From Rs 60000 to Rs 170000 business empire: How Parle-G became the world's best selling biscuit? The company was started by...

Parle-G is the world's best-selling biscuit. (File)
Parle-G, India's homegrown biscuit brand, is more than just crunchy, nutritious biscuits wrapped in a simplistic packet, but a symbol that united Indians from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Generations after generations have been mesmerized by the simple, yet mouth-watering taste of this humble biscuit, whose origins date back to the early 1920s during colonial times, when 'Made in India' was nothing more than a pipe dream. Who started Parle-G
The story of Parle-G dates back to the 1920, when Mohanlal Chauhan, made an initial investment of Rs 60,000– a huge sum at the time– and imported biscuit-making machines from Germany, challenging the industrial dominance of the British. Mohanlal, along with his five sons– Maneklal, Pitambar, Narottam, Kantilal, and Jayantilal– set up humble biscuit-making factory Vile Parle in the suburbs of Mumbai.
Interestingly, this is the where the Parle in Parle-G comes from while the 'G' initially stood for glucose, but fans of the brand have lovingly changed it 'genius'. How Parle-G became world's best-selling biscuits?
After India's independence, Parle-G emerged as the snack of choice for both the common people and the country's emerging middle class, because it was affordable yet tasty and nutritious at the same time. Over the years, Parle Agro, the company that makes Parle-G, expanded at a steady pace, and while Indian markets were closed to foreign FMCG product pre-globalization, it seized the opportunity to launch a range of refreshing beverages, giving birth to household names like Frooti, Limca, Thums Up, Gold Spot, and Limca in 1980s.
Thums Up was later acquired by Coca-Cola after the global beverage giant entered the Indian market.
In 2011, a Nielsen report named Parle-G as the best-selling biscuit in the world, which has outsold global brands like Oreo, and others. When Parle refused to increase prices
A turning point came when inflation hit record heights, forcing Parle-G to make a hard decision, increase prices or suffer losses. Staying true to the company's spirit of being an affordable, consumer-friendly brand, Parle chose the latter, and refused to hike prices even when its competitors succumbed and did the opposite.
According to various, Parle-G, at one point, as selling a staggering 1 billion packets of biscuits a month, a gigantic figure considering the humble beginnings of the company. Who owns Parle-G today?
At present, the biscuit empire which was started as a mark of defiance against the British by the company's founder Mohanlal Chauhan, is being headed by his descendants, Vijay Chauhan, Sharad Chauhan, and Raj Chauhan, each of whom handle different aspects of Parle Agro, from marketing, production, to expansion.
Over time, Parle has expanded its product range beyond its beloved Parle-G biscuits, and now the company's portfolio includes other popular products such as 20-20 biscuits, Milkshakti biscuits, Melody toffees, Mango Bite candies, Poppins, Londonderry chocolates, Kismi Toffee Bar, Monaco crackers, Magix chocolates, and everyone's childhood favorite, KrackJack. Vijay Chauhan net-worth
The success of Parle-G has obviously translated into financial prospering for the Chauhan family. Vijay Chauhan and family have a net worth pegged at a whopping $5.5 billion (around Rs 45,579 crore), making them one of the wealthiest business families in India.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Economic Times

32 minutes ago

• Economic Times

UAE rule, wary I-T to deter dodgy crypto deals

Mumbai: In the lane to launder money, the skill to move cryptos to control companies and properties in Dubai has been honed over the past few years. But treading that alley would soon become tougher. Dual, albeit unrelated, developments in India and the UAE would force money movers to devise new tricks. First, Income tax (I-T) officials, hunting for illicit homes of Indians over the past six months, now strongly suspect that some property purchases were made with cryptocurrencies; second, a new regulatory regime in the Middle East country, would soon end payment in cryptos, other than stable coins, to freely buy goods and services. "When Indian residents use crypto to purchase real estate, they bypass Indian banking channels and FEMA scrutiny. But, under the new UAE regulations (expected from August), merchants would no longer accept crypto directly. Only entities licensed by the UAE Central Bank would be allowed to convert stablecoins to AED after collecting full KYC. While this framework ensures the buyer's identity is recorded, it remains unclear whether such data would be shared under the India-UAE tax treaty," said Purushottam Anand, founder of the law firm Crypto raiding a leading UAE developer having roots in Mumbai and clients across India, a northern office of the I-T department found that more than 460 buyers in the 650-odd property deals have no record of having remitted money through banks to acquire the properties. According to findings which were shared with other I-T centres two months ago, the arm of the UAE realtor which brokered the deals was aided by a network of 86 sub-brokers who later shared details with the tax office. According to tax circles, some of the clients had paid in cryptos, probably under the belief it would go untraced. Earlier this year, the department had found that hundreds of mule accounts were opened by a few persons in Kerala to deposit cash, use the money to buy cryptos -either on local platforms or through peer-to-peer transactions-and then move the coins to other wallets before encashing the them in UAE, or buying assets like properties, or transferring them to third parties. "When digital assets move from exchanges to P2P platforms or private wallets, monitoring becomes difficult, creating opportunities for illegal activities such as ransomware attacks, laundering, tax evasion, and potentially terrorist financing. Although the exchanges are required to report 'suspicious transactions', including withdrawals, with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India, such risks can be further addressed through stricter enforcement of TDS provisions, i.e. Sections 194S or 195, ensuring tax compliance for all crypto transactions, whether conducted on or off exchanges. Additionally, specifying the reporting entities and the format for disclosures under Section 285BAA will improve traceability," said Ashish Karundia, founder of the CA firm Ashish Karundia & Co. 'PAYMENT TOKEN REGULATIONS' The new 'Payment Token Services Regulation' lays down the rules and conditions established by the UAE Central Bank for granting a licence or registration for payment token services-which include payment token issuance, token conversion, and token custody and transfer. Under the rules no merchant or anyone in the UAE selling goods or services can accept a virtual asset unless it's a dirham payment token issued by a licensed issuer. Also, a bank cannot act as a payment token issuer. UAE is working on Dirham-linked stable coin (like USDT or Tether which is pegged to the dollar)."This would have implications for India which has close economic and financial ties with the UAE. By bringing digital assets such as payment tokens under a structured licensing and anti-money laundering framework, the regulation adds a layer of safety and transparency to cross-border digital financial flows. For Indian individuals and businesses engaging in the UAE's digital economy, on one hand this means greater clarity, reduced risk of fraud, and alignment with global best practices; on the other hand, the clear prohibition on anonymous crypto instruments like privacy tokens reinforces the global trend toward traceable and regulated digital transactions. This is something India is also actively pursuing through its own financial intelligence mechanisms. This would deter transactions in property, high value luxury products bought by Indians in UAE using crypto tokens," said Siddharth Banwat, partner at CA firm Banwat & Associates dealers said the UAE rules are not entirely fool-proof as coins can be routed through platforms in multiple jurisdictions whose cooperation would be vital to spot the trail. But the very presence of licensed intermediaries collecting and storing information would deter money movers.

Business Standard

an hour ago

• Business Standard

Epsilon to challenge China's dominance in EV battery cell materials

May set up ₹9K cr plant for making 100K tonnes of graphite anode Surajeet Das Gupta New Delhi Listen to This Article Rare earth magnet is not the only area where the Chinese dominate the world. They also control two other crucial areas of electric vehicle (EV) battery cell — manufacturing of graphite anode, required for lithium-ion batteries, as well as cathode powder, to make lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP) battery. LFP batteries go into buses and commercial vehicles (CVs), and are considered safer. But an Indian company, Epsilon Advanced Materials, is trying to break into the market. It has finalised plans to set up a plant to manufacture these in Karnataka. To begin with, it is setting up a 100,000

Hindustan Times

an hour ago

• Hindustan Times

Wirtz wants to 'win everything' for Liverpool after record move

Florian Wirtz said he wants to win it all at Liverpool after completing a blockbuster move from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday, which could reportedly rise to a Premier League record fee. HT Image Reports in England said the Premier League champions will pay an initial £100 million for Wirtz, comfortably surpassing their own record outlay, with a further £16 million in performance-related add-ons making it a British record deal. However, German media suggested the fee could be even higher, starting at 130 million euros with add-ons taking it to 150 million euros. One of European football's elite young stars, Wirtz has been hailed as one of the "best in the world" by former Leverkusen coach and ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is the new boss of Real Madrid. "I would like to win everything every year!" Wirtz told the club's website. "In the end, we want to be successful. Last season they won the Premier League so my goal is for sure to win it again and also to go further in the Champions League. I'm really ambitious." The 22-year-old played a crucial role in Leverkusen's greatest season as they claimed a first-ever Bundesliga title and the German Cup in 2023/24 without losing a single game under Alonso. Their only defeat that season, during which Wirtz was crowned Bundesliga player of the year, came in the Europa League final to Atalanta, denying Leverkusen a memorable treble. Bayern Munich restored their grip on the German game last season, with Leverkusen a distant second, and Wirtz is joining an exodus from the BayArena. Netherlands defender Jeremie Frimpong has already made the move from Leverkusen to Liverpool last month. "I'm really excited to have a new adventure in front of me," added Wirtz, who turned down the option of joining Bayern for the move to England. "This was also a big point of my thoughts: that I want to have something completely new, to go out of the Bundesliga and to join the Premier League." After largely keeping their powder dry in the transfer market during Arne Slot's first season in charge, the Reds are splashing out to strengthen a side that romped to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title. Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez is poised to make the move to Anfield in a £40 million deal. Liverpool have also been linked with Newcastle striker Alexander Isak and Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi. Where Wirtz's fits into Slot's plans remains to be seen. He largely played behind a central striker at Leverkusen and has operated from a wider role for Germany. A return of 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for Leverkusen is evidence that he carries a threat both as a creator and a goalscorer. "The people say I'm a creative player, and I hope I can bring this creativity to the team and also the joy on the pitch," said Wirtz. "I try to make assists, goals and run for the team to defend. I hope I can just make the team one step better." Liverpool are already blessed with an abundance of forward options, with Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo all offering a goal threat. However, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa now face even stiffer competition to get into Slot's starting line-up, raising the prospect of Liverpool selling some of that trio to free up further transfer resources. kca/smg/ea This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.