From Bikaner Bhujia to $10 Billion: The Haldiram's Story

What started as a humble sweet shop in the dusty lanes of Bikaner has become India's snacking empire, valued at a staggering $10 billion. The story of Haldiram's is equal parts entrepreneurial genius, family drama, market innovation, and relentless pursuit of quality. Let's unwrap this crispy tale.

The Beginning: A Young Boy's Recipe for Success (1937)

Picture this: Bikaner, 1937. Ganga Bhishen Agarwal, fondly known as Haldiram Ji, established Haldiram's as a retail sweets and namkeen shop. But young Haldiram wasn't just another shopkeeper selling bhujia. He had a secret weapon—a recipe from his aunt.

The traditional Bikaneri bhujia was thick, soft, and somewhat bland, made from besan (gram flour). Ganga Bishen aka Haldiram made it out of moth ki dal rather than besan. People just loved it. The texture was finer, the taste more refined. It was bhujia reimagined.

But here's where Haldiram showed his business acumen. Ganga Bishen did not want to make bhujia a commodity and wanted it to be exclusive. He sold for 5 paise a kilo as opposed to the earlier rate of 2 paise a kilo. Later price went up to 25 paise a kilo, making Haldiram a fortune. He wasn't competing on price—he was creating a premium product.

The Expansion: From Bikaner to India's Metros

Success in Bikaner was just the beginning. In the 1950s, Ganga Bishan Agarwal set off on a voyage to the busy city of Kolkata with his sons, Satyanarayan and Rameshwarlal. There, they established the popular brand "Haldiram Bhujiawala". On a personal visit, Ganga Bhishen went to Kolkata to attend a wedding. Seeing the demand in the grand old metro, a shop was set up in the Burrabazar area in 1958 by his son Rameshwarlal Agarwal.

Kolkata became their first expansion city. In order to drive expansion, the company's first manufacturing plant was started in Calcutta (now Kolkata). This wasn't just about opening shops anymore—it was about scaling production to meet growing demand.

The Third Generation: Three Brothers, Three Territories

The 1970s and 1980s marked a transformative phase. The first two generations of Haldiram's were content with running small operations, but two grandsons from the third generation, wouldn't settle. Manoharlal and Shiv Kishan expanded the business to Nagpur in 1970.

Building on this legacy, his grandson, Mr. Shiv Kishan Agrawal steered the business towards the heights it has tasted today. Determined to take bhujia beyond the boundaries of Bikaner, he shifted base to Nagpur in 1970.

The Nagpur Challenge: Adapting to Local Tastes

Shiv Kishan Agarwal faced his toughest test in Nagpur. In the 1960s, there was no demand for bhujia, not only in Nagpur but in entire Maharashtra. Rather than giving up, he did something brilliant—market research.

He organized market research and surveyed the entire Nagpur market. Through the survey, he found two big opportunities in the market. The people of Maharashtra were not aware of the different types of snacks. Thus, he could introduce new snacks into the market. There was a gap in the sweets market and only a few sweets were available in the market.

His strategy was genius. First, he won the trust of the Maharashtrians by selling the products they liked to win their trust, and then, he introduced his own products. He introduced Kaju Katli and other Bengali sweets, which became instant hits. The sales increased by 400% in three years. He even started a South Indian restaurant when he realized Nagpur people loved idli and dosa, then gradually introduced North Indian snacks.

The Delhi Expansion: Building a Northern Empire

Meanwhile, the Delhi operation was taking shape. The Delhi shop, located in Chandni Chowk proved to be a huge hit with the masses. In a shock to the family, the shop was burnt down during the riots of 1984, with the two grandsons vowing to rebuild it brick-by-brick.

The Innovation That Changed Everything: Packaging Revolution

Enter the third key figure in Haldiram's success: Manohar Lal Agarwal. When he joined Haldiram in 1973, Haldiram had only three shops in India - in Kolkata, Nagpur, and Bikaner respectively. Manohar Lal Agarwal opened another outlet in Delhi's Chandni Chowk.

His biggest contribution? Understanding the power of packaging.

During the 1990s, snack companies used to sell their products without any proper packaging. Haldiram was the first Indian company that gave great priority to the packaging and presentation of its snacks. It was Manohar Lal Agarwal who inspired the modern-day packaging methods including zip pouch, standee pouch packaging, and four-layer structure flexible packaging.

This wasn't just about looking pretty on shelves. Good packaging meant longer shelf life, better distribution reach, and enhanced brand trust. Suddenly, Haldiram's could reach remote corners of India while maintaining product freshness and quality.

The Family Split: One Brand, Three Entities

Here's where things get complicated. As the business grew, so did family tensions. The original Haldiram's founded in 1937 by Ganga Bishan Agarwal, was split in three between four of his grandsons in 1980.

The division was territorial:

West & South India territory is under Mr. Shiv Kishan Agarwal who created the brand Haldirams Nagpur. North India territory was under Mr. Manohar Agarwal and Madhusudan Agarwal who created the brand name Haldirams. East India territory was given to Mr Prabhu Shankar Agarwal and Ashok Agarwal who now have renamed their brand as Prabhuji: From House of Haldirams.

The three became separate entities, with operations are carried out independent of each other. The only thing common would be the Haldiram brand name, though each company maintained different logo styles.

The Legal Battles

The split wasn't peaceful. In the scandalous 90s the natural family spat began when East India Haldiram filed a case in court against the two other companies over using 'Haldiram' as a brand name for their products in the Indian market. However, in the year 2013, the court ruling banned the east territory owners Prabhu Shankar Agarwal and Ashok Agarwal from using the name brand 'Haldirams' on all their products.

The Kolkata faction, now operating as "Prabhuji," lost the right to use the Haldiram name, creating a stark divide in the family legacy.

Diversification and Growth: Beyond Bhujia

In 2003, the company began the process of developing convenience foods to be marketed to consumers. These products in the ready-to-eat format included paneer, pulao, dal and vegetables. Expanding into this market, they began competing with well-established incumbents such as MTR, Tasty Bites & ITC.

By 2014, Haldiram's had achieved remarkable brand recognition. In 2014, Haldiram's was ranked 55th among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report. In 2017, the company was named the country's largest snack company.

The company now offers over 400 varieties of products: traditional namkeens, western snacks, Indian sweets, cookies, beverages, papads, pickles, and ready-to-eat meals. Haldiram's revenue is 5 times that of McDonald's in India—a staggering achievement that speaks to how deeply embedded the brand is in Indian food culture.

Global Expansion: Taking India to the World

Haldiram's didn't stop at dominating India. Established in 1937 as a retail sweets and namkeen shop in Bikaner, Rajasthan by Ganga Bhishen Agarwal, Haldiram products are now sold in over 80 countries.

The company established manufacturing plants across India—in 1970, a larger manufacturing plant was established in Jaipur. Another manufacturing plant was established in New Delhi in the early 1990s. Additional facilities came up in Gurgaon, Rudrapur, and Noida, creating a robust production and distribution network.

The Reunion: Delhi and Nagpur Merge

After decades of operating separately, a significant development occurred. In 2022, it was announced that the packaged snacks businesses of Delhi-based Haldiram Snacks and Nagpur-based Haldiram Foods International would be first demerged and then merged into an entity named Haldiram Snacks Food.

Delhi-based brothers Manohar and Madhusudan Agarwal obtained a 56% stake of the merged entity, while Nagpur-based Shiv Kishan Agarwal received the remaining 44%.

This merger created Haldiram Snacks Food Private Limited (HSFPL), reuniting two-thirds of the original Haldiram empire under one corporate structure.

The $10 Billion Valuation: Global Investors Come Calling

Fast forward to 2025, and Haldiram's has achieved unicorn status—actually, decacorn status.

Singapore's investment firm Temasek has acquired a 10 percent stake in Haldiram's snacks business for $1 billion (Rs 8,500 crore). With this deal, the purchase price has increased the valuation of Haldiram's to $10 billion or Rs 85,000 crore.

The deal came after intense competition. Multiple private equity firms—Blackstone, Bain Capital, Alpha Wave Global—were in the race. Blackstone eventually pulled out over valuation concerns, but Temasek sealed the deal in March 2025.

And it didn't stop there. Just a day after sealing a stake deal with Temasek, the Indian snack giant has now confirmed investments from Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company (IHC) and Alpha Wave Global. Both acquired 6% stakes each, further validating Haldiram's premium valuation.

The Numbers Behind the Success

In fiscal year 2024, Haldriram's revenue surged to Rs 14,000 crore while the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation or Ebitda margin stood at 20-21 percent. The company has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 16-17 percent.

To put this in perspective: This valuation is particularly notable compared to the projected size of India's ethnic snacks industry estimated to be $9.01 billion by FY26. Haldiram's valuation exceeds the entire ethnic snacks industry size—that's market dominance.

With the industry growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.66% and Haldiram's commanding a 40% market share, the high valuation seems to reflect strong investor confidence.

What Makes Haldiram's Special?

1. Understanding the Indian Consumer

From the very beginning, Haldiram's understood what Indian consumers wanted. Whether it was Shiv Kishan adapting to Maharashtrian tastes in Nagpur or Manohar Lal recognizing the importance of packaging, the brand consistently demonstrated market intelligence.

2. Quality and Consistency

For nearly 90 years, Haldiram's has maintained quality standards. The taste of their bhujia today echoes the fine-grained, moth dal-based recipe that Haldiram Ji created in the 1930s.

3. Distribution Mastery

Setting up large scale factory might have helped them to meet the demand but working out a brilliant logistic plan to deliver their products to even the remotest locations has helped them to build an empire.

From corner stores in small towns to supermarkets in major cities to international markets, Haldiram's distribution network is unparalleled in the Indian snacks industry.

4. Product Innovation

Haldiram's never stopped innovating. They expanded from traditional namkeens to sweets, from sweets to ready-to-eat meals, from meals to frozen foods and bakery items. They even brought French bakery chain Brioche Dorée to India.

The Road Ahead: IPO and Global Ambitions

With Temasek, IHC, and Alpha Wave Global now on board, industry speculation is rife about an IPO. The merger is part of a plan to file for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in a bid to debut on Dalal Street in the next 18 months, as per people in the know.

The fresh capital infusion will fuel Haldiram's global expansion plans. With international experience from investors like Temasek and Alpha Wave Global, the company is positioning itself as a global ethnic food giant, not just an Indian brand that exports to expatriate communities.

The Takeaway: Lessons from Haldiram's Journey

Start with Quality, Not Price: Haldiram Ji charged more for his bhujia because it was better. That premium positioning established the brand's quality credentials from day one.

Adapt to Local Markets: Shiv Kishan's success in Nagpur came from understanding local preferences rather than forcing his products on an unreceptive market.

Innovation Beyond Product: Manohar Lal's packaging revolution shows that sometimes the biggest innovation isn't in what you sell, but how you present and deliver it.

Family Businesses Need Professional Structure: The family split shows both the challenges and opportunities. The Delhi and Nagpur entities that professionalized their operations have thrived, while the Kolkata faction struggled.

Distribution is Destiny: In a country as vast and diverse as India, reaching customers everywhere—from metros to small towns—has been key to Haldiram's dominance.

Consistency Compounds: Nearly 90 years of maintaining quality and taste has built trust that money can't buy. That trust translates to market dominance and premium valuations.

The Final Bite

From a 12-year-old boy helping in his father's bhujia shop to a $10 billion snacking empire spanning over 80 countries—Haldiram's story is uniquely Indian. It's a tale of entrepreneurial vision, family ambition, market adaptation, and unwavering commitment to quality.

Today, when you tear open a packet of Haldiram's bhujia or bite into their Kaju Katli, you're tasting almost a century of history, innovation, and passion. You're experiencing a brand that has become synonymous with Indian snacking, a brand that has made traditional Indian flavors accessible globally, and a brand that proves Indian businesses can compete with—and even outperform—global giants.

The yellow-and-red packaging is now more than just a brand—it's an emotion, a taste of home for millions of Indians worldwide, and a testament to how far a simple bhujia shop from Bikaner can go.

And with global investors betting billions on its future, Haldiram's story is far from over. The next chapter promises to be even more exciting.