Traditional crispy snacks and savouries are available in plenty but most of them — be it Manaparai Murukku, or Tirunelveli Halwa or Srivilliputhur Pal Khova — have brought fame to the towns from where they have originated.

“The lack of brand identity for traditional South Indian snacks prompted us to launch crispy snacks under the ‘Kaarams’ brand,’ says Jegan S. Damodarasamy, founder-promoter of Damodar Foods, and Executive Director of Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar Group.

The company has unveiled 15 different traditional crispy snacks, including masala peanuts, different types of murukku, seedai and mixture under the Kaarams brand. “Oats murukku, chollam murukku and chocolate seedai are some unique products. We want to double the number of products under this brand in the next two to three years,” says Jegan.

The company is looking to establish a distributor network across all cities.

“We intend to launch the packs in three sizes — 40 gm, 80 gm and 120 gm initially. As an introductory offer, we have launched 35 gm packets and priced it at Rs 10/pack, excepting masala groundnut, which is priced at Rs 15/packet,” said Nisha Mohan, Director (Marketing), Damodar Foods.

Kaarams range of products will be available in 250 gm packets by the year-end, she added.

facility

The company has established a manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Coimbatore. “We have set up a 15,000 sq.ft. plant with a capacity to prepare 3 tonnes of savouries a day. It is a semi-automatic plant now. We are in the process of developing a fully automated facility,” Jegan said.

The investment on this venture is estimated at over Rs 3 crore.

The company hopes to achieve a turnover of Rs 20 crore. “It may not be possible this year, but we will reach this figure soon,” he said.

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