Maiyas Beverages & Foods to focus on packaged food division, keep restaurants local for next two years

Maiyas Beverages and Foods was launched in 2008, and today they have more than 150 hybrid food products. With a focus on packaged food division, the group is targeting at revenue of Rs 150 crore, for this fiscal. Meanwhile, it has built a strong foothold in restaurant segment by getting a footfall of about 4000 in a day at its six outlets in Bengaluru.

When did you decided to sell MTR to Orkla?

We had two different set of investors in MTR earlier, and it was in 2006 that we decided to exit them and as a process to exit them, we had to sell MTR to Orkla for Rs 364 crore.

How has Maiyas Beverages & Foods grown over the years?

Today, our main focus is on packaged food division, and we are targeting revenue of Rs 150 crore by the end of 2015.  Meanwhile, we are running six restaurants in Bengaluru, and are targeting revenue of Rs 40-45 crore from the restaurant segment.

How focused are you in growing your presence as a restaurant brand and as a packaged food manufacturer?

When it comes to restaurant, we will be only local for next two years. But, in terms of packaged food, we are today strong in Karnataka. The plan is to expand it aggressively in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh for the next one year. Beyond that we will also start expanding into Western market including Gujarat and Mumbai and north in NCR region and Kashmir.

Who is your biggest competitor in the market?

MTR is our biggest competitor today. And, if you look at individual categories, Namkeen category Haldiram is the biggest player in this space. But, South India has no big organised player, so we are very lucky to cater to the region.

When did you join your company after a stint with an IT- Comapny?

I am a software engineer by background. I joined an IT company and quit the job in first four months. And, then I came back and joined MTR in 2005. I went for a six month training in kitchen, learning the cooking skills as MTR used to have a retail concept Namma MTR, wherein MTR showcase its cold storage product under that portfolio. And, I was allowed to work and managed that business more seriously and extend what the end consumers’ required. I got product training as well as the consumer insight. So, one and half years in MTR, I was handling all these things.

How much your technology skills are adopted at Maiyas?

After doing software engineering, I did management training from IIM-Bengaluru. And today, I have very smartly adopted those skills into Miayas Beverages & Foods by making it a completely automated food company. We have the ERP running which actually started running even before the company was started.

You recently launched a consumer website. How much presences do you have online and offline?

In India, 90 per cent of our business is offline today and it works on a Kirana shop model. But, the online model is for a different product portfolio all together. We give a 360 degree experience to our customers’ via this website which is a complete consumer website. 

What is your expansion in terms of growing your portfolio?

Today, our entire focus is expanding the distribution channel. We are in about 9000 outlet in Bengaluru and are planning to reach 15000 outlets in next six months. And will be adding another 5-6 outlets of restaurants in next two years time.

What is your share in the packaged food industry?

We sit at a very niche state today, and our share is approximately 15-20 per cent.