MTR: The Tale Of The Mavalli Tiffin Rooms

Muskaan Gupta

MTR: The Tale Of The Mavalli Tiffin Rooms

The instant desi solution to every midnight craving as well as the go-to mixes for domestic or international travel, MTR ready-to-eat products have not only dominated just the supermarket shelves but also almost every Indian household. The MTR STORY is that of legacy building, by a 98-year-old brand that had humble beginnings.

MTR brings the taste of authentic Indian cuisine in a packet.(Source- Dutch Uncles)

The story began when three brothers, Parameshwara Maiya, Ganappayya Maiya, and Yagnanarayana Maiya, left a small hamlet near Udupi in quest of greener pastures and ended themselves in Bengaluru in 1920. There they were hired as cooks because of their culinary skills.

In 1924, with the encouragement and assistance of their employer, Parameshwara Maiya and Ganappayya Maiya took the decision to start the Brahmin Coffee Club on Lalbagh Fort Road in Bengaluru, which served coffee and idlis. Yagnanarayana Maiya took over the restaurant after his brother, Parameshwara Maiya, died five years later. Throughout the next three decades. Yagnanarayana Maiya, or Yagnappa as he was popularly known, operated the restaurant with ease and garnered the eatery honor and recognition.

After a trip to Europe in 1951, Yagnappa returned enlightened about the standards of cleanliness and hygiene adhered to by the restaurants there. Learning from them, he introduced new hygiene, health, and sanitation standards in his eatery. He brought in utensils, crockery, and cutlery sterilisation. He gave little brochures on health and nutrition. He also allowed customers to inspect the kitchen. He dubbed the restaurant 'Mavalli Tiffin Rooms,' an abbreviation for MTR, after the neighbourhood in which it was located. The restaurant rose in significance and name after moving to its current site on Lalbagh Road in Bengaluru in 1960 and MTR became a symbol of unwavering obsession with and attention to quality and convenience. This obsession passed over generations and established MTR as a brand known for its hygiene and authenticity.

Yagnanarayana Maiya passed away in 1968, passing the torch to his nephew Harishchandra Maiya. Yagnappa's son, Sadananda Maiya, joined a few years later. His three children, Hemamalini Maiya, Vikram Maiya, and Arvind Maiya, now run the restaurant. However, conditions changed with the implementation of the emergency, which served as the immediate reason behind the inception of MTR foods. The new policy obliged all restaurants to adhere to the government's fixed prices, which were exceedingly low. The family stood by its reputation and refused to comply since it would have required them to compromise on the quality of their food. The restaurant was thus consequently shut. Sadananda Maiya then had the bright idea to capitalize on the brand name and offer something absolutely unique - food in a package.

He gathered his former staff to work on packaging a variety of popular breakfast and snack items such as Rava Idli. The concept was an instant success. The restaurant reopened as well, but Maiya continued to manufacture the mix and expanded into additional packaged goods such as spices, special spice mixes, and pickles under the new name of MTR Foods Ltd. The items were favourably received in the market due to MTR's already-established brand reputation for purity. By 1983, the company had begun to establish a network of stores outside of Chennai, including in cities like Madras, Hyderabad, and Vijayawada.

In the 1990s, Bangalore was teeming with young professionals from all across the country. With rising salaries, demand for convenience foods, and a 'no time to cook' situation, the market opportunity grew.

MTR altered its structure in 1994 to facilitate future growth and to deal with the southern India boom. The company was divided into two divisions, one for its primary food lines, spices, and vermicelli, and the other for chips and other snacks. By this time, an export section had been established to explore foreign markets. Soon after MTR had successfully captured the southern market, it was time to expand northward.

“Softy ice cream cone was introduced by MTR in 1998 and it became an instant success.”

MTR benefited from two factors: a reputation for purity and competitive pricing. The company was able to price its ice cream competitively against Hindustan Lever while still maintaining a high-profit margin.

To venture into north India, MTR began delving into north Indian recipes to introduce new products. It enlarged its snack food range, including chips and fries, and introduced a new line of ready-to-eat meals based on north Indian dishes. Certain innovative measures also played a role in the creation of the MTR brand, The business kept its focus not only on the quality of the product but on packaging as well. It introduced a retort pouch, which was merely dipped in boiling water for a few minutes to heat the food, in order to make the meals incredibly simple to prepare and leave behind no cooking mess.

Rigorous marketing coupled with a trusted legacy was what distinguished MTR from other brands and helped it establish its presence all across India. With an innovative multi-category approach, MTR had the first movers advantage in serving local staple food in a packet. The public's assurance that "the product would be good since it is made by MTR" and quality brand initiatives aided the company's market merit. Its offerings of rava idli, upma, and poha, Indian meals, popular snacks like banana chips to cornflakes mixture and local drinks specially curated by a dedicated team of chefs helped the brand generate relevance in Indian markets. The story of MTR is thus of innovation, adaptability, and business smartness that caused it to thrive in the Indian retail sector.