MegaBrands · Biscuits, mass

Parle: How a Rs 5 Biscuit Sets India’s Benchmark in Mass Biscuits

Parle, selected as the Mega Brand for Biscuits, mass by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC, began in a small factory in Vile Parle in 1929. Its Parle-G biscuit has been made since 1939, and the company’s revenue from operations reached Rs 15,568 crore in FY2024-25.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial · Published October 2026 · 9 min read

At a glance

Parle is the biscuit and confectionery brand of Parle Products Pvt Ltd, a family-promoted company based in Vile Parle East, Mumbai. Founder Mohanlal Dayal opened its first factory in Vile Parle in 1929, and its first biscuit, Parle Gluco, followed in 1939. That biscuit, now Parle-G, still sells in a Rs 5 pack. Led by Managing Director Ajay Chauhan and Chief Executive Officer George Kovoor, Parle reaches more than 75 lakh retail outlets across India. It is the Mega Brand for Biscuits, mass in WCRC MegaBrands.

Parle is the name behind Parle-G, the tea-time biscuit sold in a Rs 5 pack across India. The biscuit has been baked since 1939. That mix of age, reach and price explains much of what follows: a brand built to be within reach of every shopper.

The story starts in Vile Parle, Mumbai. Parle says Mohanlal Dayal established the House of Parle, and its first factory opened there in 1929 with 12 employees making confectionery. Ten years later the company baked its first biscuit, Parle Gluco. In the early 1980s the biscuit took the name it carries today, Parle-G. The company that makes it, Parle Products Pvt Ltd, is still promoted by the founding Chauhan family and still has its registered office in Vile Parle East.

In FY2024-25, Parle Products reported revenue from operations of Rs 15,568 crore, up 8.5% on the year before.

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. Parle has been selected as the Mega Brand for Biscuits, mass by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting). Here is how Parle’s record lines up with each pillar.

Pillar 1: How Parle Owns Share of Mind

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

Parle is easy to picture, and much of that comes from one face. The child on the Parle-G wrapper dates from the 1960s. For years people guessed whose childhood photo it was. Parle has said it is no one’s: the face is an illustration made by a creative team at the advertising agency Everest. For more than six decades, the same face has greeted shoppers on the pack.

The second source of recall is a long run of simple lines. In 1982, Parle-G’s first television commercial, “Swaad Bhare Shakti Bhare”, ran on Doordarshan. Later the brand built its message around the letter on the pack with “G Mane Genius”, tying the biscuit to parents’ hopes for their children. In 1998 it brought in a popular television superhero. Each idea was new, but the product and the face stayed the same.

The third is a willingness to move the message with the times. In January 2024, Parle-G released five 15-second television films that shifted “genius” from cleverness to kindness, with the line “Genius wohi, jo auron ke khushi mein paye apni khushi”. Mayank Shah, Vice President-Marketing at Parle Products at the time, explained the thinking: “Post-COVID, we observed a notable empathy deficit in kids, prompting us to convey the profound joy derived from bringing happiness to others.”

Parle backs these ideas with steady spending. In FY2024-25 its advertising and promotion budget rose 9% to about Rs 483 crore.

Pillar 2: Why India Trusts Parle

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

Trust in Parle rests on a promise kept at the counter. The small Parle-G pack has been priced at Rs 5 for years, as press reports from 2020 to 2024 record. When costs rise, Parle has often chosen to adjust the weight in the pack rather than the price, so that a shopper with a single coin can still buy it. In November 2021, for example, it raised biscuit prices by 5% to 10% on packs above Rs 20 and trimmed grammage on packs below Rs 20 to protect those price points.

The company sees its biscuit as an everyday food rather than a treat. As Mr. Shah put it in 2024: “We believe our biscuit is a staple, as any staple is consumed by every group of the society, so is Parle-G.”

That belief was tested in 2020. When India went into lockdown in March, Parle committed to donate 3 crore packs of Parle-G through government agencies. “We will be donating one crore packs of Parle-G biscuits every week for the next three weeks,” Mr. Shah, then Senior Category Head, said at the time. State governments and voluntary groups also bought the biscuit in bulk, and many migrant workers heading home picked up the Rs 5 pack. Parle-G recorded its best sales in more than eight decades in March, April and May 2020, and Mr. Shah said Parle’s overall market share rose by about 5%. “80-90 per cent of this growth has come from the Parle-G sales. This is unprecedented,” Mr. Shah said.

Parle describes itself plainly: with a reach spanning “the remotest villages of India and major cities across the world”, it says, the House of Parle “has become synonymous with trust, globally.”

Pillar 3: The Engine Behind Every Parle Pack

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

Parle’s promise depends on making a great many biscuits, very cheaply, every day. Parle says that between 1943 and 1950 it built a 250-foot oven, which it calls India’s longest. By 2020, it was producing about 400 million Parle-G biscuits a day, at its own plants and more than 120 contract manufacturing units.

Getting those packs to shelves is a feat of its own. In 2026, Parle’s distribution network reached more than 75 lakh retail outlets across India, from city supermarkets to village shops.

The range has grown well beyond one biscuit. Parle’s own history lists a long line of launches: Monaco in 1942, which Parle calls India’s first salted cracker; Cheeslings in 1956; Kismi and Poppins in the 1960s; Krackjack, a sweet and salty biscuit, in 1972; Hide & Seek in 1996; and the Platina range in 2011. Today the company’s website lists 18 biscuit and cookie brands and 17 confectionery brands, alongside snacks, Happy Happy cakes, rusk, atta and breakfast cereals.

Innovation now follows changing habits. In June 2022, Parle added Parle-G Oats & Berries and Kismi Cinnamon biscuits at Rs 10. “Consumers today think about health and wellness on a deeper level and are mindful of what they consume,” Mr. Shah, then Senior Category Head, said at the launch.

Pillar 4: Parle, a Family Brand Built to Last

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

Parle’s governance has been shaped by continuity. The company is promoted by the Chauhan family, and Ajay Chauhan is its Managing Director. In 2026, the family took a significant step: on 1 September, George Kovoor, a consumer goods executive with more than 30 years of experience in India and abroad, joined as the company’s first Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Chauhan remains Managing Director, and ownership is unchanged.

Mr. Chauhan described the appointment in terms of the long run: “We welcome George and look forward to working closely with him to build on Parle’s strong foundation, strengthen our capabilities and open new opportunities for sustainable growth.”

Parle’s community work leans on what it knows best: reach. Beyond the 3 crore packs given during the 2020 lockdown, Parle supports Indian athletes with Olympic medal potential through Olympic Gold Quest. Its Junkyard Project encourages young people to take up local sanitation, in support of the Swachh Bharat campaign. In 2015 it ran a national “Litter Free” television campaign asking consumers to “Show Garbage Its Place” and dispose of wrappers properly. In November 2025, its Parle 20-20 Cookies brand worked with a child safety foundation on Children’s Day. “We have always believed that our role goes beyond creating products, it’s about creating joy and memories,” Mr. Shah, Vice President at Parle Products, said.

As an unlisted company, Parle publishes little on environmental measures such as energy use or packaging recovery.

Pillar 5: Parle’s Growth With Financial Strength

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

Parle’s numbers show a business of great scale in a price-sensitive market. According to its regulatory filings as reported in the press, Parle Products’ revenue from operations rose from Rs 14,349 crore in FY2023-24 to Rs 15,568 crore in FY2024-25, a gain of 8.5%. Net profit fell 39% to Rs 980 crore that year. The cost of materials rose 16.2%, and press reports pointed to higher prices for wheat, sugar and edible oil, along with packaging, fuel and logistics. Even so, Parle raised its advertising and promotion spend by 9% in the same year.

The brand’s reach extends beyond India. According to press reports, Parle products are made in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Nepal and Mexico, and are sold in markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Middle East.

Digital work keeps the older brands in front of younger buyers. In 2018, Parle-G refreshed its genius theme with the campaign “Genius Badal Raha Hai”. In September 2026, Parle appointed a digital agency to handle creative and media for “Parle Candy Culture”, its confectionery platform. Mr. Shah, Vice President at Parle Products, said the company was looking for a partner that could blend creativity with strategic media thinking as it grows its digital presence.

The Parle Benchmark

Every category has leaders. A MegaBrand is the brand its category is measured against. Parle holds that place in mass biscuits because its record is strong on every pillar at once. It is instantly recognised, trusted as an everyday staple, able to deliver at enormous scale, run with long-term family stewardship and large enough to keep investing through a hard cost cycle.

Above all, it shows that a brand can stay affordable for nearly a century without losing its place in people’s lives. A face drawn in the 1960s, a biscuit first baked in 1939 and a pack priced at Rs 5 still add up to a brand India knows by heart.

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More Questions About Parle

About Parle

Parle is the biscuit and confectionery brand of Parle Products Pvt Ltd, headquartered in Vile Parle East, Mumbai. Its first factory opened in 1929, and its flagship biscuit, Parle-G, has been made since 1939. Parle sells through more than 75 lakh retail outlets in India and reported revenue from operations of Rs 15,568 crore in FY2024-25. Parle has been selected as the Mega Brand for Biscuits, mass by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting).