It's all in the family

RETAIL: Grandpa's legacy wasn't just the snack but also a brand name that everyone in the family now wants.

As desi brands go, Haldiram Bhujiawala is as big as they come. Oh, there are the Tewaris, Bhikaram-Chandmals and Gangurams in a few pockets, but when it comes to bhujias, sohan papdis, kaju katlis, and laddoos, it's Haldiram, first and foremost, for a lot of people.

"It's a fantastic achievement," says Anmol Dar, chairman, Superbrands Council India, "for a brand that literally grew from nowhere, to have consistently struck the right chord with consumers. Also, Haldiram is one of the most recognised Indian brands internationally."

But for all the recognition, the various companies who sell under the Haldiram trademark are today busy propping up other brands. There's Prabhuji in Kolkata, Mopleez in Nagpur, Bikaji in Bikaner, Rameswar in Delhi.

Ask Manish Agarwal, managing director of Haldiram Bhujiawala Ltd (HBL), on the need for a separate brand name, Prabhuji, and he says, "My father chose to conduct business under the name of my grandfather. I wish to use my father's name."

Shiv Ratan Agarwal, who runs the Bikaner end of the business, has an even more ingenuous take: "I started Bikaji as a hobby."

Ashok Agarwal, who runs seven stores under his company Rameshwar Foods in Delhi, is more candid when he says, "legal war over trade-mark rights is the reason why everyone is coming up with other brand-names."

Here, Agarwal is referring to the long drawn legal battle (which began in 1999) over the Haldiram trademark that has done the rounds of the Supreme Court and the Delhi and Calcutta high courts.

But first, a bit of history of this fascinating family from a small town in Rajasthan whose total sales, by some estimates, today touch a range of Rs 500 crore.

The Haldiram story began in 1937, when Gangabhisan Agarwal set up shop in Bikaner. Incidentally, Gangabhisan was not the first to make bhujias. The credit for that, according to history, goes to Tansukhdas, his grandfather.

It's just that the bhujias by Gangabhisan, aka Haldiram, became extremely popular and his descendents had the enterprise and foresight to expand their business in other parts of the country.

Kolkata was the first of the family's forays outside home, when Rameshwarlal Agarwal, Gangabhisan's youngest son, set up the "Haldiram Bhujiawala" in the Burrabazar area.

The eastern city is now the brand's major bastion, with three separate businesses making use of the Haldiram brand. Leading the pack is HBL under Prabhu Shankar Agarwal (Rameshwarlal's son).

Then there's Pratik Food Products, a popular eatery on Chowringhee Road by Prabhu Shankar's brother Mahesh Kumar. Haldiram & Sons Bhujiawala is being run by Prayagdas and Mahendra Kumar, the sons of Satyanarayan, the younger son of Gangabhisan.

Delhi has two branches of the family "" Manoharlal and Madhusudan Agarwal, the sons of Moolchand, Gangabhisan's eldest son, who run Haldiram Marketing Pvt Ltd, and Ashok Agarwal. In Nagpur, Moolchand's eldest son, Shiv Kishen Agarwal runs Haldiram's Nagpur.

The dispute over the ownership of the brand is primarily between the sons of Moolchand and Rameshwarlal and concerns the alleged dissolution of a partnership between Gangabhisan, Moolchand, Shiv Kishan and Kamala Devi (the wife of Rameshwarlal) which had registered the trademark in 1972.

But, since Haldiram as a brand is so deeply entrenched in the consumer psyche, the sub-brands have a tough time surviving.

A survey conducted earlier this year revealed that consumers are just beginning to recognize Prabhuji, which was launched sometime in the late nineties. "Even then, the consumers don't think of it as being different from Haldiram," says Agarwal.

Bikaji, which started in 1993, on the other hand has been a success with Shiv Ratan Agarwal reporting that only 5 per cent of his sales come from the Haldiram brand.

"The rise of the sub-brands has had an effect on the market share," says Ashok Agarwal. "Brand image is important. To build something as good, you would have to spend crores of rupees on publicity." True, no brand was built in a day!