Dalda
Dalda is a brand of vegetable oil (hydrogenated vegetable cooking oil) popular in South Asia.
History
An individual by the name, Kassim Dada, used to import vanaspati ghee from a Dutch company before the 1930s as a cheap substitute for desi ghee or clarified butter, prepared either from water buffalo's milk or cow's milk. In British India of those colonial days, desi ghee was considered an expensive product and not easily affordable for the common public. It was then used sparingly in Indian households. Hence the need existed for a cheaper and affordable substitute.[1][2]
Until the early 1930s, hydrogenated vegetable oil available in India was imported into the country by Kassim Dada and Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Co (now called Hindustan Unilever Limited and Unilever Pakistan).[2][1] Hindustan Vanaspati wanted to start manufacturing hydrogenated vegetable oil locally and hence a new category of hydrogenated oil under the new brand name Dalda was born. Until then, Kassim Dada had been selling his imported product under the name Dada Vanaspati. He was asked for his cooperation by Lever Brothers to let the company insert the letter 'L' from Lever Brothers into the new brand name to make it Dalda. He agreed to the name change. Dalda was introduced in 1937, becoming one of the longest-running brands in India and Pakistan.[2][1]
Hindustan Vanaspati's "Dalda" product came to be synonymous with the genre, to the extent that the main style of hydrogenated vegetable oil is commonly designated generically as "vanaspati ghee".[2][1]
In India
In 2003, Bunge Limited acquired the Dalda brand from Hindustan Unilever Limited for reportedly under Rs 100 crore.[1][3]
In Pakistan
On 30 March 2004, Unilever Pakistan accepted an offer of Rs. 1.33 billion for the sale of its Dalda brand and related business of edible oils and fats to the newly incorporated company Dalda Foods (Pvt.) Limited. This was a one-of-a-kind corporate transaction in Pakistan, in which a group of six senior Unilever executives formed a management group and successfully purchased the Dalda business from Unilever Pakistan. This was achieved under the banner of the newly formed company Dalda Foods (Pvt.) Limited with the support of key financial institutions and Pakistan's biggest edible oil importer Westbury Group.[2]
In 2017, Dalda Foods was getting ready to get on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.[4][5]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Viveat Susan Pinto (5 March 2015). "40 years ago...And now: How Dalda built, and lost, its monopoly (Dalda was established in an advertising blitzkrieg but later ran into trouble)". Business Standard (newspaper). Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Dilawar Hussain (5 January 2008). "Dalda grabs Tullo in edible oil business". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ "India-Dalda Brand Acquisition2". dalda.co.in. 17 January 2014. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ Mohammad Farooq (3 August 2017). "Dalda Foods set to get listed on stock exchange". Pakistan Today (newspaper). Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ Equity market: three IPOs fetched Rs 8.6 billion Business Recorder (newspaper), Published 9 December 2017, Retrieved 20 December 2021