Chandubhai Virani is the man behind one of the biggest chips companies in India, Balaji Wafers, that is worth over Rs 4000 crore and his success story is an inspiration for many. Born into a family of farmers, Chandubhai Virani’s journey didn’t have a pleasant start. A drought forced his father Popatbhai Virani to sell the farming land for Rs 20,000 and give that money to Chandubhai and his brothers to start a business. Chandubhai and his two brothers ventured in the fertiliser and farm equipment business which eventually failed due to which the trio had to take up work at Astron Cinema. Eventually, the Virani brothers got hold of the canteen and started selling their homemade wafers which got popular overtime. The wafers were named after a temple located in the premises of the cinema.
For the first 15 years, the wafers or chips were made by Virani’s at their house only and they were quite popular in and around Rajkot city. As their business grew, Chandubhai Virani decided to set up a potato wafer facility near Rajkot city and after tasting the initial success, Balaji Wafers Private Limited was established in 1992 with four facilities in different parts of the country.
Chandubhai's determination and vision made him a potato wafer mogul. Recoginsed as ‘Sultan of Wafers’, Balaji Wafers dominates in the western market and has a huge market share in its home state. The quality and variety of chips even got the attention of PepsiCo, the company that makes Lay’s chips, which was reportedly exploring an offer to get a stake in Balaji Wafers/ As of FY21, Balaji Wafers' revenue reportedly stood at a staggering Rs 4,000 crore. Today, Balaji Wafers employs 5,000 individuals, with an impressive 50 percent of the workforce comprising women.
