Parle-G or Parle Glucose is a brand of biscuits manufactured by Parle Products Pvt Ltd. in India. As of 2011[update], it is the largest selling brand of biscuits in the world according to Nielsen.[1]
Primarily eaten as a tea-time snack, Parle-G is one of the oldest brand names in India. For decades, the product was instantly recognized by its iconic white and yellow wax paper wrapper with the depiction of a young girl on the front. Counterfeit companies have attempted to recreate and sell lower quality products of similar names with virtually identical package design.
The "Parle" in Parle-G, is derived from the name of the suburb Vile Parle (originally a village called Parle), where the first Parle production factory was based. The "G" in the name Parle-G originally stood for "Glucose", though a later brand slogan also stated "G means Genius".
In 1929, while India was under British rule, a small company by the name of Parle Products emerged. A small factory was set up in Vile Parle (east) the suburb of Mumbai to manufacture sweets and toffees i.e confectionery products(e.g. Melody,kachaa mango bite etc). A decade later it was upgraded to manufacture biscuits as well. Parle has been producing its flagship product Parle-G since the 1940s. Parle-G biscuits were earlier called 'Parle Gluco' Biscuits until 1980s.
The goal was to manufacture and sell sweets and candies. Since then, the Parle name has spread in all directions and has won international fame.
Apart from the factories in Mumbai and Bangalore, Parle also has factories in Bahadurgarh, Haryana and Neemrana, Rajasthan. These are the largest biscuit and confectionery plants in the country. Additionally, Parle Products also has 10 manufacturing units and 75 manufacturing units on contract.
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As of 2011[update], Parle-G is the largest selling biscuit in the world.[1] It has 70% market share in India in the glucose biscuit category followed by Britannia, Tiger (17-18%) and ITC's Sunfeast (8-9%). The brand is estimated to be worth over Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), and contributes more than 50 per cent of the company's turnover (Parle Products is an unlisted company and its executives are not comfortable disclosing exact numbers). Last fiscal, Parle had sales of Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion). It also is popular across the world and is starting to sell in Western Europe and USA.
Outside India, Parle-G is available in Europe, UK, USA, Canada, Singapore, etc. In Canada, it is sold by Zehrs, Food Basics, Loblaws, etc for only 99 cents for a 418 gram pack. It also is popular across the world and is starting to sell in Western Europe and USA.
The Brand Trust Report, published by Trust Research Advisory in 2011, ranked Parle in the 58th place as the Most Trusted brands of India.