Saga Foods launches authentic Iyengar S Indian snacks, spices

Bengaluru: Saga Foods is a true labour of love and food, in the making for several years, finally coming alive in 2021. Kunmun, a foodie at heart with the good fortune to have experienced the best of entire India in her formative years, has a special connection with Indian food like few others do. Kunmun, born in Amritsar, the food heaven of Punjab, after early schooling in Delhi, moved to London for further education, finally settled in Bangalore, married into a traditional Iyengar family that prides itself on the culinary traditions of many generations. This exposure to the pan India tastes and culinary traditions has made Kunmun an insufferable foodie with a penchant for not just eating but collecting and curating recipes of traditional dishes.

When interacting with her friends and family from all over India and the world, one constant and unfulfilled desire she encountered was for the savouries, sweets and even authentic masalas of South India. So much so that her bags used to be full of these snacks when travelling back home with unending order lists from loved ones. The Cardiff MBA brain in her quickly grasped the opportunity and gap in the market. Thus was born Saga Foods - Stories of Traditional Kitchens.

Kunmun with the help of her family set up production of the most popular and favourite, traditional South Indian savouries, masalas and ready mix. She embarked on an intensive R&D searching for traditional recipes and ways it can be adopted for packaging without compromising on quality, freshness or authenticity. These have come to define the cornerstones of Saga Foods.

After successfully testing waters within her own housing community and extended group of family and friends, Kunmun was confident to take Saga Foods big. Taking the bull by its horn, she opened the first of her flagship experience stores in the middle of old Bangalore at Banashankari, with its unforgiving food critics, that too when it comes to their home turf of traditional South Indian snacks and masalas. The store has seen growing popularity and loyalty over the months.

With a present SKU of 25 including a premium coffee, Saga Foods is making inroads into the market locally. But Kunmun's vision is larger. She is clear that FMCG products such as these are evergreen favourites and essentials, and has trained her target at creating an impactful D2C strategy. Coupled with a strong traditional distribution and retail network, Saga Foods has started with an e-commerce platform to attract consumers. These campaigns have been performing extremely well in their target markets providing the base for further expansion in terms of reach and offering. Along with the Indian D2C market, Saga Foods has a clear roadmap for global markets such as the US and UK as well.