Leela’s Kitchen pioneer Kumar Menon is expanding his business and has joined the ’green’ revolution.

He is also assisting members of his family and businesses in his native India where the struggle against Covid has been really tough and there is little help from the state.

Mr Menon said: ’You have to look at the positive sides of life and be grateful that we are living and working in this beautiful island.’

He has vowed to do his bit for the environment by abandoning plastic tubs replacing them with biodegradable pots.

He said: ’We are partners with UNESCO biosphere and Bill Dale of Beach Buddies has had an impact on my life because I saw how much he has done to help protect the environment. I’m not a big company but I wanted to do something.’

He has just launched a new range of coffee - Monsoon Malabar coffee beans and Malabar ground coffee with chicory along with his spices that now showcase Indian wildlife that is on the Indian endangered species list. The beautiful artwork for the new packaging is done by local artist Julia Smyth.

Leela’s kitchen has produced some award-winning products with collaboration with island businesses and more recently with Berries pudding and confectioners, winning bronze from the academy of chocolate award’s 2020 for Monsoon Malabar coffee chocolates that will be on sale as a limited edition during Christmas.

Mr Menon, who lives in St Catherine’s Drive, Douglas, is proud of his roots being from Kerala, a state in the southwest of India.

Spices are a family legacy. His grandfather started trading spices in the 1950s, his father is still involved and he counts himself as a third generation ’spice trader’.

Mr Menon said he was keen to help his father and other spice producers in India by launching the new range of coffee in the last few days.

He launched Leela’s Kitchen in 2011 in memory of his late grandmother Leela and business has been expanding ever since with a string of awards for his ’artisan’ products.

He said: ’My grandmother and mother are the inspiration behind my passion for food especially Indian food, spices and the culinary journey.

’To continue the family tradition and journey my daughter Leela is also interested in the business.’

Mr Menon praised his teenage daughter Leela, partner Michele Gogan along with friends and associates for their help during this year in which he often had to ’think outside the box’ because of the Covid crisis.

economy

Mr Menon said things had been ’very hard’ for the people in his home country. ’It’s not like here. We have been quite lucky with the fact the government helps businesses and people here and to help sustain the economy. But in India they don’t have any sort of financial help, nothing.

’So I’ve been supporting what I can for the family and our producers back home.’

Since the situation eased on the island after lockdown earlier this year Mr Menon has resumed his catering assignments including cooking for dinner parties in homes across the island and he’s also catering for large events.