Much before Double-Seven came up as a cola brand, long before Maggi's 'instant' noodles flooded the market, there was a firm in Madras that had been there and done that. Maybe even gone a step further.
Sree Ganesh Ram Foods came into being in 1954. It was an offshoot of Hotel Sri Rama Bhavan, started in 1936 by an Iyer-duo: RSN and RSG. Maybe 7 was their 'lucky number' and they went at it thrice over, putting the 777 brand on the pickles and masalas they packed. Food processing technology being what it was in those days, there were not too many branded products in the market. SGR Foods, with their 777 brand went into products other than pickles. One such product lines was the food mixes, which they branded 'Dhideer' (that's Tamizh for 'instant'). That brand was a cult hit - everything became 'Dhideer', even if it had nothing to do with SGR Foods.
Today, SGR Foods churns out roughly 2,000 tonnes of processed foods, spanning eight categories and nearly 150 variants. Not all of them go under the SGR brands; it appears that private label contracts are booming. SGR Foods is looking to raise funds to triple(!) their production capacity. Why wouldn't you invest?!
2 comments:
I remember going to this place with my Dad when I was in my elementary school. There were two more places he used to mention for good food in that area. Ambi's Cafe (I don't know if it still exists) and Krishna Lunch Home (behind Charted Bank)- I remember going to this place in 1986 (Does it still exist?)
@ennarr: Don't remember seeing either of them. But next time, will look more closely!
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