Mother’s Recipe - Making pickles to tickle your taste buds!

Mother’s Recipe is owned by Desai Foods. Consistently delivering the taste of love, their products have won a multitude of awards like the Consumer Voice Award, the Super brand Award 2015 & Product of the Year award 2016 for product innovation. It has also been accorded the ‘Two Star Export House’ status by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The company aims to provide its customers with quality products made with the best ingredients that meet market demands.

Talking about the company, Sanjana Desai, executive director, Mother’s Recipe, says, “In early 2000 at Desai Group, we began expanding our business verticals and entered the food business in 2002. In the year 2003, we started aggressive expansion of our Mother’s Recipe brand by extending our distribution network to 20 states in India and exporting our products globally. Presently we have a strong presence in India and across the globe, especially in the Middle East, Australia, United Kingdom, Europe, United States, Canada, and Africa. We are one of the largest providers of traditional and authentic Indian food products, exporting to more than 45 countries in the world. We place emphasis on quality and authenticity which we will continue to offer to our customers all over the world.”

Mother’s Recipe has two state-of-the- art processing facilities at Sarole and Bharoda, 70 km away from Ahmedabad. Sharing the manufacturing facility certification credentials, she says, “Our manufacturing plants have been certified under ISO 9001-2008 and ISO 22000-2005 (HACCP), Halal & Kosher & also registered with the USFDA, Spice Board of India & Export Inspection Council.”

Evolution of the products

Over the years Mother’s Recipe has undergone a lot of transformation. During the initial period, the brand was synonymous with pickles and had a strong brand recall. She claims, "We were the first ones to offer consumers several variants of region-specific pickles and have been able to research and perfect over 50 regional pickle variants, made with traditional recipes without any preservatives. Presently, we are offering pickles, condiments pastes, mango chutneys, blended spices, chaat chutneys, papads, ready-to-cook spice & instant mixes, and recently launched global exotic sauces.”

Food safety and consumer trust

For a food manufacturer, food safety and quality are of utmost importance for consumer safety and trust. Elaborating on the measures taken to ensure this, she says, “We ensure that stringent, hygienic standards and strict quality control procedures are executed at various stages of processing to make sure that all products are of the best quality. While purchasing raw materials such as fruits, vegetables, and spices, great importance is placed on quality to guarantee authentic taste, which as a brand we promise to our consumers. Our plant has an in-house laboratory facility that is equipped with the newest, sensitive instruments, to check the quality of the products at every stage.”

Innovation and R&D

In the food market, to stay ahead of others, continuous innovation and exhaustive R&D is key. Elaborating on the company’s efforts in this domain, she tells us, “Our company’s research & development team is very strong where the emphasis is majorly on consumers’ requirements to develop the products based on organized market research conducted by our marketing team. All our global sauces and szechwan chutney are made without any MSG.We have made the best exotic sauces in India which have nozzle packaging. Packaging is the key differentiator, and we are gaining prominence in the sauces category with shelf presence and consumer acceptance.”

The Indian exotic sauce market

Revealing the reason behind choosing a niche category of sauces, she tells us, “The Indian market for exotic sauces is expected to exceed 700 crores in 2022-23 due to the increased customer demand for international flavors. Our new range of Exotic Sauces is pocket friendly and enables convenient cooking for our young generation who look at experimenting with new dishes, yet not time-consuming.”

Overcoming obstacles during the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all the market sectors globally. Sharing the company’s experience during this period, she says, “Food was an essential commodity during the time of pandemic and even though demand had increased, our factories were partially functional as there were a lot of restraints on the availability of raw material, packaging material, and very limited labor. But the biggest challenge was the supply chain, transport, logistic issues, and manpower. We observed a significant rise in consumption of our packaged ethnic food products as most households preferred to cook at home. We also witnessed growth in our online sales.”

Distribution network analysis

A company’s distribution channel plays a pivotal role in increasing visibility of products among consumers and impacts its sales. Talking about how Mother’s Recipe ensures a good distribution network, she says, “With a robust distribution network across the country, we cater to diverse formats ranging from mom&pop stores, modern trade outlets, multi-functional outlets, e-commerce, and defense. In the last few years, we have been aggressively focusing on investing in product development and distribution infrastructure.”

Future plans

Sharing the company’s future expansion plans, she says, “We have consistently grown in the market with a lot of new product extensions. We have extended our chutney range – like Sweet and spicy lemon chutney, Spicy Tomato chutney. We also introduced Desi Szechwan. We are currently looking to expand our Hotel Restaurants & Cafes (HORECA)/Food Service vertical.”

As one of the leading quality manufacturers, Mother’s Recipe’s vision is to expand globally and be recognized as an Indian household name around the world. They are committed to grow with integrity.