ORIGIN STORIES. (Left) Shibasish Bandyopadhyay, research scholar, and Diptangshu Mondal, proprietor, Deep Prakashan, unveil Brands of Bengal at Brand Chorcha in Kolkata | Photo Credit: KOUSIK RONG

In 1892, a small biscuit venture began in Calcutta, now Kolkata, with an investment of ₹295. The founders bet on the city’s growing appetite, fuelled by booming trade and an expanding middle class. That bet paid off. Over the next few decades, the company, Britannia, revolutionised India’s snacking sector, being the first firm east of the Suez Canal to install industrial gas ovens. Later, it pioneered high-quality sliced and wrapped bread.

Britannia Industries’ turnover crossed ₹18,000 crore in the last financial year. What’s more, the born-in-Bengal biscuit and bread maker’s products are today exported to over 80 countries. And the FMCG major continues to build strong consumer connection through a portfolio of bold, creative and culturally resonant campaigns.

Britannia’s story features in Brands of Bengal: 90 Not Out, a compendium that chronicles brands that originated in the State and are older than nine decades.

Another gripping story in the book is that of Dabur. The year 1884, eight years before brand Britannia began its journey, saw ayurveda embrace modernity for the first time, in the bylanes of Calcutta. “Dr SK Burman was deeply concerned about how inaccessible medicine was in rural Bengal, and was gripped by a desire to provide affordable cures to people living in remote villages. Thus, he started preparing ayurvedic remedies for malaria and cholera, and cycling to deliver them to people’s homes. Dabur, an abbreviation of ‘Daktar Burman’, became the name for this mission,” recounts the chapter on the company.

Timeless tales

The book captures the spirit of Bengal’s entrepreneurial legacy and timeless brands.

Apart from Britannia and Dabur, there are stories of time-honoured firms like ITC, CESC, Berger Paints, Saregama, Eveready Industries, Baidyanath, Luxmi Group, Shalimar Paints, Boroline and Cookme. It also traces the brand journey of legendary restaurants and bakeries like Trincas, Aminia, Mitra Cafe, Flurys and Nahoum and Sons; elite and heritage clubs such as Calcutta Club, The Bengal Club, Calcutta Rowing Club, Calcutta South Club, Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Royal Calcutta Turf Club and Tollygunge Club; and celebrated football clubs like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting.

No football match in Bengal is complete without sweets. Fittingly, the book unpacks the journeys of timeless sweet brands — KC Das, Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, Bhim Chandra Nag, Girish Chandra Dey & Nakur Chandra Nandy, and Sen Mahasay.

The book was launched at Brand Chorcha, a first-of-its-kind business and cultural conclave held in Kolkata earlier this month with the idea of championing the State’s rich commercial history and spotlighting emerging regional enterprises. Rather fitting when you think how regional narratives are growing stronger. Recently in the South, for instance, SuperChennai has been trying to celebrate the Tamil Nadu capital’s legacy and position it on the global stage.

Brand Chorcha — put together by Radium Management, an integrated communication and creative agency — brought together storytellers and entrepreneurs, and the event saw a lot of discussion on Bengal’s generational brand wealth. The book was the showpiece.

“There is no readily available handbook or compilation on legacy brands that emerged from Bengal or a brief history of business houses of Bengal. Where would students and enthusiasts of the business history of Bengal reach out to?” said Subhadip Choudhury, Co-founder and Director, Radium Management Services, adding this is the core of the initiative.

According to Choudhary, this is but the start. “This is the first in the series on popular brands (products, institutions, associations) from Bengal that have been in existence for 90 years and above,” he said, adding there are many brands that did not make the list either because of the business period or that they did not make that much of an impact on business and society but still deserve due mention. “Our next series would cover that with proper diligence.”

Staying relevant

What are the factors that ensure a brand’s longevity? “Endurance is less about being remembered and more about being believed, again and again. A brand stays relevant when its behaviour keeps matching its promise, so trust quietly compounds,” said Samrat Mukherjee, Vice President, Madison World.

“Boroline has stayed a part of Bengali life for almost a century with barely any advertising, because it kept a small promise faithfully and became a daily habit. Relevance isn’t won in the ad; it’s won in what happens after the purchase. A brand people find easy to believe rarely has to shout. Refresh how you express yourself as often as you like — just don’t change what you’re asking people to trust,” Mukherjee emphasised.

Currently, Bengal brands are spending significantly on marketing and brand building. Mukherjee said the new generation is doing it with real confidence — Manyavar, Emami, Bandhan, Bisk Farm and newer names like Joy and Dot & Key. “But what they should do more is simple: Stop treating marketing as only advertising. Budget for the whole journey, not just the message, for what happens after the customer buys, because that’s what keeps the promise. And build the brand, not just the distribution,” he added.

“Trust is Bengal’s inheritance; this generation’s job is the ambition to take it national without spending away the authenticity that made it worth trusting,” he summed up.

Published on June 15, 2026