Here is a look at some surprising numbers of bhujia, papad brands like Bikaji, Haldiram’s, Balaji Wafers- The Week

The shares of Bikaji Foods International, the third-largest ethnic snacks maker in the country, jumped on the morning of July 24 at the National Stock Exchange after it posted a 1.3 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to ₹58.52 crore in the June quarter.

It should not be a surprise that Bikaji Foods raked in a massive ₹637.05 crore in revenue in the three-month period, up 14.86 per cent year-on-year.

The Bikaner-headquartered snack giant is the largest listed ethnic snacks maker, but it ranks third in terms of market share. The honour of reigning the segment goes to Haldiram’s, with Balaji Wafers coming in second. But they both are private firms.

In fact, market leader Haldiram’s earlier this year, in March, saw Singapore’s Temasek pick up 10 per cent of its stake for around $1 billion. Weeks later, the snack maker announced it added two new investors—Alpha Wave Global and International Holding Co (IHC)—as part of its equity financing round. With that itself, Haldiram’s was valued at least a bit above $10 billion. That is about ₹86,317 crore.

In contrast, Bikaji is valued at a quarter of Haldiram’s—at a little short of ₹20,000 crore. Not much has been disclosed by Gujarat-based Balaji Wafers, but its last posted annual revenue for FY 2024 was around ₹5,550 crore.

The NSE-listed Bikaji Foods saw its total expenses for the quarter spike 16.7 per cent to ₹587.09 crore. The snackmaker’s overall total income for the three-month period soared 14.52 per cent to ₹662.66 crore.

This came as Bikaji Foods saw its volumes grow by 7.5 per cent. Its Ethnic Snacks segment, which accounted for more than 75 per cent of its business, grew 11.2 per cent in revenue, while its Packaged Sweets business revenue increased by 3.1 per cent.

These namkeen brands are not just looking to operate in India; they are branching out to neighbours too. In fact, Bikaji also announced a joint venture with C.G. Foods Nepal Ltd to kick off “manufacturing, trading and marketing of snacks, namkeen, bhujia, papad, and packaged sweets within Nepal.”

As of June 30 2025, Bikaji Foods has an installed manufacturing capacity of 325,320 metric tons, out of which Namkeen takes up 141,540 metric tons, packaged sweets are 62,280 metric tons, and Bhujia alone is 57,600 metric tons. It is not just the money, but the sheer volume involved, that makes Namkeen and Bhujia big business in India, and Bikaji is just the third-largest player in the Indian market.

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