The company makes nearly 100 products in ethnic snacks as well as western snacks
The company makes nearly 100 products in ethnic snacks as well as western snacks

Gopal Snacks is all set to spread its flavour across India

From a modest home-grown enterprise, Gopal Snacks is setting its sights on becoming a pan-India brand
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Gathiya, the extruded groundnut flour fried delicacy, laced with a variety of spices, is an indispensable item on the breakfast table of Gujaratis. Realising the importance of gathiyas, Bipin Hadani has created an entire snacks company of packaged goods, Gopal Snacks Ltd, a listed company with a market cap of over Rs4,300 crore – the largest in India and also globally. It has multi-production centres in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. As of now, there are three core manufacturing units and three ancillary units. While gathiya is still its key product, it currently makes nearly 100 products in ethnic snacks as well as western snacks. “For us, it is more than a snack. It is a celebration of our rich culinary tradition,” explains Bipin Vithalbhai Hadvani, the founder-promoter and now the chairman of Gopal Snacks Ltd.

Hailing from a family which had a small ethnic snack shop in Padra, a small village near Jamkordana in Rajkot district, Bipinbhai got his initial grounding there. He, along with his brother, used to go to the shop started by his grandfather. The shop sold a mixture called chavanu, and homemade snacks. Incidentally, Bikaji, Haldiram and Bikanerii all originated from small shops in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Family members branched out to various places – Nagpur, Delhi and Kolkata – to establish Haldiram. Shiv Ratan Agarwal, founder of Bikaji Foods International, still operates from Bikaner. Bikanerwala is based in Delhi. 

Bipinbhai’s father wanted to start a large-scale business. Inspired by the idea, Bipinbhai and his brother started selling one-rupee snack packages – Teekha Meetha, a 40-gram mixture. In 1988, they went from village to village selling the product on bicycles, which became popular across 52 villages in the district. The bicycles were later upgraded to motorcycles to enable them to expand their coverage even further.

Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Bipinbhai wanted his father to leave the village and start a larger unit in Rajkot soon after passing his 12th standard exam. His father had cherished such a dream, which he had confided to his children some time before. “Father was, however, not keen on moving to Rajkot. But I had big ambitions.” When his father refused, he and his brother left the village with the princely sum of Rs4,200 to seek their fortunes in Rajkot. Says Bipinbhai: “I started a snack business with Rs8,500.” Later, he exited the partnership.

Starting on a modest scale, Gopal Gruh Udyog was founded in 1991. Short of capital but not ideas, Bipinbhai even then had dreams of building a strong distributor line. He borrowed gram flour and oil and commenced his business, making snacks at home and selling them to hawkers from various villages, who would get a commission of Rs2 per kg. He invested time meeting small-time retailers, customers and shopkeepers. Even today, more than three decades later, one of the key factors contributing to customer loyalty is the strong bonding with rural distributors and retailers. Travelling on cycles and mopeds was the norm, with his house doubling as the production centre. “With enquiries coming in from villages and cities, the product soon became popular and was renowned for its distinct taste.”

Bipinbhai: it’s a celebration of our rich culinary tradition
Bipinbhai: it’s a celebration of our rich culinary tradition

With success breeding success, enquiries started coming in from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, which encouraged the entrepreneur to expand his product range. While in the earlier partnership snacks were sold under the brand Gokul, the new business started selling products under the brand Gopal, another name of Lord Krishna.

Packaged foods – a challenge to sell

Initially, it was challenging to get customers to switch to packaged goods, as they felt these contained stale products compared to village shops, which fried food fresh every day and sold it immediately. Customers, however, liked the quality of the products. Relying on his father’s principle: “Feed people only what we eat ourselves,” Bipinbhai focused on quality without compromising in any way on raw materials or final products – a tenet which has become the DNA of the 4,000 employees across all production sites.

Did the Rs1 package yield profits? “What is now a Rs10 package used to be a Rs1 package earlier. The distributor would get it for 75 paisa. In rural areas, small packages continue to attract customers. Even today, the Rs5 package is the most popular and accounts for 65 per cent of total sales. Rs10 accounts for 14 per cent, with other packages over Rs10 accounting for 15 per cent.” Explaining the rationale, Raj Hadvani, MD and son of Bipinbhai, who completed his MBA at NM College in Vile Parle, Mumbai, says: “The Rs5 package has enough content to satisfy the immediate hunger pangs of customers at that particular time.” Raj explains that, long before the focus on healthy snacks began, they were already selling sev-kurmura – an ideal product to meet immediate hunger pangs. In fact, across Saurashtra and North Gujarat, sev-kurmura is invariably found in most households, especially in rural areas.

Bipinbhai initially started manufacturing from home with the help of his wife, Daxa (who is also on the board of Gopal Snacks), his brother and his wife (now separated), and his sister. It was a truly home-grown enterprise. Bipinbhai is a family man and counts not just his blood relations as his family but also his employees.

He moved to a rented space of 800 sq m in 2001. It was not smooth sailing all the time, points out Bipinbhai, who faced many financial problems early on. “My wife has been my greatest partner, providing support and insight every step of the way. Together, we faced each obstacle, whether it was navigating market shifts, integrating new technology, or managing supply chains. It was our hard work which eventually paid off.” From 800 sq m to 20,000 m and another 6,000 m, there was no looking back. “We started small. As production grew, so did demand, along with new opportunities opening up,” says Bipinbhai. The company started manufacturing operations in Rajkot, Gujarat, in 2010.

Growing production units is the key to succeeding in building a pan-India presence. With this in mind, Gopal Snacks has inked agreements with two units: one near Bangalore and the other in Kashipur, UP. It plans to introduce nachos and namkeen in the UP markets. In Shree Om Shakti Foods, it will manufacture namkeen, wafers and kurkura. Markets for packaged foods are viable if the distribution is within 350 km of the production centres.

In a bid to control costs in-house, Gopal Snacks began backward integration. In 2015, it got into automation and engineering; in 2017, it introduced an engineering and fabrication facility at Rajkot to manufacture customised containers on logistic vehicles for transporting products to distributors. It started the Nagpur production plant soon thereafter. Through its expansion process, in 2019, it began manufacturing raw snack pellets and spices at another ancillary facility in Rajkot. In 2021, it started operations at the Modasa plant in Gujarat, and in 2022-23, it established an ancillary manufacturing facility in Modasa to produce raw snack pellets.

Like many other ethnic snack producers, Gopal Snacks products are made in palm oil – firstly because it is cheaper than groundnut oil and secondly because supplies are regular, with contracts inked three months in advance to ensure availability. The top management is reluctant to increase prices and, in extreme cases, prefers adjusting the grammage to retain product competitiveness in the Rs5 package.

In-house advantage

As part of its backward integration initiative, Gopal Snacks began making masalas in-house, manufacturing gram flour, and diversifying into papad production. By this time, they had set up their own packaging units. Gram flour also began to be made in-house, and goods were ferried using company-owned trucks. Even diesel is dispensed through an Indian Oil outlet near the Rajkot production facility. Making their own masalas was prompted by differences noticed in end-product quality. The entire process of making gram flour and masala was automated, with a view to strengthening the supply chain and reducing errors while ensuring product quality. Even food-processing machinery was developed in-house, as were storage and transport systems. “It was difficult to get mechanics, so we developed an in-house team to immediately look into problems and limit machine idle time due to stoppages,” says Raj, who is also responsible for modern packaging designs and marketing practices. Marketing of surplus masalas and flour was also started, providing an additional source of income.

Raj: small package, big advantage
Raj: small package, big advantage

The initial funding of a little under Rs10 crore was provided by Oriental Bank, which was repaid as scheduled. In 2006, the turnover of the company was Rs2.25 crore. This increased to Rs225 crore in 2012. Currently, its sale has increased by more than six-fold. The company went public and raised Rs650 crore a year ago. Part of the funds were used to pay off his brother, who went on to pursue an independent business.

Balaji Wafers, which had started almost a decade earlier, was also well entrenched in the rural markets of Gujarat. However, despite the late start, Gopal Snacks is now well established in Gujarat, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of its sales. Gopal's packages are popular in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which are its key markets. Other markets include Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. A portion of the packages is also exported. Ethnic snacks are largely favoured in northern and western markets. As a testimony to the success of Bipinbhai and his team, more than four lakh retail outlets stock Gopal Snacks packages.

Having established its brand at the lowest end, catering to the masses, Gopal is now taking steps to establish itself across all retail categories. A new Business Development Manager, Navin Gupta, has been taken on board. Gupta had earlier worked with Bikaji. A number of high-profile appointments have been made over the last 2 years in a bid to professionalise the management team. Rigan Raithatha joined in March 2025 as the CFO of the company.

In a bid to target new customers, Gopal introduced newer brands with innovative marketing and advertising strategies. Amit Vyas, the marketing manager, says: “We are targeting mothers and sons, along with teenagers, to showcase that gathiya is a cool snack.”

Vyas, who has been with several leading companies including Vadilal Ice Cream, Wagh Bakri, and Arvind, among others, pointed out that new brands are being created to target various products meant for different groups. For teenagers, Gopal Snacks has created Cristos, which includes all Western snacks under this brand. Two Yum is targeting the pre-teenage group.

Recently, as part of its move to target a wider audience, Gopal Snacks tied up with Filmfare for the Filmfare Awards Night as the snack partner. It also tied up with companies operating vending machines at airports. During Navratri, retail activation was carried out across 10,000 stores.

Focus on quality and quantity

Commenting on their unique proposition, Vyas says: “Some brands focus on quality, some focus on quantity. Our focus is on quality and quantity.” Hadvani often reminds staff: “If you want to earn money, sell more. Don’t raise prices. Gathiya is our calling card in newer territories, with people even in Bikaner, known for its Bhujia Sev, preferring Gopal gathiyas. We will be judiciously using TV and print media, as well as marketing through digital channels, to expand our market share. Exports are also our new focus area.”

FloraFountain, a digital marketing agency that has studied both Balaji and Gopal brands minutely, says: “One of Gopal’s strongest selling points is its affordability. The brand understands its target audience well and ensures its pricing remains accessible to a broad spectrum of consumers, especially in price-sensitive markets like India. By offering high-quality traditional snacks at reasonable prices, Gopal strikes a balance between value and quality. This strategy not only helps it compete with larger brands but also builds trust among budget-conscious customers who crave authenticity without overspending.” Vasim Samadji, partner at FloraFountain, says: “Gopal has to use its mascot more effectively to make a higher impact with the wider audience.”

Gopal Snacks, largely a western India brand, is aspiring to become a national brand. Bipinbhai Hadvani is hopeful of achieving this. A parallel line of income is being built through the sale of agri-commodities. No new set of distributors will be required for this, rationalises Hadvani, as the existing distributors will handle it. An app is being developed for retailers to place orders, which will be fulfilled by the existing vehicles and distributors. In the cold storage plant set up in north Gujarat, potatoes will be used for making wafers. Banana wafers will be outsourced. Gopal plans to make different types of wafers to cater to the diverse tastes of customers.

Bipinbhai is still active and goes to the plant regularly, travelling to Modasa and Gondal once every week or so. Raj visits the Nagpur plant regularly.

All the expansion plans are to be funded through their existing businesses. There are no plans to raise funds through fresh equity. “All our profits from the business are reinvested. We do not invest elsewhere,” says Hadvani.

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Regional snack brands attract attention

Indian regional snack brands have started evoking a lot of interest amongst private equity firms. This interest has grown after Haldiram, the national player in ethnic snacks, popular for its bhujia sev and convenience foods, sought a valuation of Rs1,00,000 crore. While Blackstone, the biggest private equity company globally, walked out of the deal over valuation differences, Temasek International has taken a minority stake of 10 per cent in Haldiram at an estimated consideration of R10,000 crore. Temasek had earlier also taken a stake in Rebel Foods, a cloud kitchen company.

Earlier, Advent had taken a stake in DFM Foods (known by its brand Crax). It was last valued at Rs2,400 crore before being delisted by the management. Bikaji Foods International, another listed company with a market cap of Rs19,000 crore, is another large player from the hometown of Bikaner, which saw the birth of three big brands – Haldiram, Bikaji and Bikanerwala. Bikaji, also partially funded by private equity firms initially by Lighthouse Equity, Advent and IIFL, is also pursuing growth through acquisitions.

Pratap Snacks (market cap Rs2,450 crore), better known by its brand Diamond Wafers, is also in the process of changing hands. Private equity firm Peak XV, earlier Sequoia Capital, sold off its near 50 per cent stake to various individuals. Authum Investment and Infrastructure, which bought the stake from Peak XV, holds 42.5 per cent, with Madhusudan Kela holding roughly 4 per cent. Authum is the promoter holding the largest number of shares. Other private equity players include Alternate Investment Fund (7 per cent), India Inflection Fund and Faering Capital. Currently, it is rumoured that Authum Investment is also contemplating an exit. The point is that private equity wants to get a slice of the R85,000 crore industry, with more than 60 per cent in the organised sector.

“Attention on regional brands is not surprising, as good distribution holds the key to penetrating regional markets,” says Rishab Jain, CFO, Bikaji Foods. “With good distribution channels one can push more goods.” This is one of the reasons that many large brands like Haldiram and even Bikaji are not able to reach the grassroots level in states like Gujarat. Their products are largely sold through large-format stores in urban areas.

Motilal Oswal has invested in a brand called Happilo International, a company selling packaged dry fruits, aiming to make it a healthy snacking habit. While there are a few large national players like ITC and PepsiCo (of Lay’s fame), there are several regional players well entrenched within their territories and aspiring to become national players – Chitale Bandhu in Pune, Prabhuji in Kolkata, and MTR, another strong brand in southern India. Gopal Snacks is a listed company in Gujarat. There are an estimated 100-125 regional brands in the packaged snacks market in Gujarat alone.

Business India
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