Pune rejoices re-opening of Chitale Bandhu after 50 days

Pune rejoices re-opening of Chitale Bandhu after 50 days

Pune: So elated was one loyal customer at the re-opening of Pune’s much-loved sweets and snacks outlet Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale after 50 days that he wanted to hug the lady at the cash counter. Of course, he couldn’t, because social distancing norms prevent that in the times of coronavirus. 

But his happiness soon became the story that showed how much this iconic Pune brand was missed during the lockdown. 

“Chitale Bandhu outlets have been re-opened since Saturday after the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) order, and it is functional as per the guidelines issued by them. Out of 21 stores in Pune, 15 are functional and will be opened on four days --Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday -- with only 25 per cent staff,” said Indraneel Chitale, Partner, Chitale Bandhu. 

Regular customers are excited, as is evident from their gestures. 

Many customers have been sending us photos and videos of bakarwadi and gulabjam (gulab jamun) made at home as they were missing our products, Chitale revealed, adding now that the store has re-opened, their spouses are heaving a sigh of relief. 

Traditionally, customers could go to any Chitale store and customise the quantity of sweets (like pedha, barfi, laddoo) or snacks (bakarwadi, karanji etc) by getting it packed on the spot. Not anymore. 

“To reduce too much exchange of hands on the commodities, we are only selling the pre-packaged products. Even for sweets such as laddoo and mango barfi, packets of 250 gm have been prepared. The customers only are picking the packets so that it does not go through many hands. It also reduces the time of interaction between the customers and staff. All these products are prepared and made in the automated plant with least human intervention,” Chitale said

Chitale also informed that at the present number of products have been reduced at their stores. He said, “Since we are only selling packaged items, so the products with a longer shelf life are being sold at present as these are made in the automated plant in the factory with less human interference.”

The highly perishable products are more labour intensive. Therefore we have reduced the number of products to 60 from the total range of 225 products, Chitale said, adding that this will go back to normal in future. 

The staff of the functional stores are equipped with safety gears such as face shield, mask and gloves and not more than two to three customers are allowed inside the store depending upon the size of the shop. Chitale also informed that the timings of each of the shops that are opened depending on the local police station instructions. 

He said, “People are complying with the social distancing norm, and since all the products are packaged, the duration of interaction is also reduced.”

Products with longer shelf life such as pedhas, laddoos, namkeen, Kaju Katli and dairy products are available at the stores.

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