups come in different flavours like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and plain. People who enjoy flavoured teas will like the flavoured cups as their flavour gets mildly infused with the beverage. Our cups can hold a hot beverage for up to 30 minutes.” Jayalakshmi is elated with orders pouring in from different states. “Within a month of setting up the business, we started getting orders from Bihar, Odisha and Assam. I feel happy about my work.”
