CHENNAI:The decade-old Chennai-based producer of packaged ethnic food, Mambalam Iyers Food Products, opened its first exclusive store at West Mambalam recently. A small store with cute little jars of their trademark condiments — pickle, rice mix, squashes, appalam, idly and adai dosai mix, all neatly stacked on shiny new shelves is what one can find at the newly launched store.
On the sidelines of the launch, we caught up with Ananthakrishnan, one of the managing directors of the firm. He shared, “Today, people are living in a fast-paced world, there are times when they even forget or lack the time to cook and eat healthy nutritious food. To help women who go to work, and bachelors who needed an easier yet healthy option, we started Mambalam Iyers as a small brand and sold idly maavu made at home.”
Instant food mixes and pastes were indeed a new concept back then and Mambalam Iyers became an instant hit, it was an overnight success. “When we started Mambalam Iyers, we knew that it was going to create ripples. We have carved a niche for ourselves and have ensured we give people what they need,” he beamed.
He pointed to the quality of the products as a key reason to their success. “We do not compromise on quality at any given point. Each and every product manufactured by us undergoes quality checks at various stages. The products are manufactured and packaged by automated machines and are not unhygienic at all. Products are tested in our own lab and government approved international labs,” he said.
Ask him why it took ten years to open their first home store, he smiled and said, “We have been supplying our products to various stores and have created an impact across Tamil Nadu. We were waiting for the right time and the right investors to launch the store.”
(The store is at Arya Gowda Rd, Brindavan extension, West Mambalam)