Have you ever wondered how many things you see in your routine life remain the same, without any sense of aging? Or have you ever seen anything which remained the same, but you grew older? I have seen it. I remember the face. A face of a small girl which I have been facing since my childhood and it has been almost two decades and the face is still the same. FoodRavel takes you to a very sweet journey of a sweet name, Parle – G. Yes, the same old biscuit. The same biscuit which later on turned our habit and the same product which remained the same throughout the years. Parle – G was and still is in the memories of millions of people in this country and it will always be in their memories. This glucose biscuit became a hit and the morning tea was always incomplete with it. Even after so many different biscuit brands are now present in the market, Parle – G holds a very different and very special place because it is connected to our emotions and thus the place is close to our hearts and the memories are deeply embedded, stored in our brains. No matter what and how many products are out there in the market, this very special morning tea companion became the synonym for biscuits and holds a dictatorial place in the place. FoodRavel takes to the sweet journey of Parle – G.
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A Face that Never Changes
It’s a story of decades, but the face is still the same. The beautiful smiling baby on the wrapper of the biscuits has never grown older, though the people have. Generations have passed, but the face is always the same, smiling and eternal. It seems that time has no power to affect it. This is an example of eternity. The little girl on the wrapper is still the same it used to be years back. The company has not changed anything significantly. Just the wrapper is modified. What earlier used to be a waxy white and yellow paper is now a polyethylene wrapper. It was never new but it never grew old. The children especially of the early 90s have their hearts throbbed for this and every morning was welcomed with a hot cup of chai (tea) and a packet of morning snack, Parle – G. And the system is still the same because it has become a part of the tradition. There came many products/brands in our life and we became used to them, but none of them was able to survive as much as this biscuit has done. The most important is that mothers still prefer Parle – G for their young ones.
So What’s the Story of Parle – G?
Owned by Parle Products, this glucose biscuits brand became the world’s largest selling biscuits brand as per the Nielson reports of 2011 (Wikipedia). The tag – line is very influential, “the tasty, healthy food: World’s largest selling biscuits”. Parle – G is a tea time snack and is famous as one of India’s oldest brands so far. As per a report, the brand had covered around 6 million Indian retail stores by Jan 2013. Another main reason for the popularity of this product is its price. It has a low affordable price which everyone can buy. It crossed 500 crore INR in 2013 to become the country’s first domestic MCG brand in retails.
Parle – G was Started as a Byconfectionery
Yes, you are right. The biscuit brand was started as a byconfectionery. It was started in 1929 by the Vile Parle company in the Mumbai suburbs. The company started manufacturing Parle – G in 1939. The man behind this company was Mohanlal Dayal Chauhan. It had to make military – grades biscuits for the Britishers. Before independence, there were British biscuits, but when we got freedom in 1947, the company ran an advertisement campaign showing this glucose biscuit as an indigenous product to the British ones. The main competitor was Britannia. But today the brand seems to have dominated its market. Years back, it was famous as “Parle Gluco” on everyone’s tongue until the 1980s. Originally, the letter G was used as Glucose, which later on turned out to be as G means Genius and became a hit among the children. Along with Parle – G, Parle Monaco was the other brand which later became a hit.
Who’s the Parle – G Girl?
For over the ages, one thing has not been changed. It is the cover baby girl of Parle – G. It is still the same face since its launch. The girl featured on the Parle – G wrapper is actually an illustration. It is not original. It was done in the late 1960s by the Everest creative Maganlal Daiya. There are many fake stories behind the identity of the girl. One said that she is Neeru Deshpande from Nagpur. In a second story, the girl is claimed to be Gunjan Gundaniya and the photograph is said to be taken when she was four years and three months old. But the reality is miles away from these all and now you know who is she?
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Parle – G is an Undisputed Leader
The brand holds a strong household name throughout the country. From deserts to the snow, it is found everywhere. It is consumed by everyone, from poor to rich, in villages and in cities. Be it party time, chai at dhaba, or a soldier sitting in high altitude in the snow, Parle – G is always a companion. At first, the product was recognized with its yellow and white iconic wax paper wrapper which later started to come in a hard plastic BOPP wrapper. Low cost, great taste, international quality, great nutrition all makes this brand a winner in the market. By 1949, it had reached out of Mumbai. Due to its undisputed popularity, there were several others jumped in with similar names which forced Parle to change the name from Parle Glucose Biscuits to Parle G. The biscuit brands dominates the glucose biscuit category by 70% market share in total which is followed by Britannia Tiger having 17 – 18% of the share and then Sunfeast by ITC with 9% shares.
Read more to know how your favorite biscuit is made in the factories?
Click to read about the nutritional value of Parle – G?
