Shift in campus food culture: Student entrepreneurs led food ventures
Your classes end just in time for lunch. Wandering around the cafeteria, you stumble across a student selling food, and the options look tempting enough for you to try. What makes it even better is that it was all homemade. You are getting a taste of home, as the students of BRACU are actively starting food businesses right here on campus, offering a diverse range of homemade healthy food options.
Sakifa Rahman (Junior, CSE), along with her mother, started a small business known as Bhojon to help her peers access student-friendly food items. They started a pre-order-based system, where she arranges the number of orders and helps her mother prepare a tasty delicacy. This initiative significantly contributed to her financial independence.
Such food businesses have also led to meaningful moments and new acquaintances. Marzia Tabassum (Junior, CSE), sharing brownies from her mother’s kitchen, Mimi’s Kitchen, shares, Once a customer reached out to me saying he was having a rough time, so to cheer himself up, he wanted to purchase a dessert from me. She elaborates, “This made the little kid in me happy, thinking in some way I can contribute to someone’s happiness.” Marzia also added that people can be a lot more supportive than one expects, and while gaining self-growth, she is contributing significantly through her initiative.
When Aysha Faruque Nawshin (Junior, BBA), owner of Crème & Vinyl, saw other student entrepreneurs selling in the cafeteria, a spark ignited in her. She began baking cookies on her off days and selling them to students. Being an introvert, she admits this business helped her to become more social. Once, a student gave her a scrawled thank-you note on tissue paper after tasting her cookies. She still keeps it. When it comes to advice, Aysha kept it simple: “Exploring the idea will never disappoint you; have faith in yourself.”
Such quiet moments of gratitude follow these ventures, as Rosina Islam (Junior, SoAD), owner of Qismis, shared that a classmate told her that grabbing a piece of a treat from her was what kept her going through a brutal academic week. Rosina offers bulk purchases and first-in, first-out-based pre-orders for students.
The combined vision of being self-reliant and leading a healthy life has united two souls of BracU in the same locale. Meet Samia Rahman (Sophomore, LL.B.) and Labiba Nayem (Sophomore, CSE), who turned their passion for cooking into a flourishing campus venture named ‘Homemade Delight’. For the health-conscious customers, Homemade Delight has a wholesome protein box on the menu, along with unique options like chia pudding. Labiba prepares all the meals at home using fresh ingredients, and Samia deals with the distribution part. “Managing both has taught me to be more organised and responsible with my time,” she explained, highlighting the significance of discipline during intense academic pressure. Despite the heavy expenses of maintaining the food quality, the duo keeps a low profit margin to make the homemade food affordable for students. A few words of encouragement from faculty members and peers keep their dream fuelled every day. “Do not feel embarrassed about starting a small business while you are a student,” Labiba advised.
Student entrepreneurs around BRAC are truly building something special across our campus. Each homemade meal carries not only fresh ingredients but also warmth, nostalgia, and dedication.
