![]() The pantry staple is now being used in different ways. However, it is the original Parle-G, rather than recent variants such as oats and berries or cinnamon, that remains its flagship flavour. Over the years, Parle introduced a variety of offerings: biscuits such as Monaco, Krackjack and Cheeselings confectionery such as Kismi, Poppins and Melody and a premium range called Platina that offers Hide & Seek, Milano and Nutricrunch. The price meant they equalised the market between the rich and poor,” he says. ![]() “The fact that the biscuits were available even in very small sizes meant that they were easy to put into handbags, tiffins and dabbas. The biscuits, stocked at seven million outlets in India, are available in multiple packs priced from a mere Rs2 ($0.02).ĭalal attributes the brand’s success to the fact that the company came up with a product that tapped into what many people look for when making a purchase: value for money. The pricing and strong distribution network have ensured affordability and availability for everyone. The biscuit is also exported to 100 countries, including the UAE.Ījay Chauhan, the company’s executive director, says the brand has grown so big that “most people know the company as Parle-G”. About one billion packs of Parle-G are produced monthly, with as many as 4,551 Parle-G biscuits consumed per second, estimates Shah. It has 120 factories in India, where 400 million biscuits are baked every day. The Parle-G brand is now valued at Rs5,000 crore. It generated immense love and resonated across strata,” Shah says. ![]() “We always said Parle-G was 'Bharat ka apna biscuit', and now people played it back. Even as packets flew off the shelves, the company distributed 30 million packets to migrants returning home after India tightened its borders in response to Covid-19. Parle increased its market share by 5 per cent during the lockdown. “We saw one of the highest growth spurts in recent times we haven’t seen anything like it,” said Shah, adding that the fact that “people trusted the brand and it had a long shelf life” aided sales. Government and non-government agencies chose Parle-G for food relief packages, which helped the brand register phenomenal growth. At stores and supermarkets, there was a run on the biscuits. ![]() In a time of uncertainty and insecurity, people wanted to cling to the familiar. The pandemic turned things around for Parle-G. Taste of familiarityĭespite various iterations, the original Parle-G biscuit remains a firm favourite. Parle’s flagship factory in Vile Parle, a Mumbai suburb the company derived its name from, shut down in 2016, but many consumers still recall the aroma of freshly baked biscuits that filled the air when passing through the area. In 2013, it became India’s first fast-moving consumer goods brand to cross the Rs5,000 ($600 million) crore mark in retail sales. In 2011, a Nielsen survey stated that Parle-G was one of the best-selling biscuit brands in the world. In the late 1990s, a marketing campaign with Indian superhero Shaktimaan lifted sales from 50 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes a month. The “G” originally stood for “glucose”, but a later campaign referred to it as “G for genius”. Parle-G created the biscuit-eating culture in India, according to Shah, who says biscuits and baking weren’t traditionally part of the nation's culinary history.Ĭalled Parle Gluco until 1985, the brand rebranded its biscuits to Parle-G in the mid-1980s. A specific mix of wheat flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, palm oil, preservatives and flavouring is baked at up to 280☌ for eight minutes. The manufacturing process, too, has remained consistent over the decades. The rectangular biscuit merely has its name stamped in the centre and is surrounded by an ornamental border. There is no cream, chocolate or dried fruit to be found here. Photo: ParleĪ packet of Parle-G – easily identified by its yellow-striped packaging and baby mascot – offers no fripperies. Taste of successĪn advertisement in the 1990s suggested the 'G' stands for 'genius' rather than 'glucose'. In 1947, after India gained independence, Parle launched an advertisement campaign, offering its Gluco biscuits as an Indian alternative to British brands. “He decided to pivot and ensure that every Indian could afford a biscuit, and so he launched a brand that was accessible to everyone.”Ĭhauhan’s venture meant Indians no longer relied on imported products – especially British-made biscuits that were expensive and solely the preserve of the wealthy. “In India, biscuits were seen as elitist and consumed only in upper-class homes,” says Shah. Mayank Shah, senior category head at Parle Products, says a trip to Europe led the founder to discover that the biscuit-eating culture was prevalent in most homes.
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