MDH

An Indian manufacturer, distributor and exporter of ground spices and spice mixtures under the brand name MDH. It specializes in several unique traditional blends of spices suitable for different recipes.

The company was founded in 1919 by Mahashay Chuni Lal as a small shop in Sialkot.

Mahashay Chuni Lal started the enterprise in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on April 13, 1919. In a few years, the spices became very famous and they came to be known as "Deggi Mirch Wale" (the Pot Chilli People), after the name of one of their famous spice mixtures.

 After the partition of India, Mahashay Dharam Pal, the son of the founder, shifted to Delhi and opened up his shop at Ajmal Khan Road, Karol Bagh under the banner "Mahashian Di Hatti of Sialkot (Deggi Mirch wale)". The name Mahashian Di Hatti means "the Shop of the Magnanimous" in Punjabi.

Headquartered in Delhi, India.

LAYS

The brand name for a number of potato chip varieties. Lay's chips are marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo Inc. since 1965.

In 1932 salesman Herman W. Lay opened a snack food operation in Nashville, Tennessee and, in 1938, he purchased the Atlanta, Georgia potato chip manufacturer "Barrett Food Company," renaming it "H.W. Lay & Company."  The business shortened its name to "the Lay's Company" in 1944.
In 1961, the Frito Company founded by Elmer Doolin and Lay's merged to form Frito-Lay Inc., a snack food giant with combined sales of over $127 million annually, the largest of any manufacturer.

In 1965, Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company to form PepsiCo, Inc.

Based in US.

DUREX

Trademarked name for a range of condoms made by UK-based multinational SSL International.

Founded by Stephen O'Kennedy in London, 1915.

The name, which the London Rubber Company trademarked in 1929, is a portmanteau of "Durability, Reliability, and Excellence", though some people mistake it as being "Durable Latex" or "During Sex".

Headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

NIVEA

A global skin- and body-care brand,owned by the German company Beiersdorf.

 The company began in 1911 when Beiersdorf developed a water-in-oil emulsifier as a skin cream with Eucerit, the first stable emulsion of its kind.

The company's owner, Oskar Troplowitz, named it Nivea, from the Latin word niveus/nivea/niveum (meaning snow-white).

Based in Germany.

REVLON

An American cosmetics company.

Revlon was founded in 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the REVLON name.

Headquartered in New York City, New York, United States

LIPTON

One of the world's best-known and best-selling brands of both hot leaf and ready-to-drink tea. It is currently owned by Unilever.

Lipton was created in 1890 by Sir Thomas Lipton in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. His enterprise soon flourished and he established a chain of grocers, first across Glasgow, the rest of Scotland, until finally he had stores throughout Britain.

COLGATE PALMOLIVE

An American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products (including toothpaste and toothbrushes).

In 1806, William Colgate, himself a soap and candle maker, opened up a starch, soap, and candle factory on Dutch Street in New York City under the name of "William Colgate & Company". In the 1840s, the firm began selling individual bars in uniform weights. In 1857, William Colgate died and the company was reorganized as "Colgate & Company" under the management of Samuel Colgate, his son.

In 1873, the firm introduced its first toothpaste, an aromatic toothpaste sold in jars. His company sold the first toothpaste in a tube, Colgate Ribbon Dental Cream, in 1896. By 1908 they initiated mass selling of toothpaste in tubes.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the "B.J. Johnson Company" was making a soap entirely of palm and olive oil, the formula of which was developed by B.J. Johnson in 1898. The soap was popular enough to rename their company after it - "Palmolive". A Kansas-based soap manufacturer known as the "Peet Brothers" merged with Palmolive to become Palmolive-Peet. In 1928, Palmolive-Peet bought the Colgate Company to create the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. In 1953 "Peet" was dropped from the title, leaving only "Colgate-Palmolive Company", the current name.

The company's corporate offices are on Park Avenue in New York City, US.

HARPIC

Harpic is the brand name of a toilet bowl cleaner launched in England in the 1920s and now marketed by Reckitt Benckiser. The toilet cleaning products marketed under the brand name include liquids, tablets, wipes, brush systems, toilet bowl and cistern blocks.

The original toilet cleaner was invented by Mr Harry Pickup, who was based in Roscoe Street, Scarborough, in North Yorkshire.

UNILEVER

A multinational corporation, formed of British and Dutch parentage, that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products.

Unilever was created in 1930 by the amalgamation of the operations of British soapmaker Lever Brothers  (founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James) and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie (grew in the 1920s through mergers of several margarine companies), a merger as palm oil was a major raw material for both margarines and soaps and could be imported more efficiently in larger quantities.

Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever NV in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, United Kingdom. Both Unilever companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business.

PROCTOR & GAMBLE

A Fortune 500, American multinational corporation that manufactures a wide range of consumer goods.

William Procter, a candlemaker, and James Gamble, a soapmaker, immigrants from England and Ireland, respectively, who had settled earlier in Cincinnati, who met as they married sisters, Olivia and Elizabeth Norris, formed the company initially. Alexander Norris, their father-in law, called a meeting in which he persuaded his new sons-in-law to become business partners. On October 31, 1837, as a result of the suggestion, Procter & Gamble was born.

Headquartered in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, US.

NIRMA

Group of companies based in the city of Ahmedabad in western India, manufacturing products ranging from cosmetics, soaps, detergents, salt, soda ash, LAB and Injectibles.

Founder named it after his daughter Nirupama.

Founded by Karsanbhai Patel in 1969.

Headquartered at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

MAGGI

Nestlé brand of instant soups, stocks, bouillon cubes, ketchups, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles

Named after it's founder Julius Maggi.

Julius Maggi founded the company Maggi GmbH in 1897 in the German town of Singen where it is still established today.

LAKME

An Indian brand of cosmetics, owned by Unilever.

Named after the French opera Lakmé, which itself is the French form of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, also renowned for her beauty.

Started as a 100% subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills (Tomco), part of theTata Group. Tata sold off their stakes in Lakmé to HLL in 1998.

MORTEIN

A famous brand of household insecticides.

Mortein is a combination of the French word 'mort' (dead) and the German 'ein' (one).

Mortein was first manufactured as an insecticidal powder in the 1870s by J. Hagemann, a German immigrant to Australia.

TTK GROUP

An Indian business conglomerate with a presence across several segments of industry such as consumer durables, pharmaceuticals & supplements, bio-medical devices, maps & atlases, Consular Visa Services, Virtual Assistant Services, and health care services. The TTK Group has been associated with several brands, which are now household names in India, such as Prestige Pressure Cookers, Woodward's Gripe Water, Kohinoor condoms, Brylcreem and Kiwi Shoe polishes.

Named after it's founder T.T. Krishnamachari.

Started in 1928 by T.T.Krishnamachari.

BISLERI

A premium brand of bottled water in India. It has 60% market share in packaged drinking water in India.

Bisleri was originally an Italian company created by Felice Bisleri, who first brought the idea of selling bottled water in India in 1969.

Parle bought over Bisleri (India) Ltd. in 1969.

Headquartered at Mumbai, India.

DABUR

It was founded by Dr. S.K. Burman as a small pharmacy in Calcutta. In Indian villages, doctor is often pronounced as daaktar. So, Doctor Burman becomes Daaktar Burman. Dabur came from Da of Daaktar and Bur of Burman.

Founded by S.K.Burman in 1884

Headuquartered at Ghaziabad, UP, India