Little jars of happiness

Mallika Kadambi likes desserts — both, baking them and eating them — so when her husband, Muralidhar, decided to start a new venture, they knew it had to be connected with desserts. And so, the former engineers started their first company — Jarlie.

If you’re strolling down the frozen food aisle in most of the local, big supermarkets you’ll find jars with pink spoons calling out for attention. From blueberry cheesecake  and triple chocolate cake with ganache to velvet cake, tiramisu and even pannacotta, there are plenty to choose from.

Muralidhar and Mallika worked in Dubai for 15 years. “We moved back to Hyderabad in 2008 and I decided to take a break. Murali continued working until the time he took a sabbatical, during which he did a course at ISB,” explains Mallika. It was after this course that the idea to start their own venture struck Muralidhar.

So in March 2015, the couple started what is now a thriving business. “We’re a family of foodies and I love baking. My kids would  encourage me and tell me how nice the desserts turned out. So from baking at home to starting the company, it has been great,” says Mallika, adding that when they started the company, they worked out of their home, where Mallika would handle product development and Muralidhar would take care of the marketing.

However, everything wasn’t just cupcakes and sprinkles. Mallika says, “Being a premium brand, we could not choose to produce mass market regular cakes, but challenged ourselves by introducing delicate dairy based desserts, which one can get only at fine dining restaurants and bakeries.” While Muralidhar adds, “However, to ensure shelf life, we had to work a lot on the packaging technology, food handling discipline, baking methods and choice of ingredients.”

“Every new product created is rigorously tested at Food Laboratories for optimum shelf life,” the couple adds.

Last year, the couple sold 50,000 Jarlies and they plan to hit around 4 lakh this year. Mallika says, “We want to tell people that desserts are not just found in bakeries. One can walk down a supermarket and walk out with an equally delicious and rich dessert.”