Nilgiris Supermarket: Storehouse of values

Without a doubt, the Nilgiri Mountains are breathtakingly beautiful. However, the mountains also enclosed another evocative building that has managed to preserve its legacy. Nilgiris supermarkets, which operate since 1905 and have a tagline that reads, "At the heart of great taste," have successfully upheld their reputation of quality, cleanliness, and variety.

At the heart of a great taste (Image source: Google business)

The Nilgiri mountains look like a vast ocean laden with green hills, giving birth to beautiful hill stations like Ooty and Coonoor in southern India. Britishers found a home away from their actual home in these hills, mesmerised with their beauty and peaceful serenity. When British officials stayed in hill stations like Ooty and Coonoor in 1905, a boy named Muthuswamy Mudaliar worked as a postal runner, delivering long-awaited letters, postcards, and daily necessities from Coimbatore to the people living in the hills.

Aside from letters, there was a demand for groceries, so the young boy seized the opportunity and opened a small shop in Nilgiris in 1905 to meet the local needs. Mudaliar's business acumen led to the formation of "The Nilgiri Dairy Farm Ltd," where he and his brother began selling butter and other dairy products on land purchased from an englishman. However, due to a disagreement with his brother, Mudaliar relocated to Ooty and decided to start the business from the ground up. Soon after, he once again began doing what he excelled at: selling home-churned butter. His "Crown" butter found its way into many English-owned stores.

After the initial feat, the next practical step was to further expand the business, and as a result, in early 1939, the Nilgiris entered Brigade Road in Bangalore and began selling basic goods such as bread, butter, eggs, biscuits, and so on. The store did not abandon its legacy and continued to sell fresh, homemade butter as well as plum cake made in-house in Bangalore. The plum cake saga is such that it still sells over 100 tonnes during Christmas .

Another milestone was set by Mudaliar's son, M. Chenniappan, who came up with the idea of opening the first Nilgiris supermarket after returning from the United States and Europe. During his foreign trip, M. Chenniappan was deeply impressed by the concept of self-service supermarkets. Since the 1960s, several Nilgiris supermarket branches have been established in Erode, Chennai, and Coimbatore.

"Intriguingly, Chenniappan infused Indian culture into an otherwise foreign supermarket concept." "The store's personal touch, quality service, and homely vibes drew loyal customers, and the Nilgiris supermarket and its products became household names in South India."

Nilgiris stores, which were written in emerald green on the main board, began to shine as they opened in various locations across about 15 cities in South India. Their loyal customer base is the result of non-negotiable brand quality that has been maintained for over a century, the availability of a fresh range of products crafted according to international and local needs, and their heritage has remained unaltered after a century.

Unfortunately, the majority stake in the Nilgiris supermarket chain was sold to a UK-based company called Actics in 2006, but the Muthuswamy family's fourth generation still owns around 30% of the company and continues to instil the historical family values that founded the Nilgiris in the first place.

Nilgiris supermarket is a prime example of how even the longest journey begins with a single small step. Muthuswamy's concept of selling groceries and daily necessities resulted in the establishment of India's first supermarket. The Nilgiris' aisles may now be crammed with multiple products, but the aroma of quality service and family values lingers and entices buyers to return. Palaniappan, the family-run company's CEO from 1971 to 2006, when it was sold, remembers it fondly and says "Quality, cleanliness, and the right price for the right quality" are what Nilgiris stands for.