Parle Products Private Limited is an Indian food products company. It owns the famous biscuit brand Parle-G. In 2019, it had a dominant share of 7% of the global biscuit market but in the last few months the brand grew by leaps and bounds and as of 2020, it has a 50% dominant share of the global biscuit market. As of 2020, as per Nielsen, it is the largest selling biscuit brand in the world.
History
Parle Products company was founded in 1929 in British India by the Chauhan family of Vile Parle, Bombay. Parle began manufacturing biscuits in 1939. In 1947, when India became independent, the company launched an ad campaign, showcasing its Gluco biscuits as an Indian alternative to the British biscuits. The Parle brand became well known in India following the success of products such as the Parle-G biscuits and the Frooti cold drink. The original Parle company was split into three separate companies, owned by the different factions of the original Chauhan family, with a majority of it owned by Parle Agro products:
Parle Products, led by Vijay, Sharad and Raj Chauhan.
Parle Agro, led by Prakash Chauhan and his daughters Schauna, Alisha and Nadia.
All three companies continue to use the family trademark name "Parle". The original Parle group was amicably segregated into three non-competing businesses. But a dispute over the use of "Parle" brand arose, when Parle Agro diversified into the confectionery business, thus becoming a competitor to Parle Products. In February 2008, Parle Products sued Parle Agro for using the brand Parle for competing confectionery products. Later, Parle Agro launched its confectionery products under a new design which did not include the Parle brand name. In 2009, the Bombay High Court ruled that Parle Agro can sell its confectionery brands under the brand name "Parle" or "Parle Confi" on condition that it clearly specifies that its products belong to a separate company, which has no relationship with Parle Products.
Apart from the original factory in Mumbai, Parle has manufacturing facilities at Neemrana, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kutch, Khopoli, Pantnagar, Sitarganj, and Bahadurgarh. Bahadurgarh, Muzaffarpur and Pantnagar plant are one of the largest manufacturing plants of Parle in India. It deploys large scale automation for manufacturing of quality biscuits. It also has several manufacturing units on contract.
