Harsh Mariwala

You've probably seen a blue bottle of Parachute at home.

The man who turned it into a giant brand is worth over $4.5 billion, and most people have never heard his name.

In the late 90s, Hindustan Lever tried to buy his company. He said no.

If you think a family trading business can only stay small, read the story of Harsh Mariwala.

His family ran a trading business in spices and edible oils.
In 1971 he joined the family company, Bombay Oil Industries, where the main business was commodities, not brands.

In 1975 he started a branded products division.
He believed the future was in brands, not in oil sold as a commodity.

Even the packaging was a problem.
The coconut oil was sold in tins, and in winter it would freeze inside them, so the switch to plastic bottles mattered.

Through the 1980s, Parachute's market share went from 15% to 50%.
In 1990 he carved the consumer brands out of the family business and created a new company, Marico.

Then came the real test.
In the late 90s, Hindustan Lever wanted to buy Marico, and friends told him to take the money while he could.
He refused.

The twist came in 2006.
Marico bought the coconut oil brand Nihar from that same Hindustan Lever, for ₹216 crore.

Now the hard truth.

Not every bet worked.
Saffola snacks and Parachute hot oils flopped.
Kaya, its skin clinic business, lost ₹18.5 crore in 2012-13 and was split away from Marico.

In 2014 he stepped down as MD and handed charge to Saugata Gupta, who had joined Marico about ten years earlier.
His rule after that was "hands-off but mind-on".

Here is where that trading business stands today.

-> Revenue of ₹13,611 crore in FY26, up 26%
-> Parachute, Saffola and Nihar under one roof
-> Present in over 25 countries

He started in a family business that sold commodities, and turned it into a company of brands.

✍🏻 Mantra Joshi

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