Maiyas factory shutdown: Labour dept calls meet today

The labour department has called for a meeting with the management of Maiyas Beverages and Foods and some of its employees on Wednesday over non-payment of salary dues.

Sections of employees have approached the Labour department after Maiyas stopped producion at its facility in the city after differences cropped up between the founders and external investors. The employees have complained that they have not been paid their salaries for April and May.


According to labour department officials, the company management has assured to clear the part payment dues of March, and the salaries of April and May. The snacks firm was founded by P Sadananda Maiya in Bengaluru six years ago. He later roped in Ascent Capital and Peepul Capital as private equity investors.

Differences between Peepul Capital and the founders deepened in recent months leading to the drying up of working capital and shut down of the factory, according to sources.

Maiya, the ready-to-eat food pioneer in India, founded and ran MTR Foods for long before he sold the firm to Orkla, the Norwegian conglomerate, in 2007. After the noncompete period ended, Maiya, along with his son, founded Maiays Beverages and Foods, and launched many innovative products.

Differences are said to have cropped up between the founders and investors over capital infusion and disputes over meeting of certain business goals. The quarrel only aggravated after the investors brought in a professional CEO whose style of functioning did not gell with that of founders, sources said.

The talks between the founders and the investors are still on, and a decision on the firm’s future is expected soon.

The founders and private equity investors were not reachable for a comment.