Tracing the Roots of Famous Brands from Gujarat! We Bet you Didn't Know it!

Gujarat is an odyssey of brands. The 'Jewel of Western India' has given some of the most renowned brands to the nation. While these names may be familiar to you, we are pretty sure you did not know where they had their humble beginnings. 

Tata - Navsari - Jamseddji Tata

Tata Group, a business conglomerate, famous for brands like Tata Steel, Tata Salt, Tata Motors, Big Basket, Tata Tea and many other brands, was started by a man who grew up in Gujarat. Jamsetji Tata, the founder of the Tata group, was born in Navsari, a town near the Purna River in Gujarat. As mentioned on the business’s website, although Jamsetji lived most of his life outside Navsari, he always had a soft spot for his native land. ‘Chalo Navsari’ was his standard invitation to family and friends in Bombay.

Reliance - Naroda - Dhirubhai Ambani 

Reliance, a company that has almost everything under its umbrella—Reliance Digital, Jio, Trends, Smart Bazaar, and other brands has its roots in Gujarat. Naroda, a town in the 'Jewel of Western India', was the first place where Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Group, set up the first textile mill. The mill was named 'Only Vimal'  and was RIL’s first manufacturing facility. This textiles and fabrics manufacturing facility manufactures and markets woven and knitted fabrics for home textiles, synthetic and worsted suiting and shirting, ready-to-wear garments and automotive fabrics was Dhirubhai's first venture, and the rest is history. 

Adani - Ahmedabad - Gautam Adani 

Adani Group, a Multinational conglomerate company under which brands like Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, and Ambuja Cements function, was started by Gautam Adani in Ahmedabad and is still the headquarters of the company. Gautam Adani first established Adani Exports, which deals in agricultural commodities and power in Ahmedabad and later went on to add other companies under the group. Although Gautam spent his major childhood days in Banaskantha, a district in the northeastern part of Gujarat, he moved to Ahmedabad and set up the business there. 

Nirma - Ahmedabad - Karsanbhai Patel

The iconic brand Nirma had humble beginnings in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The brand's history began in 1969 when Karsanbhai Patel, a chemist, started selling his own detergent powder door-to-door. Initially, he was making the detergent in a small room of his house in Ahmedabad and named it Nirma after his daughter, Nirupama. The detergent started gaining popularity due to its features and affordability, and Nirma soon became a household brand. With time, it started selling products like detergents, soaps, cement, cosmetics, salt, soda ash, linear alkylbenzene, and injectables.

VINI International - Ahmedabad - Darshan Patel

You might not recognise this brand by its parent name, but if we say Fogg, Ossum, White Tone or Realman, you would instantly recognise it. VINI International had its beginnings in the Manchester of India when Darshan Patel, the founder of the brand, ventured into the business with no formal grounding in the basics of branding and marketing. Today, it manufactures and sells a wide variety of the above-mentioned products and is one of the leading brands in the scent and perfume category. 

Sheetal Cool Products - Amreli - Jagdishbhai Bhuva

Sheetal Cool Products Ltd., famously known as Sheetal Ice Creams, was established by Jagdishbhai D. Bhuva in 1987. Jagdishbhai opened a pan and cold drinks shop in Amreli, a district in Gujarat and soon ventured into the commercial production of ice cream products. Very soon, Sheetal became synonymous with ice cream in Amreli and gradually in the entire Gujarat with the efforts and expansion of Bhuva. 

Gopal Snacks - Rajkot - Bipin Hadvani 

Established in 1999 by Bipin Hadvani under Gopal Gruh Udhyog, Gopal Namkeen is a popular snack brand in Gujarat. The Gruh Udyog started in Rajkot, a city in the state of Gujarat, with an aim to provide namkeen and snack items to the local markets of Rajkot. Today, the brand has a strong market presence offering a wide variety of savoury products, including ethnic snacks, western snacks, snack pellets, fast-moving consumer goods and other products such as packaged sweets. 

Amul - Anand - Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel 

Amul—Anand Milk Udyog Limited was born out of a part of the white revolution in 1946. As the name suggests, the brand was started in Anand, Gujarat, by Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel and Dr Verghese Kurien to support the cooperative movement in India. Today, the brand is the world's largest farmer-owned dairy cooperative with products like paneer, dahi, milk, ghee, ice creams and more. 

Balaji - Rajkot - Virani Brothers

Balaji, one of India’s leading snack-food manufacturers and distributors, had its beginnings in Rajkot, Gujarat. The brothers' trio—Chandubhai Virani, Kanubhai Virani, and Bhikhubhai Virani established Balaji Wafers in 1974 after initially making and selling their own wafers and sandwiches in the canteen of Astron Cinema. Later, they sold the wafers to the nearby retailers, and after a few years of struggle, the brand became popular in the entire Gujarat and now in other states of India as well. 

ORPAT Group - Morbi - Odhavjibhai Patel

ORPAT Group, which is now known for its varied products in the electronics, home appliances & green energy sector, was started as a manufacturer of clocks in Morbi, Gujarat. Odhavjibhai Patel began the odyssey with a humble team of a few members and very limited offerings in a rented retail shop, and now has taken the brand on a much higher level.