Tirunelveli halwa from the trademark Irruttu Kadai has made its way to the U.S. The flavourful sambhar podi has been despatched to Thailand, and organic murukkus have marked a presence in United Arab Emirates. G. Vengudupathi, director of www.snacksbazzar.com, is smiling. “We got phenomenal response during our trail run on Facebook. We got 1,500 hits in one week. A substantial number of registered users are from China, the U.S. and U.K.,” he says.
www.snackbazzar.com that launches today sells traditional Indian sweets, snacks, savouries, all made in an organic way to consumers across the globe. “We have tied up with sellers across the country. We are here to promote organic living. That is our USP,” explains Vengudupathi.“Though it involves legwork, repeated visits, and sampling, we only wanted organic stuff. Be it Srivilliputhur Palkova, Karaikudi seedai or Manapparai murukku, to name a few” he says.
The website has been put together by Vengudupathi, along with J. Nivedhita, and C. Ramachandran, who themselves are foodies. Name any sweet, and they can’t stop talking.
“The website helps us connect with food lovers, and also an opportunity to offer them something new,” says Nivedhita. She quit her software job to turn entrepreneur. Nivedhita regularly posts games and contests on the social media.
Ramchandran owns acres of organic coconut farms in K. K. Chavadi. “It’s been a decade since we switched over to organic farming. It was basically because of water scarcity. Now, it has become a way of life,” he says.
They also make many in-house specialities. One of them is organic murukku, a savoury made with virgin groundnut oil, rosewater and in the traditional copper and aluminium vessles at their kitchens in Udumalpet, 70 kms from Coimbatore.
They make organic podis too starting with paruppu podi, rasam podi, and idli podi, a special masala podi with 22 ingredients that can be used for any veg and non-veg preparation, and the medicinal angaya podi.
Vengudupathi says over 70 products already listed, including jalebi, mysorepak, Chettinad special thekuzhal, kai murukku, elanthai vadai, Thoothukudi macaroons, gulkhand burfi, Ceylon halwa, assorted sweets, and cakes.
“We plan to add organic green tea and continental delicacies shortly,” he says.
Virgin coconut oil that comes from Ramachandran’s farm is also listed. It is extracted using wood expellers. So are the sesame and groundnut oil.
Grains and pulses come from organic farms in Rajasthan and Bihar. They also sell aloe vera, basil leaves and neem leaves. “We used to put aloe vera as manure for plants. We didn’t know that there is such a huge demand for the product,” says Ramachandran.
They also make tailor-made health mixes for teens, kids, adults, pregnant women and new mothers. An in-house nutritionist chats with the consumers to help them decide.Currently, the R&D team is working on a health mix from sprouted grains too.
Vengudupathi says social media is a buzzing market place.“Everything sells. But, one has to offer something unique to grab the attention. We have taken the organic route. In 70 days, we have 4,000 registered members from across the globe,” he says.
He makes frequent trips across the country to source the regional specialities. For instance, he went all over Andhra to source pootharekulu, an Andhra sweet.
“This delicacy appears like folded paper. Each layer is thin and is filled with a stuffing. It’s a laborious process and only some of them still follow the traditional method. We found the right ones.” Same with the famous Karaikudi murukku. He went all the way to Devakottai to get the authentic one. Says Vengudupathi, “ All the efforts is worth it, when you find a sweet that tastes good and makes you feel good too.”
To know more, visit www.snacksbazzar.com or call: 0422-4510103 / 07200472008
