Kratu R. Pandey

Kratu R. Pandey is an entrepreneur who transitioned from a decade-long career in banking to the food industry. He initially studied hotel management and worked in the hospitality sector before pursuing an MBA in Bangalore. After returning, he spent ten years working in a bank, where he gained valuable experience in financial management, budgeting, and business planning. Driven by a lifelong passion for food and a desire to create his own brand, he left the secure banking sector at around age forty to enter the world of entrepreneurship.

Pandey partnered with his mother-in-law to help run Hajuri Khadya Udhyog, a family-run pickle production business with a twenty-five-year history. Under this company, he launched Kitchen Recipe, a brand dedicated to preserving traditional Nepali recipes through high-value, quality pickles. In 2016, he founded Achar Ghar, a restaurant in Lalitpur that serves authentic Nepali food paired with unlimited specialty pickles. He is currently focused on scaling his production processes with modern machinery, collaborating with local farmers through contract farming, and expanding Achar Ghar through future franchising opportunities.