The Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) is the brand name of a food-related enterprise in India. Having its origin as a mess located on Lalbagh Road in Bangalore, it has ten other branches in Bangalore, as well as in other indian cities as well as overseas locations. MTR is also known to popularize South Indian breakfast item,

Rava Idli Rava idli (also rave idli) is a variation of the popular South Indian breakfast item ''idli'', made with ''rava'' (coarse ground wheat or rice), Bombay rava, semolina or rice rava. History It is a speciality of the state of Karnataka in India. I ...

History

The restaurant started as Brahmin Coffee Club in Lalbagh Road area of

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by Parampalli Yagnanarayana Maiya and his brothers in the year 1924.A very brief history of MTR is provided by The restaurent moved to a new location in 1960 and was renamed as Mavalli Tiffin Room. This restaurant was closed in the 1975 Indian emergency when the Food Control Act made it unprofitable to serve food items; It reopened in 1981.A detailed article on MTR is provided by To save the jobs during the time it was closed, MTR started selling spices and roasted flour mixes. That was the beginning of its entry into the convenience and instant food business that became MTR Foods.

Cuisine and Innovation

MTR serves

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

food.A history of MTR is provided by The decor is outdated. For many years, customers entered the restaurant through the kitchen.MTR's history and its success in creating a frozen

dosa Dosa may refer to: Belief * Dosa or dvesha, a Buddhist concept of hate or aversion People * Bogoljub Mitić Đoša (1968 - 2017), Serbian actor * Csaba Dosa (born 1951), Romanian athlete * Dosa ben Harkinas, Jewish Tanna sage * Dosa ben S ...

is mentioned by During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, MTR found it difficult to make

idli Idli, iddena, iddali or idly (; plural: idlis) is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from South India, popular as a breakfast food in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented de-h ...

s since rice was in short supply. According to MTR, they experimented with

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

instead of rice and thus invented the breakfast item of

Management and Expansion

Maiya family continues to own and manage restaurant with 3rd generation of Maiya family, Hemamalini Maiya, Vikram Maiya, and Arvind Maiya, the grandchildren of Yagnanarayana Maiya. MTR restaurant outside bangalore can be found in Udupi, Mysore, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London, Bellevue, Mississauga and Dubai. It has been shown on television in the global travel-related series ''

Globe Trekker ''Globe Trekker'' (sometimes called ''Pilot Guides'' in Australia, Spain and Thailand, and originally broadcast as ''Lonely Planet'') is a British adventure tourism television series produced by Pilot Productions. The British series was ins ...

''. The restaurant building comprises two floors.

MTR Foods

In the 1970s, when India was under

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, a Food Control Act was introduced in 1975 which mandated that food was to be sold at very low prices. This move made it difficult for MTR to maintain high standards in its restaurant business and forced it to diversify into the instant food business, selling ready-to-eat snacks such as

chutney A chutney () is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt, or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion ...

s and rasams. Since then, MTR has expanded and diversified, with MTR Department Stores opened next to the restaurant.Opening of the MTR outlet in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

is mentioned by Currently the MTR brand represents two separate entities; the ''MTR'' restaurant business and ''MTR Foods'', the pre-packaged food business.

MTR Foods MTR Foods is an Indian food products company based in Bengaluru, India. The company manufactures a range of packaged foods including breakfast mixes, ready to eat meals, masalas and spices, snacks and beverages. MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. is a subsid ...

was headed by Sadananda Maiya (son of Yagnanarayana Maiya) until it was sold to Orkla, a Norwegian company for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

80 Million in March 2007.Sale of MTR Foods to Orkla is mentioned by It produces packaged foods in different ranges - spices, instant mixes, ready-to-eat foods, vermicelli, beverages, ready-to-cook gravies, a range of frozen products, papads, pickles, chips, snacks and ice creams.An article on the changes in the MTR Foods division is provided by After the

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

, a lot of changes happened in the packaged ready-to-eat food segment due to

Defence Food Research Laboratory The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) is an Indian defence laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Mysore, Karnataka, it conducts research and development of technologies and products in the area ...

(DFRL). It bought the packaging technology from the same DFRL in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

and there are no preservatives added to the food while packaging. MTR is the first Indian processed foods company to be

Hazard analysis and critical control points Hazard analysis and critical control points, or HACCP (), is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological hazard, biological, chemical hazard, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished ...

(HACCP)-certified, a standard of food safety and hygiene. It has also sponsored magic shows and theatre performances and given free samples to the audience, as a means of demonstrating their products.Marketing strategy of MTR Foods is mentioned by MTR Foods created a frozen

, which can be heated and eaten right away. MTR Food products are sold online and exported to the countries in the Persian Gulf, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

References

External links

Webpage of MTR Restaurants

Webpage of MTR Foods Ltd.

MTR restaurants in Bangalore
Restaurants in Bengaluru South Indian cuisine Restaurants established in 1924 Catering and food service companies of India Orkla ASA Restaurant chains in India Indian companies established in 1924