Nirma Sold Detergent From a Bicycle at Half of Surf’s Price. It Broke Hindustan Lever’s 30 Year Monopoly.
Karsanbhai Patel mixed detergent in his backyard and sold it door to door on a bicycle. Within two decades, Nirma outsold every product in Hindustan Lever's portfolio, and forced the multinational to build a value brand of its own to fight back.