Business
Chandubhai Virani, born into a Gujarati farming family, operated a movie theater snack shop in 1976 with his brothers for a rent of Rs 1,000 per month.
Virani and his brothers, lacking wafers, opted to make their own, purchasing a potato-peeling machine and slicing potatoes, then soaking them to create homemade wafers.
Over five years, the brothers started selling wafers to people in cinema halls. People loved them, so they got loans to grow their business, by selling chips outside theaters.
With a 12% market share, it currently has the third-largest position in India's Rs 43,800-crore salty snack market, behind PepsiCo (15%) and Haldiram's (21%).
In 2014, Pepsico wanted to buy Balaji when their revenue hit Rs 1,000 crore, but Virani refused. By last March, revenue reached Rs 5,000 crore.
The core of the Balaji business model is providing goods at a 20–30% lower cost than national brands while maintaining consistent volume through economies of scale.
Balaji Wafers, a family-run company with 7,000 employees, is admired for refusing to sell to Pepsico, showcasing its dedication to its identity.