M Chenniappan, the Chairman of Nilgiris is one of the key persons responsible for bringing the company to its present position. He has seen the days of Muthuswamy Mudaliar, (the founder of the Nilgiris), when they started the outlet in a small way on Brigade Road with a mere Rs 10 turnover of butter per day. Today Nilgiris is one of the oldest and most prestigious supermarkets in Bangalore. It's name is synonymous with quality food products. In an interview to bangalorebest.com, Chenniappan spoke about the secret of Nilgiris success and their outlet's speciality.

What are the range of products sold at Nilgiris?
We sell about 7,000 quality products through our supermarket. Nilgiris own brand of dairy, bakery products, groceries and other products are available here. We also sell all other popular brands as well. We sell more than one hundred types of cakes and 75 types of savouries in our Cake Shop.

How do you maintain the standard of the products you sell?
Our products are at an affordable price with the best quality, that includes taste, flavour, and ease of cooking. Good house-keeping and attractive presentation of our products in the supermarket to the customers put us on the frontline.

Who are your celebrity customers?
Bangalore's elite and middle classes, film actors and politicians usually shop here.

What is the secret of your success?
High quality products at an affordable and right price to all categories of customers offered with a service minded approach is the secret of our success.

Has Nilgiris got any recognition in the form of awards?
Nilgiris has won many awards from many concerned bodies. To mention a few, In 1978, we got an award from the Karnataka Chamber of Commerce for our dairy products. For leadership, innovation, commitment to values, we got the 'Vocational Service Award' from Rotary Club Bangalore Down Town. Very recently, in June-2000, we have got a 'Letter of honour' from the Karnataka Association of Small Scale Industries. In recognition of the excellence of Nilgiris, Rotary Club of Bangalore gave it an award in December 1999.

Apart from the Brigade Road outlet, where are your other branches in Bangalore?
Another Nilgiris branch is situated at Airport Road. Franchise outlets are at Kammanahalli, Whitefield, HMT Complex-Jalahalli, Jayanagar third block. Another franchise outlet of Nilgiris is to be opened shortly at Malleswaram.

What about branches in other states?
We have our own branches at Chennai including five franchise shops, Salem, Mysore, Karaikkudi, Coimbatore and Erode. We have franchise outlets in Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapattanam) and Pondicherry. We are planning to open six more outlets in the country, including one in Gujarat also.

Do you offer home delivery services to your customers?
We have home delivery services only for milk, not for the supermarket.

What special services do you offer to your customers?
Our products are of the highest quality. We consider that itself a special service to our customers. We believe in personalised service.

Other than the supermarket and dairy, what other business is Nilgiris into?
We have the Nilgiris Nest, a budget hotel with classic lodging facility. The hotels are at Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore situated in the same premises of our Nilgiris supermarket.

Who are your main clients?
Food World supermarket is one of our customers. Many star hotels, clubs, associations and some industries are our main customers. Nilgiris dairy and other products are available in more than 1000 other private shops. Besides, individuals from all walks of life are our customers.

What challenging situations has the Niligiri faced over the years?
Keeping in view of the changing trend in business we have introduced computerisation from hand written billing system. All our products are bar-coded.

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