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Mr Sadananda Maiya, scion of the Maiya family that started and ran the iconic MTR restaurant, is now cooking up new ideas for his foods venture.
From the use of nanotechnology to increase the shelf life of sweets and packaged meals to services such as free home delivery of meals irrespective of bill size to reviving forgotten recipes for Indian savouries, the Maiya's brand of restaurants, sweets and savouries is targeting the at-home and the out-of-home customer.
Maiya's Beverages and Foods Pvt Ltd has processed foods and the restaurant business divisions. The company runs a restaurant in Bangalore and will start opening smaller outlets at six strategic locations across the city in 10 days, says Mr Maiya's son Mr P. Sudarshan Maiya, also a Director at the company.
Mr Sadananda Maiya has so far invested Rs 60 crore in the business.
The processed foods segment has over 50 varieties of savouries and over 200 varieties of sweets. The company has begun exports of these products to Japan and will soon target other markets such as the US, the UK, West Asia and Australia.
Having worked with his father and run the restaurant himself for almost 25 years, Mr Maiya realises that automation ensures production of high volumes of food items without compromising on hygiene and quality. This would entail 40 per cent more investments in infrastructure compared to similar restaurants, he says.
Maiya's, the restaurant, serves around 1,500 meals and 4,000 cups of coffee a day.
Dr Sadananda Maiya headed MTR Foods till March 2007, when it was sold to Norwegian-based Orkla Foods for over Rs 350 crore.
The Dr P. Sadananda Maiya Centre for Food Science and Technology with six researchers is working on new food technologies that will keep food fresher for longer.
The company is now targeting the Indian traveller with its soon-to-be-launched packed vegetarian meal with a shelf life of four days (without refrigeration) and packaged sweets with a shelf life of one year. “Automation in manufacturing and use of nanotechnology in packaging is helping us in these products,” says Mr Sadananda Maiya.
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