Maiyas To Go Online and Race Against MTR

BANGALORE: Sadananda Maiya, the owner at Maiyas Beverages and Foods Pvt. Ltd, has planned to enter the ecommerce industry making use of the internet technology. This ecommerce endeavor would put up for sale his famous dosa and idli mixes to race against ready-to-eat food rival MTR Foods, reports ET.

The surge of online food startups and food trucks gave confidence to Maiyas to invest in the booming industry. Using the payment gateway, PayU, MaiyasOnline.com would be launched on June 6. However owned by Norway’s Orkla, MTR have plans for ecommerce in the coming year.

MTR Foods was initially owned by Maiya and later sold to Orkla for 364 crore in 2007. He started Maiyas Beverages five years later that sold a wide range of products of food mixes, sweets, masalas and snacks.

The 66-year old doyen in the food industry would step into the ecommerce industry making available 270 different products on his website. "No shop has or can keep all our products. So we will address this issue through our consumer-friendly portals," Maiya said. In addition to this, he is coming up with a separate micro portal offering discounts on commodities to the merchants.

According to Harish Bijoor, brand consultant, the current market for masala and snacks stands at 6,200 crore and 4,000 crore respectively. Stepping into the ecommerce industry can expand the market for fresh food products that are in demand. "There are 246 million internet users in India spending 36 minutes a day surfing on an average. That is a big opportunity," he added.

The company had prior tie-up with logistic firm, End2End to cater the supplies and now it linked Delhivery.com to deal with domestic supplies. Customers across the world can pay using the local currency.

Maiyas products will continue to be available on Bigbasket.com and Localbanya.com. More so, the firm will continue using Flipkart and Amazon for marketing to enable sales.

Maiyas, financed by Ascent Capital, is expected to draw customers on peak festive seasons to order sweets online. "We have not set any targets for (Maiyas') e-commerce business," said Ajay Mittal, partner at Ascent Capital, which has invested about Rs 120 crore in the company. "We hope it will become a significant channel of distribution for Maiya products," said Raja Kumar, founder and chief executive, Ascent Capital.

Read More: NIIT Bags 10-Year Deal With Norwegian Firm
India, Portugal Can Together Build Stronger Partnership: President