Fortune became India's largest edible oil brand not through advertising but by making a sealed, branded bottle the default choice over loose oil bought by weight, kitchen by kitchen.
Most Indians buy dry fruits from a kirana, scooped loose into a paper bag with no brand name, no traceability, and no quality guarantee. Farmley decided that the same consumer who was happy to buy branded biscuits and branded salt would also pay for branded almonds, if someone gave them a credible reason to trust the pack. They were right. Revenue hit ₹370 crore.
Ramesh Chauhan bought Bisleri from an Italian company in 1969 for ₹4 lakh. When he sold it to Coca-Cola in 1993 and bought it back two years later, he saw something the multinational missed. The repurchase built one of India's most studied brand moats.
Wheat flour was a commodity Indian households milled at their local chakki. The idea of paying a brand premium for it seemed absurd. ITC spent ₹100 crore in two years to prove otherwise and created a category worth ₹15,000 crore in the process.
