Terra Earthfood- Chennai

I walked into Terra Earthfood on a weekday afternoon.  As you enter the store you cannot help but notice the beautiful interiors. There are ornate wooden shelves that proudly display a variety of snacks and munchies. There is spread of organic vegetables that add a vibrant touch of colour to the store. As you walk into a smaller room inside you see refrigerators that house batters of unique combinations and a lot more. When you pay close attention to the names you realize everything there exists with a purpose, and that is to give people “Whole, unrefined, glutenfree, organic, vegan and tasty!” food.

I find Meera Maran, founder of Terra Earthfood, standing near the counter in conversation with one of her staff members. She has an earthen tea cup in her hand as she looks over the list of vegetables. At that moment if someone had told me that I could ask her about Architecture as much I could ask her about healthy ways to snack, I would have been a bit sceptical. But after a brief conversation with Meera, I realized, there is an accomplished architect, an award-winning jewellery designer, an equally accomplished healthy food connoisseur and a lot more in this one person. Meet Meera Maran and her venture Terra Earthfood.

Nestled in Neelangarai Chennai, Terra Earthfood is the place to be if you are looking for organic, healthy and also snack options for individuals with specific food allergies. An architect by education, Meera has more than 18 years of practice and even ran her own design office. At the age of five, her daughter had to switch to gluten, dairy and sugar free diet due to some skin reactions. Meera immediately began looking for interesting recipes that would suit the insatiable palate of a 5 year old, and give her essential nourishment. What followed were many years of trials, discovery, and recipe developments. As she was in the US at that time, Meera also took up classes at the French Culinary Institute, The Culinary Institute of America, The Institute of Culinary Education and the Natural Gourmet Institute NYC. Through her own personal journey, Meera realized that there were many people who needed these options. Meera started by catering special lunches and millet based meals for some of her husband’s colleagues. It took her 3-4 years to prepare herself for this new phase in life, while finishing up her architectural practice commitments. She set up Terra Earthfood in 2012 after moving back to India, and there has been no stopping her since then.

As we talk about Terra Earthfood, we head upstairs where they have their kitchen and manufacturing area. I am welcomed into the kitchen area by three story boards that talk about  Terra’s journey. Inside I find shelves with more of Terra’s products. The place is bustling with activity. Terra Earthfood has about 45 employees today. I see a lady effortlessly make murkku, her attention undeterred as I stand and look at process. I see vessels that soak kidney beans, green lentils and many other things. The unique batter combinations that I saw in the refrigerator start to make sense now. Meera tells me that all her staff members are women who live at the end of the same street, and some have even moved there to be a part of this venture. They previously worked as maids, fisherwomen or masons. Now trained and experienced in their roles they handle everything from prep work to making snacks, to packaging and a lot more. The idea behind this, Meera elaborates, is to give them an opportunity to contribute to their families, and also have a healthy work-life balance. We walk back to the store and I see a lot of customers buying their weekly supply of vegetables among other things. They all have in hand a list of vegetables that was mailed to them by the store. The circled lists and the people around, stand testimony to the community that Meera has created. Be it her staff members or the customers, they are all in Terra bound by their interest in a better and healthier life.

I think it’s time now to shift the spotlight onto the products. Terra Earthfood has a slew of interesting and delicious products like “Organic Tomato Thokku”, “Almond Butter”, “Wheatgrass Laddoo”, “Kuthiravali (Millet) Kai murukku”, “Fig & Lemon Tea Cake”, “Buckwheat Upma” and a lot more. “We have organic savouries, organic sweets, glutenfree vegan cookies, cakes & breads.” Meera also talks about how she constantly works on “re-inventing” and adding a unique touch to our classic sweets and savouries. As a result of these re-inventions you will find in Terra Earthfood –“kaaraasevai with Thinai, a thattai with Ragi, use Red Rice for the mullu murukku, add unsweetened organic cocoa in our mysore pak, a Ragi Trail Mix ladoo filled with raw almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and unsulphered dry fruits. We have a play on the traditional classical Tamil pairing of Thinaiyum Theanum (foxtail millet and honey) and we have married that with the western pairing of Fig and Honey to create the Thinai Fig&Honey ladoo.” Terra Earthfood pays attention to not only product composition and taste, but also the choice of ingredients, the packaging and the cooking process. They also source and sell organic vegetables from local farmers.

A glimpse of the designer in her can also be seen in her food. Meera says she thinks of colour schemes even when it comes to food. For example for the green mixture, she made sure all ingredients were green or white, including the seasoning which came from white pepper.

Terra Earthfood products are available at their store in Chennai, and they are also present in as many as 30 other stores across the city. Terra Earthfood also takes corporate and wedding orders. They have retailers in Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tirupur, Pondicherry, Mumbai and Bangalore.

What started as experimental trials for her daughter is today a place that many people reach out to for their dietary constraints or their pursuit of healthy food options. The venture has grown phenomenally in terms of its clientele, its products and its reach. We wish Terra Earthfood reaches out to many more people and continues to create the positive impact it is creating today.

I look back at some of the notes that Meera had sent me while working on the article and I find this beautiful quote by her which she told someone when they asked for advice on career change and working creatively. “You live only once – if there is something you really deeply wish to do, then just make the change mindfully and do it.. and do it really really well to the best of your ability and make it matter – that would be a life well lived.”

Don’t forget to visit the Terra Earthfood Facebook page to know more about their products and stay updated on their activities.