It was a tiny hole in the lid that saved the TTK Group, best known for its Prestige pressure cookers, from bankruptcy. In the 1970s, when flagship company TTK Prestige, based in Bengaluru, faced a product challenge with its pressure cookers exploding in kitchens, it was a simple insight—drilling a hole in the lid to release excess steam—that helped the company recoup flagging sales and restore brand trust.
Safety innovation that saved Prestige
The inventor of the gasket release system (GRS), a safety feature in pressure cookers, is no more. TT Jagannathan, chairman emeritus of the TTK Group, passed away on Thursday, TTK Prestige informed the stock exchanges on Friday. He was 77 and is survived by his wife, Latha Jagannathan, and sons T T Mukund, T T Venkatesh, and T T Lakshman.
From crisis to a billion-dollar kitchen empire
TTK Prestige described the loss as “unexpected” and irreparable. An IIT-Cornell University alumnus, who came from a storied business family—his grandfather TT Krishnamachari, who founded the TTK Group, was finance minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet—Jagannathan was also a passionate cook. Much of his kitchen insights and innovations came from time spent in the kitchen, he would tell colleagues and peers in the industry.
Jagannathan never took a patent for GRS, believing that every manufacturer should have this feature in their pressure cookers. He didn’t stop there. A voracious reader and travel buff, Jagannathan took Prestige into the broader kitchen and home appliances market, expanded its retail footprint (the brand has close to 700 stores across cities), and kept its innovation and launch pipeline going through the years.
In FY25, for instance, TTK Prestige, which closed with sales of Rs 2,530 crore, launched a staggering 191 new stock-keeping units, with Prestige remaining the leader in pressure cookers, with an estimated market share of 40-45%. Hawkins has a market share of 25-30%, while Morphy Richards holds 10-15%, according to industry experts.
Over his five-decade tenure on the board of TTK Prestige, Jagannathan navigated multiple challenges, including expansion into unrelated areas, debt woes, and consumer fatigue, his book Disrupt and Conquer: How TTK Prestige Became a Billion Dollar Company says.
He recounted how the company undertook a major restructuring, focusing on its core kitchen appliances business, tightening costs, and innovating with new products across price points. Through these measures, TTK Prestige eventually became debt-free and grew into a billion-dollar enterprise, both in valuation and market capitalisation.