For example, Farzi Cafe has invented a Parle G cheesecake and Mumbai’s 145 has a Parle G Eatshake! In fact, the biscuit is so popular that some restaurants have started using it to make high-end desserts. To avoid duplication by small biscuit-makers (who sold their low-quality biscuits in a similar yellow wax paper), the packaging material was change to low-cost printed plastic. This prompted the management to rechristen the biscuit and see if it helped it stand out from the crowd.Īnd so in 1982, Parle Gluco was repackaged as Parle G, with the ‘G’ standing for glucose, of course. However, while the new packaging clicked with the biscuit’s target audience - kids and their mothers, it still failed to decisively distinguish Parle Gluco from the horde of “me-too” glucose biscuit brands in the market. The new packaging was a yellowish wax-paper wrapper with a plump little girl imprinted on it (an illustration by Everest Brand Solutions), along with the brand name and company’s red-coloured logo. To battle the flood of knock-offs, the firm decided to create a packaging that would be unique to Parle Gluco while patenting its own packing machinery.
Confused by similar brand names, most people would just ask shopkeepers for glucose biscuits. For instance, Britannia launched its first glucose biscuit brand, Glucose D, and had it endorsed by Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan’s avatar in Sholay). In 1960, Parle Products started feeling the pinch when other players in the market began launching their own glucose biscuits. In an ad saluting Indians who had sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their motherland, Parle urged its consumers to make do with barley biscuits till wheat supplies were restored to normal. However, in 1947, a severe shortage of wheat (India was left with only 63% of its wheat cultivation area after Partition) immediately after Independence meant that the production of Parle Gluco biscuits had to stop for a while. It was also much-in-demand by the British-Indian army during World War II. Made in India, meant for Indian palates and accessible to every Indian, the humble biscuit quickly became popular with the public.
It was to counter this trend that Parle Products launched Parle Gluco as an affordable source of nourishment for the common masses. United Biscuits, Huntly & Palmers, Britannia and Glaxo were the prominent British brands that ruled the market. Even as the bugle for World War II was sounded in 1939, the company baked its first biscuit.īack then, biscuits were mostly imported, expensive and meant for consumption by the elite classes. However, it was only 10 years later that it began its biscuit making operations. But Kulkarni admits that it is time to rejuvenate Parle G to appeal to the new generation, who perhaps don't have stories about the brand that is all-too familiar for older generations.Parle’s first product was an orange candy that was soon followed by other confectioneries and toffees. Parle Products revamped Parle G with the help of O&M, positioning it as aiding intelligent curiosity with the tagline, G for Genius. Even with increased penetration, glucose's share has declined. However, with aspirations, biscuit consumption has moved to new premium formats. Kapadia says, "It helped that it had everything in-house - packaging, procurement.
Even when the key ingredient prices (vanaspati, sugar and wheat) went north, its price hovered at Rs 4 for a pack. Parle G has also kept pricing in check, though not always leaving it unscathed. Till its second factory came up in 2000, Parle turned to contract manufacturers. In 1997, Britannia relaunched Glucose D as Tiger and filled gaps left by Parle G's short supply. While Kulkarni says owing to governmental restrictions on ramping up capacity, Parle G's supply had to be rationed by 20 per cent. The glucose market was 60-70 per cent of the overall market." Glucose is now 22 per cent of Rs 24,000 crore and Parle G is around 80 per cent of it, reaching 6 million outlets. Praveen Kulkarni, general manager, marketing, and with the company since mid-90s, says, "Parle G, till the 1980s commanded over 95 per cent. Kapadia says, "It wanted to sell biscuits in consumer-friendly packs, rather than leave them loose in jars." Parle resorted to importing and patenting its own packing machinery as early as the fifties. It was the belief in branding that also made Parle G's makers self-reliant, build scale and maintain pricing.
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