Food processing industry is a sector that generates a number of opportunities. Riding on this potential, a businesswoman from Thrissur is reaping huge profits with minimum investment.
What's her business line? Products that can be used for cooking and some ready-to-eat dishes.
'Thiruvonam Mills' is managed by Sreedevi and her husband Suresh Nath as a family business at Edakulam in Thrissur district, and its products in two categories – ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat – hit the market with the brand name 'Mrs Nalans.'
The main products are steamed 'puttu podi' and 'ragi podi,' 'idli and 'dosa' podi,' 'avulosu podi,' coconut 'chammanthi podi,' prawns 'chammanthi podi,' 'idli-dosa chammanthi podi', and various curry mixes, among others. Easy-to-prepare 'sambar' mix is a special item from the stable of 'Thiruvonam Mills.' Apart from these, the firm is also marketing rice flour, chilli, coriander, semolina (rava) and 'maida.' The delicacies made of 'Nalans' rice flour would be very soft and tasty as rice is washed, dry-fried and pestled properly.
Sreedevi has been running the business for the past three years. She got the inspiration to become an entrepreneur from her father, who had a flour mill. Sreedevi's training stints with Kozhikode NIT and Mannuthy Agriculture University in Thrissur in processing of fruits gave her the confidence to make products having local flavour.
Investment of Rs 20 lakh
The couple bought a piece of land near to their home and built a unit there and installed requisite machinery. The main machines are rice washer, steamer, pulverizer, roaster and, continuous and hand sealers. Seven people are working in the unit, which is open on Sundays too. Traditional foodstuffs such as 'puttu,' 'neyyappam,' 'ada,' 'appam,' and 'vada' are made as per orders from customers. While Sreedevi is a draftsman (civil), Suresh is a diploma holder in mechanical engineering. Their son Ashith has completed graduation in food technology and daughter Anjali has an MSc in food technology.
Sale through shops
Majority of the sale is generated through shops, and the products are supplied after directly taking orders from the shop owners. Supermarkets are not points of sale for 'Thiruvonam Mills,' but there is spot selling of products. The food items are sold on cash-and carry concept and the couple don’t encourage credit sales. Sreedevi is planning to appoint some good distributors. There is pretty good competition in this field but there are opportunities too.
Logs 30% profit
The average sale is worth around Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, and the net profit is about 30%. Sreedevi has plans to supply traditional breakfast food items, and scale up the daily production capacity from 500 kg to 2,000 kg. She is also planning to step into export market.
Main features
Stress on increasing and maintaining quality
Raw materials are subjected to a three-step cleaning process for quality assurance
Makes it a point to not buy sticky rice
In-house processing
Food items will be soft even when they are not warm
Dosa-idli batter will not ferment too much
'The trade secret will not be revealed'
Local flavour is maintained
All products are fresh
Address
Sreedevi/Suresh Nath,
Thiruvonam Mills
Edakulam PO,
Thrissur – 680 688.
Phone: 9447442347, 7559942347
