Gopal Snacks
| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| NSE: GOPAL | |
| Industry | Food processing |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Bipin Hadvani |
| Headquarters | , India |
Area served | India; international markets |
| Products | Namkeen, gathiya, wafers, chips, snack pellets, papad, spices, besan, noodles, rusk, soan papdi |
| Website | www |
Gopal Snacks Limited, doing business as Gopal Namkeen, is an Indian snack foods company headquartered in Rajkot, Gujarat. The company manufactures ethnic Indian snacks such as namkeen and gathiya, as well as western-style snacks including wafers, chips and extruded snack pellets, under the Gopal brand.[1][2] Gopal Snacks became a publicly listed company in March 2024 through an initial public offering (IPO) on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange.[3][4]
History
[edit]Bipin Hadvani moved to Rajkot in 1990 and co-founded a small namkeen venture with a relative.[1] Differences over business strategy led the partners to separate in 1994, after which Hadvani, along with his wife Daxaben Hadvani, started a new venture from their home, initially selling traditional Gujarati snacks such as gathiya in and around Rajkot.[1]
An early attempt to expand production at a plant outside the city created logistical difficulties, and in 2008 Hadvani moved operations back into Rajkot, took on additional debt, and renamed the business Gopal Snacks.[1] The company's revenue subsequently grew from about ₹100 crore in fiscal year 2012 to ₹620.81 crore in fiscal year 2017, and to ₹1,306 crore in fiscal year 2022, according to Forbes India.[1] The company later diversified into western-style snacks such as potato chips, sold under its Cristos brand, in response to competition from larger snack manufacturers entering the traditional namkeen market.[1]
Operations
[edit]As of 2024, Gopal Snacks operated manufacturing facilities in Rajkot and Modasa in Gujarat, and in Nagpur, Maharashtra, producing gathiya, namkeen, wafers, snack pellets, extruded snacks, papad, spices, gram flour (besan), noodles, rusk and soan papdi.[2][4] The company has been described as the fourth-largest player in India's organised ethnic savouries segment and the largest producer of gathiya and snack pellets by volume, citing an industry (F&S) report.[2]
Initial public offering
[edit]Gopal Snacks launched an IPO of up to ₹650 crore, structured entirely as an offer for sale by promoters Bipin Hadvani, Gopal Agriproducts, and Harsh Shah, who together held about 93.5 percent of the company's pre-offer equity.[3] The issue, priced in a band of ₹381–401 per share, opened for bidding on 6 March 2024 and closed on 11 March 2024, and was subscribed 9.02 times overall.[3][5] Ahead of the public offer, the company raised about ₹193.94 crore from anchor investors.[5]
Shares of Gopal Snacks were listed on the BSE and NSE on 14 March 2024. The stock made a weak debut, opening at ₹350 on the BSE, about 13 percent below its issue price of ₹401.[4]
2024 fire and regulatory scrutiny
[edit]On 11 December 2024, a fire broke out at Gopal Snacks' Rajkot I manufacturing facility in the Metoda GIDC industrial estate.[6] The company said there were no casualties, and that it would ramp up production at its Nagpur and Modasa plants and engage third-party manufacturers to offset the disruption.[7] The incident caused Gopal Snacks' shares to fall sharply, hitting a 10 percent lower circuit the following trading session.[4]
On 17 December 2024, Gujarat's Industrial Safety & Health Department ordered the company to halt production at the affected facility pending submission of a structural stability certificate, and said it had opened an investigation, reportedly attributing the fire to a short circuit.[8] The same report noted that, two days before the fire, the GST department had issued the company a show cause notice concerning an alleged tax liability of about ₹13.5 crore.[8] Separately, in a stock exchange filing, the company said it had received a show cause notice from the CGST Rajkot office over the classification of its papad products under a different tax code (HSN), disputing a demand of about ₹13.76 crore.[9]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Singh, Rajiv (3 October 2022). "From mere Rs 4,500 to Rs 1,300 crore: How Bipin Hadvani built Gopal Snacks". Forbes India. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Ghatiya Gods: All about Gopal Snacks, India's fourth-largest packaged namkeen manufacturer". Storyboard18. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Gopal Snacks IPO subscribed 9.02 times". Business Standard. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Gopal Snacks share price hits 10% lower circuit after fire at Rajkot unit". Business Standard. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Gopal Snacks IPO ends with 9x subscription". Business Standard. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Fire breaks out at Gopal Snacks Ltd in Gujarat's Rajkot". ANI. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Gopal Snacks drops after fire incident at Rajkot facility". Business Standard. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Gopal Namkeen plant in Rajkot ordered to halt production". DeshGujarat. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Gopal Snacks gets Rs 14-cr show cause notice from GST Authority". Business Standard. 7 December 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.