Batter on a platter

Some of the most successful ventures have had a small start. The ‘iD Fresh’ company, which sells readymade ‘idli-dosa’ batter, is one of them. It was started by Mustafa and his cousin Nazer along with Jafer, Shamsudheen and Noushad with an investment of Rs 20,000 and was sold  “as a trial” in 10 stores. Today, it’s sold out of as many as 5000 stores in the City and many more throughout the country. Though iD stands for ‘idli-dosa’ batter, it has become a mark of Mustafa’s identity.

A professional at Intel, Mustafa was pursuing his MBA while Nazer was the head of a supermarket in Thippasandra. The cousins discovered that  many professionals in the City were not able to grind their own quality batter due to lack of time. Hence, the duo decided to quit their comfortable jobs and churn out this idea in 2006.

Mustafa says, “In the local markets, the batter was sold in a polythene bag and questions regarding quality and hygiene arose. We then decided to develop this product as we thought that it would have a great demand in the market. We were also a bit lucky as there was no multi-national company to fight with and no original product such as this one.” Setting up the company was a rough task. As the duo had no prior experience in the food industry, they found it a challenge to research and manage a food-related company. The founders had to understand the legal requirements “only by committing mistakes”, Mustafa is quick to add. The team also had to research for nine months to procure the required and high-quality raw materials for the perfect mix with the right consistency.

“The taste of the ‘idli’ and ‘dosa’ is authentic only when the batter is ground on a wet stone. If it’s made on a dry stone, the nutrients, taste and quality are lost. However, the wet grinding stones from India are also not of the same quality. So we imported modified grinders from US-based companies so that the taste and consistency wouldn’t get affected,” he notes.

Apart from this, Mustafa and his team also had to learn about the soaking and storage of the batter, concepts that were entirely new to him. However, the hard-work has paid off. From a team of five, they have branched out to a group of 650 members, mostly consisting of family, relatives and friends, who work on a 24-hour cycle — right from the manufacturing to the fermentation process.

‘iD batter’ was well-received right from the start and now has branches in all the metros including Dubai. They have also added new products to their chain such as ‘Malabar paratha’, ‘chapathi’, wheat ‘paratha’ and chutneys.

Mustafa says that their customers - from home-makers to bachelors and mostly senior citizens — find the product very useful because of their biggest USP — customer care.  “We care for the customer’s needs and quality. We sell about 100 packets per day and 100 per cent of our products are sold to the local markets. When we launch a product in an area, we cover that area completely. The taste will be exactly as how it was prepared at homes as we add no extra preservatives. The main objective is for people to eat healthy.”  Despite the challenges that come with setting up a business, Mustafa says that the company gives him a lot of thrill. “I don’t want to go back to a corporate job,” he sums up.