The Hindu Business Line : Keralites abroad take to ready-to-cook gravy

WHEN the Kerala-based Anna Group launched its "Saras" ready-to-cook gravy prepared under different recipes it was aiming at the working women in the State . At the same time, it marketed the products in the Gulf, Europe and the US targeting Keralites there. While the overseas demand for these products has picked up it has not been so in the domestic market.

"It has become so popular overseas that there has been a demand growth of 20 per cent a year," Mr Bobby Jacob, Managing Director of Anna Aluminium, who heads the Saras Curry Powder unit, told Business Line. The company is shipping out one container (9.5 tonnes) of these products every month to the Gulf and the US, he said. Gravy for cooking fish and chicken prepared under four different recipes each is in great demand now. "We are the only company marketing ready-to-cook gravies of traditional Kerala fish and chicken curry," he claimed.

The advantage of the products is that no preservatives are used in its preparation. Instead, it is packed in three layer packs and sterilised by heating at 120 degree centigrade and cooled suddenly. "Without preservatives it has a shelf-life of one year," he claimed.

Using similar packing techniques the company is now marketing traditional items such as boiled jackfruit seeds, Chinese potato, jackfruit halwa, ada and payasam abroad, he said. Besides, boiled vegetables (mixed) in hygienic packs are also sent to the US and Europe aimed at the foreigners among whom it has already found acceptance, he said.

He said while the packaging cost equals the raw material cost, the sterilisation cost is the major component of the total production cost.According to Mr Bobby Jacob, in the domestic market, the consumers "find it difficult to consume our declaration that it does not have any preservatives. On the other hand, they feel that the price is on the higher side", he said. Probably, these are the reasons for the slow growth in demand for the gravy in the local market, he said. The company follows all the international parameters to maintain the quality of the products, he claimed.

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