Bakeys (sometimes also known as Bakey's) is an Indian edible cutlery manufacturing startup company based in Hyderabad, Telangana.[1][2] Bakeys was founded in 2010 by former ICRISAT researcher Narayana Peesapaty as an eco-friendly alternative to disposable utensils prepared with plastic, wood and bamboo, such as bamboo chopsticks.[3][4]

Products [ edit ]

Bakeys uses different types of flours to bake single-use edible spoons, forks and chopsticks which can be consumed after their intended use.[4][5] Since 2010, it has sold more than 1.5 million pieces of cutlery throughout India.[6] As of April 2016, the company only markets edible spoons, but has plans to expand its operations to begin distribution of forks and chopsticks with income from a Kickstarter funding campaign.[5] As of April 2016, the company only ships its products within India.[5]

The products are vegetarian, and are manufactured using with all-natural ingredients, (primarily) sorghum (jowar), and other types of flours such as wheat, rice, and millet.[4][6] The spoons have a shelf-life of 24 months and are so made that they will naturally decompose between 3 and 7 days after use if not consumed.[2] The spoons are manufactured in several flavors, such as cumin, mint-ginger, carrot-beetroot and sugar.[5][7]

History [ edit ]

Bakeys was founded by Narayana Peesapathy in 2010 in Hyderabad. In April 2016, it earned a crowd-funding of around ₹25 lakh (US$35,000) from 1500+ backers through Ketto with its initial goal being only ₹1 lakh (US$1,400).[8] Following this support, the company started a Kickstarter campaign to increase its reach.[4][9] In April 2016, the company had 30 employees.[6] As of May 2017 the company had not yet started shipping to backers of the Kickstarter, though shipments of the spoons to customers in India, has been proceeding without issue.[10] Many Kickstarter backers are currently attempting legal action against Bakeys due to no response after pledging over $250,000 in US dollars.