KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — While Japan’s matcha has become a staple in cafés and bakeries across India, Malaysian entrepreneur Shivaani Suppiah is betting that another green ingredient — pandan — could be the next big thing in the South Asian nation.

The 32-year-old from Teluk Intan believes pandan has strong potential to break into India’s vast food market after receiving encouraging feedback from people who have sampled her pandan-infused creations.

Known scientifically as Pandanus amaryllifolius, pandan is a staple ingredient in traditional cooking across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, prized for its distinctive fragrance and often dubbed the “Vanilla of the East”.

Shivaani is pursuing that ambition from her base near Pondicherry in southern India.

The former French colony on India’s southeastern coast is known for its blend of Tamil and French influences and a thriving tourism sector.

She said Pondicherry’s mix of travellers, entrepreneurs and locals willing to experiment with new flavours made it the ideal place to launch her venture.

Through her brand, “It’s Pandan Only”, Shivaani hopes to introduce the aromatic South-east Asian plant to Indian consumers through a variety of dishes, ranging from dosas and appam to curries.

She said the brand focuses on experimenting with pandan in different foods to familiarise Indian consumers with the ingredient, which is currently used mainly in biryani dishes and traditional medicinal practices.

“My long-term goal is to make pandan more accessible and a familiar flavour in India, much like how matcha became hugely popular.

“But it took the Chinese tea about seven to 19 years to make its mark as a popular food and beverage item in India,” she told Bernama.

Shivaani believes pandan has advantages over matcha because of its versatility.

“You can only use it in desserts,” she said of matcha.

“Whereas pandan is more versatile and can be used in a wide variety of foods.

“With my brand ‘It’s Pandan Only’, I wish to expand the versatility of pandan beyond traditional Malaysian dishes.

“I am still introducing Malaysian foods to India, and I’m also experimenting with pandan in India, like with Indian food.”

Among the dishes she has experimented with are idli, dosa, chapati, poori, puttu, appam and kesari, alongside Malaysian favourites such as nasi lemak and agar-agar.

She distributes samples to cafés and restaurants around Pondicherry as part of her efforts to build awareness.

One of the brand’s flagship products is a vegetarian kaya spread called “Pandan Coconut Spread”, which has sold about 20kg across India over the past five months.

Kaya is traditionally made using coconut milk, eggs, sugar and pandan leaves.

“Currently, the kaya is brought in from Malaysia from a bakery called Vicked Good, but the plan is to begin local production near Pondicherry later this year.

“The product is priced at 290 Indian rupees (RM14.60) for 100g and 520 Indian rupees (RM26.20) for 200g,” she said.

The idea for the business emerged after Shivaani moved to southern India in December 2023 and found herself missing Malaysian food.

She began growing pandan for her own cooking before a suggestion from her cousin Ravi encouraged her to explore its commercial potential.

What started with cooking for events and potlucks gradually evolved into a business centred on the ingredient.

Today, she cultivates about 50 pandan plants, including around 20 mature plants ready for harvest.

It was in June last year that she decided to focus fully on growing the brand, drawing on a decade of experience in digital marketing, including work with food and wellness brands in Malaysia.

Shivaani said feedback from customers and travellers has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Many different people are coming here, not just Indians, foreigners from other parts of the world.

“It’s a good location for me to do my production, to test out with cafés.

“I’ve given samples to the French, Germans and Americans.

“I’ll be like saying, ‘Hey, do you want to try this kaya?’

“And everyone has given me very good feedback, including travellers from different parts of southern and northern India,” she said.

The venture was launched with a modest investment of about RM4,600, which went towards sourcing pandan-based products from Malaysia, branding and basic equipment.

Shivaani said the business remains entirely self-funded through personal savings, freelance digital marketing work and product sales.

Rising living costs have not dampened her ambitions, as the brand operates on a lean model focused on small, controlled inventory purchases.

She described the business as growing “intentionally slow, organic and highly deliberate” to maintain financial sustainability amid fluctuating costs.

Looking ahead, she hopes to expand beyond Pondicherry into other major Indian cities.

“Pondicherry will be my base for the next few years.

“But I cannot only focus on this area to grow.

“I have to go out, I want to try going to Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai,” she said.

Shivaani also uses Instagram through the page “It’s Pandan Only” to share recipes, experiments and ideas for using pandan in different cuisines.

She believes pandan’s versatility, affordability and ease of cultivation give it the potential to become a widely used ingredient internationally.

“I also want to position pandan as a natural and sustainable food alternative.

“I would love to see bigger manufacturers using pandan in their products like ice cream, breads, cakes and desserts, like how it is used in Malaysia,” she added.

Despite building her business in India, Shivaani said Malaysia remains close to her heart.

“I’m a proud Malaysian, and Malaysia will always be home.

“Coming here was a personal decision to explore something new and reconnect with my roots.

“I also believe Malaysian culture, especially our amazing food, deserves to be shared more.

“Through pandan, I hope to build a small bridge between countries.” — Bernama