MegaBrands · Sauces, ketchup and condiments

Kissan: How a Brand Named After the Farmer Sets India’s Benchmark in Sauces and Ketchup

Kissan, selected as the Mega Brand for Sauces, ketchup and condiments by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting), took its name from a fruit stop on a Punjab railway line. Today it is a Hindustan Unilever brand that still puts India’s farms at the centre of its story.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial · Published October 2026 · 7 min read

At a glance

Kissan is the ketchup, sauce, jam and squash brand of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Its story begins in the British era at a Punjab processing unit where farmers sold freshly picked fruit to passing trains. The UB Group acquired the brand in 1950, and Brooke Bond India bought it in 1993, bringing it into what is now HUL. Kissan says its products are made with “100% real, farm grown produce”. It is the Mega Brand for Sauces, ketchup and condiments in WCRC MegaBrands.

Kissan carries its promise in its name. The word means farmer, and the brand has spent decades turning that idea into a way of making, sourcing and selling food. “The brand Kissan is because of the dedicated Kisans of India,” the brand says. “Our commitment is to stand by them.”

The story begins on the railways of Punjab. In the British era, trains stopped at a processing unit where farmers sold freshly picked fruit. As the brand tells it, “Locals called this spot Kissan, and from there on, it became a household name.” The UB Group acquired the business in 1950. In 1993, Brooke Bond India bought Kissan from the UB Group, and the brand became part of the company now known as Hindustan Unilever Limited.

Over those years, Kissan moved from canned fruit and vegetables toward the products Indian families now keep on the dining table: tomato ketchup, sauces, jams, squash and peanut butter. In February 2026 it added a range of Indian chutneys.

WCRC MegaBrands covers 501 categories in India and selects one benchmark brand in each. It looks at brands through five pillars: Brand Positioning & Recall; Consumer Trust & Sentiment; Product, Innovation & Delivery; Sustainability, Governance & ESG; and Digital & Financial Soundness. Kissan has been selected as the Mega Brand for Sauces, ketchup and condiments by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting). Here is how Kissan’s record lines up with each pillar.

Pillar 1: How Kissan Owns Share of Mind

Brand Positioning & Recall · weighted 28% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Kissan’s first advantage is its name. Every bottle and jar points back to the farm, and the brand has built its communication around that link rather than around novelty alone.

Kissan’s advertising has long centred on the family table and the school lunch box. In its performance highlights for 2020-21, HUL said the success of its ketchup business had been led by communication aimed at market development, and pointed to its “Kissan roll” advertisement, in which ketchup makes the tiffin box interesting.

The farm idea also gave Kissan its most distinctive campaign. Kissanpur invited children to grow tomato plants with their families. Kissan’s own site describes it as an initiative “where children are encouraged to grow tomato plants.” In 2015, HUL took it online with a digital film on YouTube and the hashtag #RealTogetherness, telling consumers that Kissan products are “made from 100% real fruits and tomatoes.”

Kissan has taken the same idea onto the street. In May 2013, billboards in Mumbai, at Juhu, Mahim Causeway and Peddar Road, carried living tomato plants. Teams watered them every day, and the idea was that city dwellers would see green tomatoes turn ripe and red, a simple way to say that real ketchup starts with real tomatoes.

Pillar 2: Why Indian Families Trust Kissan

Consumer Trust & Sentiment · weighted 26% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Trust in a food brand starts with what goes into the pack. Kissan’s stated promise is direct: it says it “provides a joyful experience that not only tastes great but is made with 100% real, farm grown produce.”

The brand backs that promise with named places. Kissan says its oranges come from Nagpur, its lemons from the Himalayan foothills, its pineapples from Kerala, its grapes from Karnataka and its peanuts from Gujarat. Naming the source makes the claim easy for a shopper to picture.

Time adds weight to the promise. Kissan has been a household name since the British era, it joined the UB Group in 1950 and Brooke Bond India in 1993, and it has been part of the HUL family for more than three decades.

The brand also speaks to the people who grow its food. Its stated aim is to stand by India’s farmers, and HUL describes Kissan’s journey as “focusing primarily on enabling small farmers to produce quality sourced ingredients.” For a consumer, that is a reason to believe the brand cares about its inputs as much as its taste.

Pillar 3: The Farm-to-Bottle Engine Behind Kissan

Product, Innovation & Delivery · weighted 20% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Kissan’s range covers the core of the Indian condiment shelf: tomato ketchup and sauces, fruit jams, squash and peanut butter. In its 2020-21 performance highlights, HUL reported that the Kissan range of international sauces was “experiencing good traction in the market and is now available nationally.”

Innovation at Kissan often starts in the field. The brand’s story describes a newer tomato variety that is ready to harvest in about 90 days, compared with 150 to 180 days for traditional varieties. According to the brand, its brighter red colour can fetch farmers better prices. A shorter crop cycle means steadier supply for the factory and more flexibility for the grower.

The newest step looks to Indian taste. On 18 February 2026, Kissan launched The Great Indian Chutneys, with four flavours: Chilli Peanut Thecha, Chatpati Hari, Teekhi Lehsun and Khatti-Meethi Imli Khajoor. HUL says they are crafted with “a silbatta-like texture” and made with key ingredients sourced from Indian farms. HUL’s announcement says the launch places “culture, taste, and everyday rituals at the centre of brand relevance.”

The category is growing for HUL. For the quarter ended March 2025, the company said its packaged foods grew in mid-single digits “led by outperformance in Ketchup, Mayonnaise and International Cuisines.” In the quarter ended March 2026, packaged foods again grew in mid-single digits, led by ketchup, chutneys, mayonnaise and food solutions.

Pillar 4: Kissan, a Brand Rooted in Its Farmers

Sustainability, Governance & ESG · weighted 16% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

For Kissan, sustainability begins with the tomato. In 2012, HUL and the Government of Maharashtra started a public-private partnership to source tomatoes sustainably. Under it, HUL trained farmers in sustainable tomato cultivation and offered a buy-back guarantee for their crop. The brand says the project became self-sustaining in 2015.

The programme reached a meaningful scale. In 2019, about 8,000 farmers grew tomatoes for HUL. In the same year, Kissan says, 76% of the tomatoes used in Kissan ketchup came from sustainable sources.

Kissan’s owner also works with tomato growers at company level. In September 2025, HUL described a regenerative tomato value chain programme supporting about 3,000 farmers, run with partners including IDH and the Sahyadri Farmers Producer Company; HUL’s account does not link it to a specific brand. HUL says the programme uses tailored training, model farms and peer learning led by lead farmers, and that it helps “reduce input costs, increase yields, empower women, and improve market access.”

Kissan’s wider sourcing follows the same thinking. The brand names the regions its fruit comes from and frames its role as standing by the farmers who supply it.

Pillar 5: Kissan’s Growth With Financial Strength

Digital & Financial Soundness · weighted 10% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Kissan sits inside Hindustan Unilever, a listed consumer goods company. HUL does not report Kissan’s own revenue, but its company-wide numbers show the strength behind the brand. HUL’s turnover was Rs 60,680 crore in FY2024-25 and Rs 63,763 crore in FY2025-26, growth of 5% driven by 4% underlying volume growth. In the March quarter of both years, HUL named ketchup among the categories leading growth in packaged foods.

Kissan has also learned to speak to consumers online. Kissanpur used digital video and social media in 2015 to bring families into the brand’s farm story. In 2026, HUL built the chutney launch around a social-led demand generation plan, with Gen Z and Millennial creators endorsing the product.

The Kissan Benchmark

Every category has leaders. A MegaBrand is the brand its category is measured against. Kissan holds that place in Sauces, ketchup and condiments because its record lines up across all five pillars. Its name ties it to the farm, its farm-grown promise gives families a reason to trust it, its range keeps moving from ketchup to Indian chutneys, its tomato programme linked the brand to about 8,000 farmers in 2019, and its owner gives it the financial strength to keep investing.

Above all, Kissan shows how a simple idea can carry a brand for generations. It began at a railway stop where farmers sold their fruit, and it still tells its story through the people who grow its food.

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About Kissan

Kissan is a food brand of Hindustan Unilever Limited, headquartered in Mumbai. Its roots go back to a British-era fruit processing unit in Punjab; it was acquired by the UB Group in 1950 and by Brooke Bond India in 1993. Kissan makes ketchup, sauces, jams, squash, peanut butter and chutneys, and says its products are made with “100% real, farm grown produce”. Kissan has been selected as the Mega Brand for Sauces, ketchup and condiments by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting).