The Sir Arthur Cotton Atreyapuram Pootharekula Manufacturers Welfare Association, which operates from East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, has filed an application seeking geographical indication (GI) tag for the famous Atreyapuram Pootharekulu, also known as paper sweet.
P. Sanjai Gandhi, IP Attorney and Advocate, Nodal Officer, Geographical Indication Registration of Products, Government of Tamil Nadu, who filed the application on behalf of the association, told The Hindu that this sweet is made by skilled women from the local community in that region. Each woman makes around 600 pieces per day.
“A lot of Telugu people live across the globe and there is a huge potential for this sweet in the export market,” he noted.
Made of dry fruits
According to details provided in the application, this sweet is made of dry fruits such as cashews and almonds, naturally obtained jaggery or powdered sugar and desi ghee wrapped in wafer-thin rice sheets. The rice is procured locally from the Konaseema belt. This recipe has been passed on since 300 years.
And over the years, the stuffing inside this sweet has slowly changed and it is also being made with chocolate powder, powdered sugar and hot spicy ingredients. This year in August, the Department of Posts in Andhra Pradesh released special covers on Atreyapuram Pootharekulu. The department, at that time, said it would market this sweet through e-commerce platforms and would be delivered through local postmen.
