FoodEase: Continuing Indian food culture in Manor Lakes
Image (L-R): Manan, Karan, and Raj started and continue to run FoodEase at Manor Lakes Central.
Manan Malhotra was exhausted from a long day at work.
His mother, at his home in Manor Lakes, needed a specific ingredient only available from an Indian supermarket.
It took him the best part of an hour because, in 2011, there wasn’t a local store that stocked what his mother needed.
“That’s when I thought, it’s about time that there should be an Indian grocer in the area.”
“There was a bit of a gap in the area with the Indian population growing in the area, there was no where to shop.”
Manan opened FoodEase in August 2012 at Manor Lakes, with a friend, Karan, and his brother Raj (pictured above).
Their parents, the inspiration for the store, supported and the store started out small.
The population base in the early 2010s was growing but not yet large enough to support the business comfortably.
“The initial three to four years were very hard for us,” Manan said.
As Manor Lakes expanded, so did the opportunity for the store to grow.
Operating from Manor Lakes Central, FoodEase employs around 10 full-time staff and four casuals.
“We prefer hiring local people just so it’s easier for them,” Manan said. “If someone calls sick, it’s easier for us to manage.”
Over time, FoodEase evolved with customer feedback and product expectations moving away from price-driven shopping toward experience and quality.
“Now it’s changed,” Manan said, “it’s about customer experience, presentation, cleanliness.
“There’s been a massive increase in the variety of the products, big change in the quality aspect.”
“People have started to notice that they’re getting the same flavour what they left back home,” Manan said.
After COVID, FoodEase began importing directly from India and South to give the business greater control over sourcing, quality and packaging.
“I used to fly down and visit the suppliers, visit the processing units and look at how the products are being procured, stored, handled, packed and shipped,” he said. “I got involved in an end-to-end process just to ensure that we get the right product.”
Manan reflects that the work is motivated by responsibility as much as business.
“We are in a food business and it’s very important for us to bring the right quality, right product,” Manan said. “It’s being fed to a family, to the kids, so it’s more about responsibility than a business.”
“When they run out, they (customers) come back for it,” he said. “We get a lot of appreciation on the quality and people have started to notice the difference in their meals.”
Certain products have become known locally for their quality, particularly spices.
“The green cardamom is hand picked,” Manan said. “You can’t get that accuracy in the quality if it’s being sorted by the machine.”
Raj added, “This kind of cardamom compared to any other kind you get around here, you will see the difference, how big, how fresh, how good quality.”
That emphasis extends to dried fruits and nuts, all sourced at higher grades.
“We are open to feedback, whether good or bad, so we can improve,” Raj said. “That’s what we’ve done over the past 12 years.”
Photo: Raj, director of FoodEase Indian supermarket among the shelves in the Manor Lakes Central store (Rob Blackburn)
Cultural connections
FoodEase also plays an active role in maintaining cultural connection through food and festivals, the focus of Manan’s wife Su.
“We focus a lot on our Indian festivals,” Manan said. “If we don’t do this, our next generation would not be connected to the culture.”
Su came up with the idea of festival pop up markets that they have been holding in Manor Lakes that have been a huge success.
“They not only pulls traffic from Manor Lakes but all around Victoria,” Manan said. “People connect with the vibe and the exclusive products that are sourced for the festivals.”
Their customer base today reflects the diversity of Manor Lakes, Raj said.
“Our customer base is not just Indians,” Raj said. “We get people from various different countries, Australians come in as well.”
Manan sees convenience shaping the next phase, with online ordering and click-and-collect playing a larger role. But the physical retail store remains essential.
“Retail is more about experience,” he said. “In order to get people into the shops, we need to do a lot more than what we are doing now.”
FoodEase currently operates from around 400 square metres. Manan is thinking three times is possible in five or 10 years, expanding beyond groceries into clothing, cookware and other cultural essentials.
“This is where I want to be at the end of the day because you get to interact with people, you get to know what the customers want.”