Starting from their home kitchen, these founders turned their grandma’s recipes into a South Indian snacks brand, clocking ₹11.5 Cr revenue

In 2015, on a rainy Diwali evening in Chennai, a group of cousins wanted murukku that tasted like the ones their grandmother, Janaki Paati, used to make at home. They searched local shops but found only packaged snacks filled with palm oil and preservatives. None of them tasted right.

That moment stayed with them. If food like this was missing from stores, maybe they were not the only ones looking for it. With that thought, Sweet Karam Coffee was born.

Meet the Founders of Sweet Karam Coffee

Sweet Karam Coffee was started by Nalini Parthiban and her husband Anand Bharadwaj, along with their cousins Srivatsan Sundararaman and Veera Raghavan. 

Nalini studied engineering at Anna University and later completed her MBA. She worked in roles at Royal Bank of Scotland and IDP Education before moving fully into the family business. Anand, who previously worked at Hindustan Unilever, brought experience in planning, sourcing, and sales.

For years, the company grew alongside their regular jobs. “Our mornings were for work and our nights were for Sweet Karam Coffee,” Anand said. As orders became steady, Nalini moved full-time in 2021, and Anand joined her in 2023.

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How Sweet Karam Coffee Began

At the heart of Sweet Karam Coffee is Janaki Paati, whose food shaped the founders’ childhood. Diwali meant long hours in the kitchen, with fresh jaangris, murukku, and mysurpa made at home. The grandchildren helped with small tasks and listened to her stories while she cooked.

With just ₹2,000 and a small space in their home kitchen, the family started making snacks themselves. Women in the family prepared small batches, while Nalini and Anand packed boxes by hand and delivered them on a two-wheeler. 

Orders came mainly through phone calls, mostly during festivals, and some months were slow. “There were days when we delivered everything ourselves,” Nalini said. Gradually, the home kitchen grew into a proper business as demand rose, especially during the Covid period when people craved familiar, home-cooked food.

“Every Diwali, our grandmother used to make jaangris, murukku, and mysurpa at home. Helping her in the kitchen is what pushed us to start Sweet Karam Coffee,” Nalini tweeted.

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About Sweet Karam Coffee 

Sweet Karam Coffee makes South Indian snacks and sweets without palm oil, maida, preservatives, or artificial items. The aim is simple: make food the same way it would be cooked for the family. 

Nalini says, “If we would not cook it for our own family, we would not sell it.”

The brand now sells snacks, sweets, chips, pickles, papads, filter coffee, and ready mixes, with over 100 products ranging from ₹99 to ₹899 for festival packs. 

Food is prepared at their Triplicane unit and through trusted manufacturing partners.A 10,000-square-foot office and warehouse in Guindy, Chennai, handles testing, packing, and shipping. 

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Sweet Karam Coffee Financials 

As per MCA  filings, Sweet Karam Coffee reported operating revenue of ₹11.48 crore in FY24. This marked strong growth from ₹1.73 crore in FY23.

Official filings for FY25 are yet to be released. However, in interviews and social media posts, the founders have shared that the company’s yearly sales run rate has continued to grow at a fast pace.

Sweet Karam Coffee has raised over $12 million in funding so far. This includes early investment from Fireside Ventures and a later round led by Peak XV Partners, with Fireside Ventures also taking part again.

The Road Ahead for Sweet Karam Coffee

Sweet Karam Coffee now plans to open physical stores in cities like Chennai and Bengaluru. It also wants to grow its export business and work more closely with offices, hotels, and gift buyers.

Even as the company grows, Nalini Parthiban remains clear about one thing. In a tweet, she wrote, “Palm oil is cheap and increases shelf life. But if we would not use it for our own families, why should we use it in our business?”

From one rainy Diwali evening to kitchens across the world, Sweet Karam Coffee shows how simple food, honest work, and steady effort can come together to build something meaningful.

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