Recipe for success

Three years after he sold MTR, Sadanand Maiya has designs on the south indian snacks market.

It happened three years ago, but Bangaloreans still find it hard to understand how Sadanand Maiya could sell MTR Foods, the pure-vegetarian south Indian food company that he built over three decades, to Orkla, a Norwegian company for around Rs 380 crore. For the generations of Bangaloreans who grew up on Maiya’s famous MTR Restaurant and the instant rava idli mixes and spices from MTR Foods, it was a shock.

“Yes, it was a difficult decision. But we took the decision (to exit) as business and emotions should not mix. We were at a stage when we couldn’t grow the business on our own… so we decided to exit,” says Maiya, sitting in the fifth-floor office of Maiyas, the restaurant he has opened since, which replicates the menu of MTR Restaurant, besides much more.

Maiya, who comes from the Kundapur area of Udupi district, a part of coastal Karnataka famous for its cuisine, well knows the palate of the south Indian. Maiya has never resorted to marketing his products — low margins and high volumes have been his mantra. He shot to fame with the instant rava idli mix and is now working on a frozen dosa that you just need to heat before eating.

Even as Maiyas, located in Jayanagar, a popular suburb of south Bangalore, emerges as a landmark, Maiya is putting in place a gameplan to garner a share of the south Indian snacks market. “Yes there is Haldiram’s, but it is mostly into north Indian snacks. We are establishing Maiyas as the main brand in the south Indian snacks market,” he says. Snacks and savouries such as chakkli, kodubale and nippatu are very popular in Bangalore and Mysore, but there is no branded player in this segment.

“We built MTR Foods and sold it. It’s history. Now we are building Maiyas with the same vigour and with the lessons from our failures in MTR Foods. The connection of Bangaloreans the world over with the Maiya family will remain intact with our new venture,” promises Maiya.

Maiya and his son Sudarshan are increasing capacity for a massive rollout even as the test-marketing and sampling exercises in pockets of Bangalore goes on. “We are getting into a host of savouries and a range of sweets which will be rolled out across retail stores,” he adds.

The south Indian snacks market is growing at 35 per cent a year and the Maiyas are all set to take advantage of the fact that they are the first organised player in this segment, dominated by a host of mom-and-pop retail stores dotted across the city. Leveraging brand recall and building scale, the Maiyas are also feeding into the preoccupation with health consciousness among consumers today by bringing down the oil content in their deep fried items from 40 per cent to 20 per cent — needless to add, without affecting the taste. The father-son duo is building a portfolio of products, using nano-technology to stay ahead of the pack.

Nano-technology and food — what do the two have in common, you may ask. Lots, according to Maiya, who studied electrical engineering before becoming a restaurateur. Maiya has himself developed some of the machines in his factory, such as the one that can make upto 800 kg of kodubale per day. Maiya sets aside 20 per cent of his time on such innovations, 15 of which are in the process of being patented.

So what is cooking? Gulab jamun with red cherry, devised with the help of nano-technology.