BANGALORE: Before Mavalli Tiffin Room became MTR Foods, one of the country's leading processed food makers, it was a small restaurant operating in south Bangalore with a heady stream of faithful customers who swore by its idlis and dosas.
Nineteen seventy-six changed everything. MTR, owned by the Maiya family, was forced into the FMCG business of selling instant food mixes by the Emergency. Turbulent times as they were, MTR's business came to a grinding halt after the government imposed pricing curbs.
Price of the modest idli, for instance, was clipped to 10 paise from 25 paise while a cup of coffee had to be sold at 25 p from Re 1 under President's rule. Soon there was no stopping the mounting losses. MTR ran up losses of Rs 25, 000 every weekday and up to Rs 1 lakh on Sundays. Sixteen days after it was told to reduce prices, the restaurant was forced to shut shop.
For promoter Sadananda Maiya, 61, an engineering graduate who joined the family business at 22, it was a watershed moment. The five years spent in the kitchen trying to master Indian culinary tricks were in danger of going up in smoke. The Maiyas soon pooled their savings to establish a department store in the same premises. "My father made rava idlis during World War II as a substitute for rice, as its supply was being controlled then. We used this legacy to sell instant rava idli mixes in polypacks," said Mr Maiya.
Times were also changing. During the 1970s, women had begun to venture outside home for work, creating a market for MTR products. Once the Emergency was lifted, MTR's restaurant was back in business. But the Maiyas had by then grown ambitions of entering the big league of consumer goods. "We dreamt of the day when salesmen wearing neck ties would market our products. Just as Hindustan Lever did," Mr Maiya said. Though instant mix was an idea ahead of its time, MTR Foods wanted to be the frontrunner in the category. The company entered spices to increase brand popularity and expanded to neighbouring states.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/MTR-Foods-mix-Idli-dosa--innovation/articleshow/6025570.cms