Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Marketing Strategy of Balaji Wafers
Marketing Strategy of Balaji Wafers
Balaji Wafers is the largest regional potato wafer, snack brand and the
second biggest player in the potato wafer segment in the country.
Based in Rajkot, it also caters into grain based snacks in various
flavours.
He asked them to go and start a business with the amount. They all
migrated to Rajkot and being from an agricultural background, they
finalised to start a business of fertilizers and farm implements.
However, the supplier of wafers was always late which use to disturb
the business at the cinema hall. Then the family made ‘masala’
sandwiches for the canteen, it was a hit, but due to perishable product
it was hard to keep up it and it was then that Chandubhai saw a future
in wafers because they could be carried anywhere and
everywhere. With a investment of Rs 10,000, Chandubhai set up a
small scale business in a shed and began his experiments with making
chips, after canteen work. In a short span, he had three canteen
contracts- 2 at Astron Cinema and the Kotecha Girls High School in
the city.
Launching
In 1984, they coined their brand name ‘Balaji’. The premises of Balaji
Wafers Private Limited in the village of Vajdi (Vad) around 20 km from
Rajkot, has a small Balaji temple in the forefront of the 50-acre factory
area. It is a proof of the faith that the owners have in Lord Balaji, from
where the brand name ‘Balaji’ was derived.
The factory has around 2,000 plants and trees, a hundred cows, a
water treatment and bio-gas plant but not a single company branding
done anywhere. Despite of the fact that company do not favour
branding, it is a record-breaking factory when it started in 2003, with
the highest potato processing capacity of around 5,000 kg potatoes in
an hour.
The initial 10 years was a lot of struggle for the 3 brothers, and they
earned around Rs. 20,000 to 30,000 a month. For the business to gain
momentum, the company Balaji Wafers Private Limited was formed in
1992, along with the 3 directors – the brothers Bhikhubhai,
Chandubhai and Kanubhai. For the first time Balaji Wafers invested
INR 5 lakhs and took their biggest leap by setting up a plant in Aji,
‘Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation’s’ industrial estate.
Campaigns
Apart from colour, appearance and taste, what sets apart the best
wafers are the crunch when one bites into them. That said, a visit to
the products page of Balaji Wafers will surely urge one to buy a pack
— the page opens with an irresistible ‘crunch’. Balaji is said to be the
second biggest brand in the potato wafer segment in India, without
any promotions and advertisements.
Conclusion
The Economic times declared Balaji wafers as the “Sultan of Wafers”.
The key elements behind the phenomenal success of Balaji are the
strong fundamental values of Virani brothers, which chiefly include
“Trust, Passion and Steady Hard Work!” The wafers are loved by all
and it’s a part and parcel om many lives on a daily basis.