The Mas Enterprises story is a single decision repeated over four decades — keep the bean as close to the plantation as possible, and put our name on every box that leaves the auction floor.
A grower from the cardamom belt of Idukki, Mr. Mathai built Mas Enterprises on one refusal — he would not sell his own bean through three layers of brokers to a buyer he never met.
That refusal became a Spices Board auction licence, an ISO-certified processing operation in Vandanmedu, a Government of India Star Export House recognition, and direct relationships with buyers on four continents. The auction floor is still the one he walked into as a young grower; the signature on every consignment is still his.
The Mas approach is unfashionably old-fashioned in an industry that runs on intermediaries — own the plantation, run your own curing house, hold your own auction licence, write your own export paperwork, and never out-source the conversation with the buyer. Every one of those steps is something we still do in-house in 2026.
The group has diversified — into the MAS Spices retail brand, into FMCG under the Palat label, into agri-input distribution and a BSNL franchise — but cardamom is the line that holds it all together. It is the reason the lights are on at Vandanmedu, and the reason buyers in Hamburg, Tokyo, New Jersey and Dubai still ask for "the Mas grade" by name.
N. M. Mathai establishes Mas Enterprises as a small-grower exporter in the Cardamom Hills of Idukki. The MAS name and its "trusted quality since 1987" promise are born; first consignments ship to the Gulf.
The company opens its own curing and grading line in Vandanmedu — the cardamom capital. End-to-end control from plantation to packed-for-export carton begins.
Mas becomes a licensed cardamom auctioneer under the Spices Board of India — one of a small number of houses to combine plantation, processing and auction under one roof.
Direct buyer relationships established with EU spice traders in Hamburg and Japanese tea-blender accounts. EU residue compliance and Japan-grade traceability built into the system.
ISO 9001:2015 certified across processing and despatch. Government of India confers Star Export House recognition; the Spices Board Top Most Exporter award follows.
Diversified group structure — MAS Spices retail brand, Palat FMCG, Mas Agrifood inputs, tourism, BSNL franchise — all anchored by the original cardamom business and the auction-floor licence.
Mr. Mathai's refusal to middle-man his own bean earned the house the Spices Board's Export Award as a top exporter of small cardamom — a credential earned on the Vandanmedu auction floor.
Awarded to M/s Mas Enterprises Ltd · Vandanmedu, Kerala
Top Most Exporter of Cardamom (Small) · Spices Board, Govt. of India
Owned plantations in the Cardamom Hills of Idukki, 900–1,200 m elevation. Selectively hand-picked, plantation-cured.
Vandanmedu processing centre with sizing, colour-sort and packing lines. ISO 9001:2015 quality system, HACCP-controlled.
Licensed Spices Board of India auction-centre operator. Multi-generational presence on the auction floor at Vandanmedu.
Direct export to UAE, Germany, USA and Japan. Star Export House recognition · Top Most Exporter Award.
Retail spice brand for the Gulf and South-Asian shelf, plus Palat pickles and ready-masala FMCG lines.
HUMAS, Neemex, AgriWet, Maszyme — agri-input brands for the plantation and farming trade across South India.
Plantation-stay and estate-visit programme for trade buyers — buyers can walk the bush they are quoting on.
BSNL franchise operation across the Idukki belt — a community business anchored in the same district as the plantation.
Allied manufacturing unit for HDPE pipe — serves the agricultural-irrigation trade in plantation Kerala.
Serious trade buyers are welcome to visit Vandanmedu and the estates. Coffee, the auction floor, a colour-sort walk-through, and a curing-house demo — same day in Idukki.