Millet-based cuisines to drive city’s food start-ups

Two new operators who have found success in this venture are the teams behind Prem’s Grama Bhojanam and Thirukkural Unavagam, both based out of Adyar. NS Krishnamoorthy, Founder & Mentor, Prem’s, cut his teeth for more than three decades, in retail majors such as HLL and Ruchi Soya. The perpetual foodie who had an affinity for cooking says, “I realised we had a great opportunity to introduce Chennaiites to some wholesome, healthy, ethnic food, as an entire generation seems to have been weaned on junk food.” 

“Three years ago, I decided to take the plunge, after immersing myself in a year-long research on traditional, seasonal millets and their usage. The mantra is to have zero artificial ingredients and sustainable millets in the meals. With an initial investment of Rs 30 lakh, I struggled through the first four months. By keeping my overheads low, I have turned this into a profitable enterprise. Today, we have a branch in Bengaluru, a stall in IIT Madras and I envision having close to six outlets in the next three years in cities across India, including Hyderabad and Gurugram.”

There’s also an impatient lot, who couldn’t wait to jump ship from the safety of a secure job into the challenging world of food entrepreneurship. Suresh J, an ME in Industrial Engineering, who worked for six years in reputed IT and engineering firms, was hit by an epiphany – to do something good for society, through a restaurant business. He was also inspired by the efforts of U Sagayam, the firebrand IAS officer, who was a vocal proponent of traditional foods, and spearheaded the Uzhavan Unavagam (Farmer’s Restaurant) in Madurai. 

Thirukkural Unavagam (pictured) came about when Suresh and his partner Karthikeyan I, decided to bring their organic dreams into fruition. Says Suresh, “I wanted youngsters to take on the responsibility of promoting millets, millet based diets in TN. 

We needed foods that could be made with crops that are farmer-friendly (as in utilised lower amounts of water, could be grown in arid areas and did not need any pesticides). From a two-table eatery in Virugambakkam (now wound up), we now have restaurants in Karayanchavadi and Adyar and an outlet in Ascendas IT Park.” 

He adds, “We also started supplying to other IT parks in the city using automated vending solutions. Our goal is to be able to challenge the likes of KFC and McDonald’s going forth, with our healthier offerings in traditional meals.”