Kumar, Abhineet (28 May 2013). "The game changes for Marico". Business Standard India . Retrieved 17 March 2021. The research and the New Product development team in Marico started by taking dried coconuts and cutting them into two halves. Parachute comprised about 61% of Marico’s revenue. All eyes were on Parachute now, this product was the major target of Keki and for Harsh it was the one to be protected the most. Face-off Parachute "Advanced" hair oils contain around 50% (v/v) to 80% (v/v) mineral oil, along with coconut oil. Advanced Aloe Vera Enriched Coconut Hair Oil contains: Coconut oil (50% v/v), Mineral l (49.6% v/v), BHT, Aloe Vera extract & Perfume. What Lever started doing was it started advertising more aggressively for Nihar and acquiring another coconut oil brand Cococare to win the market leadership.

But as they say, nothing lasts forever. In the same year, Hindustan lever came into the picture, (We know this company as Hindustan Unilever or HUL now) one of the most reputed FMCG firms looking for expansion and also came along Keki Dadiseth, the newly appointed chairman of Hindustan Lever. The brand which Lever chose to kill Parachute was becoming their liability. That was it! Harsh Mariwala’s Marico defeated the multinational Hindustan Lever.

How did it begin?

The campaign increased the market share of Parachute to 52%. By this time due to Levers efforts, Nihar also gained the market share which was doubled from 7% to 15%. big data analytics stories from India". Express Computer. The Indian Express. September 2014. p.12. International Agency for Research on Cancer (17 June 2011). "Agents Classified by the IARC Monographs, Volumes 1–102" (PDF). Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. pp.3, 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2011 . Retrieved 11 November 2011. Join 1.2 Million people from around the world, get wisdom articles delivered in the mailbox for free. The company expands with its first overseas manufacturing facility in Bangladesh. Marico acquires Mediker in the same year

a b Kumar, Nirmalya (2009). India's Global Powerhouses. Harvard Business Press. pp.136–8. ISBN 978-1-4221-4762-7. Lever acquired a brand called Cococare to compete with them Marico acquired Oil of Malabar and relaunched it at a lower price. Hair Care – Parachute, Parachute Advansed, Nihar Naturals, Nihar Naturals Uttam, Hair & Care Fruit Oils, Mediker, Livon In the year 2006, Harsh Mariwala saw a huge potential in the deal. The weapon which was introduced to kill his empire was acquired by him in the end. Now Nihar & Parachute both began to thrive together under Marico.

a b c Sreedhar, Vidya (5 May 2023). "Marico Q4 Results: Cons PAT rises 20% YoY to Rs 302 crore, sales growth muted". The Economic Times . Retrieved 27 June 2023.

To make things even worse, One day Harsh receives a phone call from the caller saying, “Im Keki Dadiseth” Keki wanted to make Harsh an offer to sell Marico to Lever and offered significant benefits to the Mariwara family. Where on the one hand Parachute had a 48% market share, Nihar Coconut oil had only 7%. So there it was, Marico’s Parachute came into the radar of Keki Dadiseth as he intended to acquire a company with maximum market share in the coconut hair oil market. And the war was about to break out. Game on Not only this Marico rejuvenated its sales team and gave them a slogan “Parachute Ki Kasam” setting their spirits high in the determination to compete with Nihar. And all these efforts worked! Harsh Mariwala is the chairman and Saugata Gupta assumed the role of the managing director in March 2014 and is currently the MD and CEO of this organisation. [9] [7] History [ edit ] Malviya, Sagar (24 December 2018). "No fear of failure: Marico again sights health & wellness". The Economic Times.Jha, Sneha (28 August 2017). "How Marico's digital crusader Mukesh Kripalani is fueling growth with digital innovation". The Economic Times. I'm sure Keki Dadiseth, who pioneered acquisitions, must have never forgotten this battle in which he had to lose. Take a deep breath and think about your childhood, the memories of the first day of school, or the summer holidays, those silly fights with the siblings, and that bachpan ka ghar. There is no end to these memories and one among such is, Mummy ke hath ki oil-champi especially on those chilly winters!

After rebranding, Marico began an advertising campaign focusing on the importance of sacred coconut in Hindu tradition and linked all this value to Parachute coconut oil in the effort of becoming emotionally connected to people; they also worked on widening the distribution channel. Marico invests Revolutionary Fitness (Revofit); [15] launches a new brand – True Roots [16] that delays hair greying and launches its first digital exclusive brand – Studio X; [17] launched Saffola Fittify. [18] The face-off was about to begin. The strength of Marico and Harsh was that he had an in-depth knowledge of branded coconut oil, he had consumer insights, sourcing expertise, a well-established distribution & marketing set up as to how consumers connected with Parachute. Marico and Parachute was the brainchild of Harsh and defeat was not acceptable and there was no question of selling out. He was ready for a battle! There is this thing about HUL that it has thrived on takeovers & acquisitions, its popular brands such as Brooke Bond, Ponds, Kwality, and more were all results of mergers & acquisitions. What's interesting is, the biggest strength Keki had was also corporate acquisitions. (This Jodi was made in heaven)

And I'm sure if you remember the champi, you must remember the oil she used to do it with, mostly it was that tall blue bottle named Parachute and this way Parachute also becomes a part of our childhood memories. Parachute edible oil contains 100% coconut oil, whereas Advansed hair oil contains coconut oil along with fragrance and Vitamin E.