Expanding the geographical footprints of Project ‘Serve Safe Food’ in Goa, Nestlé India has continued its collaboration with FDA, Goa, and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) to train over 1,000 street food vendors in North and South Goa, taking the total to over 4,000 street food vendors in the state.

Project ‘Serve Safe Food’ has already benefitted over 92,800 street food vendors across 26 states and 4 Union Territories by educating vendors on health, hygiene, safe food handling, waste disposal and entrepreneurship. The training programme equips vendors with the knowledge to improve their food handling practices.

Smt. Shweta S. Dessai, Director, Food & Drugs Administration, Government of Goa, said, “Goa receives a heavy influx of tourists, not just from India but from across the globe. Our street food is a big part of our culture, and we understand that it is one of the most prominent elements in any tourist’s itinerary. We aim to empower street food vendors in the state by upskilling them on food hygiene and safety. I am grateful for the collaboration between National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), FDA and Nestlé India in Goa and helping us achieve the objective through the project 'Serve Safe Food'.”

Ms. Taruna Saxena, Head, Sustainability and societal initiatives, Nestlé India said, “At Nestlé India, we are consistently trying to improve the food safety environment in India by going beyond the quality and safety of our own products. Project Serve Safe Food empowers street food vendors by upgrading their skills through relevant training on hygiene and food safety practices. This helps to improve their awareness on around food safety and hygiene. We have been scaling up the Project and are confident that it would bring about positive behavioral change over time and contribute to the overall growth and sustainability of their businesses.”

Nestlé India launched Project Serve Safe Food in 2016 and has trained street food vendors across states including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.