It was 10 days before Diwali.
The lady behind the cash counter at the shop was busy booking orders
from customers for Diwali Bakshanams
(a choice of sweets and savories). What
is unique about this shop is that all the items sold are homemade and supplied
by ladies (mamis)from whom the shop has been regularly outsourcing a variety
of snacks, savories, powders, pickles, vadams, vathals,and appalams.
Located at the NDP complex, (behind Besant Nagar bus terminus) adjacent
to Elliamman
temple, in South Chennai, this small 225 sq.ft shop is known as Srividya Coffee and the lady behind the
counter is Mrs. Srividya Srinivasan an energetic and hardworking owner of the
shop. With just two assistants, the shop
is a busy center in the evening, starting
at 4.00 pm with tiffin items like puzhungal-arisi
-sevai in five flavours, chapathis with side dish, milagapodi coated idlis,
sweet and salt kozhukattais etc.and by 6.30 pm the stocks are sold out! You can see a stream of senior citizens
coming to buy their choice of tiffin items for their dinner every day. The shop
is very popular among the residents of not only Besant Nagar but the entire
Adyar neighborhood.
“Our regular customers, even if they move out of this area to distant
locations like Anna Nagar, visit our shop regularly for their supply of powders
and other condiments and of course our tasty savories” says Mrs. Srividya
beaming with pride.
Mr.Srinivasan , a retired
offical from Unicef, one of the hundreds of
loyal customers is all praise for the cordial atmosphere in the shop and
also believes that the shop is popular
because it sells “ genuine home made
products which are reasonably priced”
According to Mrs Srividya the shop was started in 1983 and was located
on the busy second avenue in Besant Nagar . Due to problems with the landlord
the shop moved to the present location in 1988
“For the first five years, we concentrated only on fresh ground coffee and
roasting coffee seeds of customers who came with their own supply of coffee
seeds. It was my father who suggested that I start selling
snack items and also supply home made sweets, savories to interested customers. Initially I used to make the items myself at
home. As the business grew and I found it difficult to manage everything, I
started outsourcing the items from other ladies. Today I have about seven
suppliers. I ensure that the items supplied are of good quality and tasty and
produced under hygienic conditions by personally visiting the homes where they are made and checking out
the items periodically”.
“When the idea was extended later to Diwali Bakshanams , it became a hit.
What started as an experiment in the initial years has now become an important
part of our annual sales for the shop.
The sale for Diwali special items account for about a month’s average
sales in the shop. It was in 1994 that I
started making pickles at my home for selling in the shop. Later I started outsourcing that too”
The idea for selling tiffin items happened 10 years ago when a gentleman who was
selling home made puzhungal arisi sevai on the beach road was
recommended to Srividya Coffeee shop for
stocking his tasty sevais. The encouraging
response that the shop got for the item made Mrs Srividya think of adding other items like chapathis,
idlis, kozhukattai etc.
“We also sell bondas, masal vadais
and samosas on alternate evenings.
Many people reserve their favorite items on phone to ensure that they are
not disappointed. Sweets like athirasams, Jangris and small Neiappams
are available right through the year.”
The fact that 70% of the items sold in the shop are homemade is a big
plus point in favor of the shop. A few pickle items and ready mixes, all local
brands, account for the balance sales. No national brands are stocked in the
shop.
Has the shop introduced any new item or tried new ideas recently?
“Yes, this year we introduced the idea of selling variety of Sundals
with an accompanying sweet item –one variety every day during the nine days of
Navaratri, which was very well appreciated by our customers. Though we have been selling special items
during Vinayaka Chathurthi, Krishna Jayanthi and other festival occasions
this is the first time we tried the experiment during Navarathri.”
As a loyal customer for the last two decades I can also vouch for this friendly neighborhood shop for
their supply of consistently good quality and tasty home made food items!
( Contact Srividya Coffee; 044-24918939, 42384212)
Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com
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