Bikanervala chairman Kedarnath Aggarwal leaves behind rich legacy of resilience
Kedarnath Aggarwal, chairman of one of India’s largest and most-well known packaged snacks and sweets companies, Bikanervala Group, passed away on Monday, at the age of 86.
Kedarnath, along with his brother Satyanarayan Aggarwal, started Bikanervala in the 1950s as street vendors in Old Delhi. All they had, was a legacy from their hometown in Bikaner and determination to make it big.
The patriarch of the Bikanervala Group, fondly known as Kakaji by family and friends, started his journey with a modest family «business» of one sweet shop in Bikaner, called Bikaner Namkeen Bhandar. The two brothers moved to Old Delhi to expand the business, but the early days were full of struggles.
Kedarnath and his brother began by selling bhujia and rasgulla in buckets on the streets of Old Delhi. They stayed the course, started a shop in Delhi’s Chandini Chowk, and brick-by-brick, built the business with sheer resilience and recipes from Bikaner.
Today, the group has a Rs 1,300 crore turnover, has over 150 outlets in India and overseas, and Bikanervala restaurants see 1 crore footfalls in a month, a number which increases during festive seasons, according to the company.
Rivals in western snacks, like PepsiCo, ITC, Prataap Snacks or Parle Products,, have never been able to dent the dominant share that the trio of Bikanervala, Haldiram’s and Bikano have.
Snacks today is a Rs 1.5 lakh crore market, of which only 55% is organised, and remains an intensely competitive market.
Though often wooed by large corporate houses and PE firms, for stake buy-outs, the Bikanervala family’s new generation of entrepreneurs isn’t giving in.
«Kakaji's departure is not just a loss to Bikanervala; it's a void in the culinary landscape. His vision and
