The company began with the establishment of the
Mavalli Tiffin Room (commonly known as MTR) restaurant in Bangalore in 1924 by Yagnanarayana Maiya. In 1975, when
India was under emergency, a Food Control Act was introduced which mandated that food was to be sold at very low prices. This move made it difficult for MTR to maintain high standards in its restaurant business and forced it to diversify into the instant food business by the following year, selling ready-to-eat snacks such as chutneys and rasams. In 1984, MTR expanded out of Karnataka to the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In 2007,
Orkla Group, a Norwegian conglomerate, acquired MTR Foods for $80 million. In 2011, MTR launched a sub-brand called MTR SnackUp with traditional South Indian snacks like Khara Boondi and Benne Murukku. In 2017, MTR launched a new brand called Laban. In 2020, Orkla Group announced that its subsidiary MTR Foods would acquire
Kochi-based Eastern Condiments. As part of the deal, Eastern Condiments' owners Meeran family obtained a 9.99% stake in the combined entity. In 2023, MTR Foods was renamed as Orkla India. Orkla India
went public in November 2025 with an
initial public offering (IPO). ==References==