A yellow packet. White and red letters. Five rupees.
Kargil’s frozen outposts. Bihar’s floods. The 2020 lockdown. The same packet everywhere.
The world’s best-selling biscuit brand. Not American. Not European. Ours.
And on every packet — the same girl. Every Indian knows her face. Nobody knows her name.
What you’ll find out in this episode:
→ The beginning. In 1929, a Gujarati merchant named Mohanlal Dayal Chauhan went to Germany to learn confectionery manufacturing, came back with machines worth roughly ₹60,000, and set up a tiny factory in a quiet Bombay suburb called Vile Parle. Twelve workers. Mostly family. They were so absorbed in the work that they forgot to name the company. Locals called it “the Parle factory.” The name stuck.
→ The girl on the packet. In the 1960s, an artist named Maganlal Daiya at Everest Agency drew a baby girl — round cheeks, bright eyes — for the Parle-G packet. She was never a real child. The Sudha Murthy story is an internet rumour; Parle has officially confirmed this. In 2011, Nielsen declared Parle-G the world’s best-selling biscuit brand — ahead of Oreo and every major American rival.
→ The silent split. Parle is not one company. It is three. Sometime in the 1970s and 1980s, with no court case and no press conference, the Chauhan family quietly divided the empire: Parle Products (Parle-G, Monaco, KrackJack), Parle Agro (Frooti, Appy Fizz), and Ramesh Chauhan’s soft drinks business. The agreement — each branch stays in its lane. It did not hold. In 2008, Parle Agro entered the candy business; the Bombay High Court ruled in 2009 that Parle Agro must print on every packet that it has no connection whatsoever to Parle Products. Cousins in the same family. Same name. Required by law to say they are unrelated.
→ Thums Up. When Coca-Cola quit India in 1977 after refusing to share its formula with the government, Ramesh Chauhan created Thums Up — bold, built for the Indian palate. By the 1980s, Thums Up held roughly 85 percent of India’s cola market. In 1993, Ramesh Chauhan sold Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot, and Maaza to Coca-Cola for approximately ₹186 crore. Coca-Cola tried to quietly kill the brand. Thums Up refused to die. In 2021, it became a one billion dollar brand — Coca-Cola India’s number one. The man who beat Coca-Cola had handed them the weapon. One of the most expensive self-goals in Indian business history.
→ Bisleri. One thing Ramesh Chauhan did not sell to Coca-Cola: water. In 1969, the Chauhan family had bought a small Italian bottled-water company called Bisleri for a few lakh rupees. People laughed. Who buys bottled water in India? Today “ek Bisleri dena” is what people say regardless of which brand they receive. In 2022, Ramesh Chauhan was in talks to sell Bisleri to Tata for approximately ₹7,000 crore. In March 2023, the deal collapsed. His daughter Jayanti Chauhan, who had shown little interest in business, stepped forward and took over. In late 2023, Bisleri announced Deepika Padukone as its first-ever global brand ambassador.
→ COVID. In 2020, Parle-G recorded its highest sales in eight decades. Migrant workers walked home along highways with yellow packets in their hands. The company distributed roughly three crore packets free with government agencies. Market share in biscuits rose approximately five percent on Parle-G alone. The biscuit made for the poorest Indian in 1939 was still in the poorest Indian’s hand in 2020.
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Parle -G had unforgettable memory for me….❤
True ,, biscuit was luxury in those days, but parle -G makes it ordinary man biscuit..
Hats off to Chouhan family ❤
Parle -G ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
पहले वाला पारले जी अब नहीं क्वालिटी घट गई। क्यों कि 80/90के दशक वाला पारले अब नहीं है कि बिस्कुट खाएं कोई और मुंह में पानी आए किसी और के। अब वो स्वाद नहीं भले ही महंगाई बढ़ गई है क्वालिटी से समझौता नहीं करना था।
Wow
We use to buy 4 biscuits in small pack for 25 paise when we were kids. Please pack again for our kids now.
Good to know
Parle g🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Daily ka 2 full pkt Aaj b hmara consumption h
Monaco krack Jack…..my fav
Popins to har bachche ka bachpan h
Sooper ! Keep Rocking Guys shld cross 100 yrs and beyond it. We use to play Trade game in our house during 1970s in that Parle, Kalpadevi, Malbe Hills Chowpatty etc are familiar to us even at that though we are in Chennai then ! Wishes! 👍😅🌹❤
The best story
Pure nostalgia this biscuit is and still a favourite!
Parle – G with ginger chai is winning! Radhe Radhe!
Thanks for sharing the history of Parle – which been not known until now .
But through you been known 🙏❤
Sowdesi ka nara magar sohrat Aadmi ko gumrah kar deti hai Aakhir me jakar israili zayniston se milkar desi ko videshi kar diya israil ne Apna samraj qaysm karne ke liye eiyt india kampani ki hathiyar istemal kiya bhatiyon ko koldirink ka sulo payzsn pilaya jarha hai
As mentioned above the pack presently shown above is the improved / modified new pack.
This is S M. Kerkar.
Ex Everester Head photography Dept. / Art Director.
The above Parle G packet shown is the original basic package modified later as per sizes.
My name is SHREE Kerkar. And was working with Everest Advt as Head of photography dept / Art director.
This image was shot on Hasselblad Camera on Fuji b&w film.
It was a launched of Parle 'G'.
This above Parle biscuit pakg is not genuine obviously not the original biscuits.
I hv myself shot this baby's photo graph. Till today i have preserved the negs n images of this shots.
Originally the photo shoot was in black n white. And the campaign was shot in Black and white image .
The pkg was also in Black n white as halftone colour Media wan't available.
When Half tone colour printing colour Media was available for pkg it was decided to convert pkg in colour. And It was decided to convert the same Black n white pix in to illustration without changing the resemblance with original photo tint colour n was finishing was done with halftone regular colours.
I shot 3babies in a day .
This baby was running with high fever n was shot in Bandra in half an hour with natural light during monsoon.
The colour image was done by inhouse artist. And finalised with the help of 2 other artists.
Parle g se Parle tin pack me aata tha tin me 84 packet ho te the Parle chhgling bhee tin pek me aata tha sixsar bhee tin pek me aata tha
Sir, please aap, Aahamadnagar ke Parvej Damaniya Ki kahani bataye, Parvej Damaniya ne India Ki pahali Airwej company banai thi Damaniya Airwej,
I remember the monaco ad in a glossy magazine which showed those biscuits with toppings like cheese, and other colorful stuff… A new concept in those days. Not common in Indian households.
Good video..Can you stop calling Bambai.. Its Mumbai
अंग्रेज़ी सरकार के समय JBMangaram के बिस्किट मिलते थे अब तो उसका नामोनिशान तक नहीं है ।
Not pronunced as "Vial Parle" But its Ville Parle-the right pronunciation.. While in Mumbai I used to pass by this factory by the local train. & get the whiff of the Parle Biscuits while the train passes as the factory is close to the Rly tracks..Every one in the Western suburbs is aware of this..😊😛
It's indeed memorable, not any longer.
❤❤❤
very good news bro❤❤❤
Excellent information and story of Parle G very good message Apriciated Sir God bless you always