Biscuits have a long history dating back to ancient Rome. They became important travel foods as exploration increased due to their long shelf life. Over time, biscuit recipes and styles diversified. Today, India has a large biscuit industry with many top brands producing various types of biscuits that remain a popular snack. The history of biscuits shows how they evolved from simple hardtack to diverse modern biscuit varieties while still relying on core ingredients like wheat flour, sugar, and fats.

1. BISCUITS
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The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, in
particular at sea, was initially solved by taking live food along with a butcher/cook. However, this took
up additional space on what were either horse-powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel
before additional food was required. This resulted in early armies' adopting the style of hunter-foraging.
Many early physicians believed that most medicinal problems were associated with digestion.
Hence, for both sustenance and avoidance of illness, a daily consumption of a biscuit was
considered good for health.
Hard biscuits soften as they age. To solve this problem, early bakers attempted to create the
hardest biscuit possible. Because it is so hard and dry, if properly stored and transported, navies'
hardtack will survive rough handling and high temperature. Baked hard, it can be kept without
spoiling for years as long as it is kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times,
rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before sailing.[7] To soften hardtack
for eating, it was often dunked in brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal.
The more refined captain's biscuit was made with finer flour.
History of biscuits
Sweet or salty. Soft or crunchy. Simple or exotic. Everybody loves munching on biscuits, but do they
know how biscuits began?
The history of biscuits can be traced back to a recipe created by the Roman chef Apicius, in which "a
thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened it
was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper."
The word 'Biscuit' is derived from the Latin words 'Bis' (meaning 'twice') and 'Coctus' (meaning cooked
or baked). The word 'Biscotti' is also the generic term for cookies in Italian. Back then, biscuits were
unleavened, hard and thin wafers which, because of their low water content, were ideal food to store.
As people started to explore the globe, biscuits became the ideal travelling food since they stayed fresh
for long periods. The seafaring age, thus, witnessed the boom of biscuits when these were sealed in
airtight containers to last for months at a time. Hard track biscuits (earliest version of the biscotti and
present-day crackers) were part of the staple diet of English and American sailors for many centuries. In
fact, the countries which led this seafaring charge, such as those in Western Europe, are the ones where
biscuits are most popular even today. Biscotti is said to have been a favourite of Christopher Columbus
who discovered America!
Making good biscuits is quite an art, and history bears testimony to that. During the 17th and 18th

2. Centuries in Europe, baking was a carefully controlled profession, managed through a series of 'guilds' or
professional associations. To become a baker, one had to complete years of apprenticeship - working
through the ranks of apprentice, journeyman, and finally master baker. Not only this, the amount and
quality of biscuits baked were also carefully monitored.
The English, Scottish and Dutch immigrants originally brought the first cookies to the United States and
they were called teacakes. They were often flavoured with nothing more than the finest butter,
sometimes with the addition of a few drops of rose water. Cookies in America were also called by such
names as "jumbles", "plunkets" and "cry babies".
As technology improved during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the price of sugar and flour
dropped. Chemical leavening agents, such as baking soda, became available and a profusion of cookie
recipes occurred. This led to the development of manufactured cookies.
Interestingly, as time has passed and despite more varieties becoming available, the essential
ingredients of biscuits haven't changed - like 'soft' wheat flour (which contains less protein than the
flour used to bake bread) sugar, and fats, such as butter and oil. Today, though they are known by
different names the world over, people agree on one thing - nothing beats the biscuit!
Some interesting facts on the origin of other forms of biscuits:
The recipe for oval shaped cookies (that are also known as boudoir biscuits, sponge biscuits, sponge
fingers, Naples biscuits and Savoy biscuits) has changed little in 900 years and dates back to the house of
Savoy in the 11th century France. Peter the Great of Russia seems to have enjoyed an oval-shaped
cookie called "lady fingers" when visiting Louis XV of France.
The macaroon - a small round cookie with crisp crust and a soft interior - seems to have originated in an
Italian monastery in 1792 during the French Revolution.
SPRING-uhr-lee, have been traditional Christmas cookies in Austria and Bavaria for centuries. They are
made from a simple egg, flour and sugar dough and are usually rectangular in shape. These cookies are
made with a leavening agent called ammonium carbonate and baking ammonia.
The inspiration for fortune cookies dates back to the 12th and 13th Centuries, when Chinese soldiers
slipped rice paper messages into moon cakes to help co-ordinate their defence against Mongolian
invaders.
Top Biscuits Brands in India
Following are the leading biscuit brands in India:

3. Parle Products Pvt. Ltd
Founded in 1929, Parle Products Pvt. Ltd ranks among the top biscuit brands in India. The
company has 7 manufacturing units of its own and 51 manufacturing units on contract.
Accounting for about 30-35% of market share in the biscuit industry this company is famous for
brands like Parle – G, Krackjack, Hide & Seek Milano, Hide and Seek, Magix and Monaco.
Parle has been one of the leading biscuit brands in India for the last 8 decades. Parle-G is reputed
to enjoy the most sales among all biscuit brands in the world. Its biscuits offer a fantastic
combination of quality, taste, and nutrition. Parle biscuits are available even in faraway villages.
At present the company has a 40 percent share of the Indian market for biscuits and is a multi-
million dollar organization. Following are the various brands of biscuits offered by Parle:
Parle G
Nimkin
Krackjack
20-20 Cookies
Monaco-Salted Craker
Golden Arcs
Kreams
Festo
Hide & Seek Choco Chips
Top
Hide & Seek Milano
Happy Happy
Hide & Seek Bourbon
Hide & Seek Fab
Parle Actifit Digestive Marie
Magix
Parle Marie
Coconut Cookies
Milk Shakti
Britannia Industries Ltd
Based in Bangalore Britannia Industries Ltd is reputed as being one of the top biscuit brands in
India. The company was established way back in 1892 and till today has managed to maintain a
distinctive position in the Indian biscuit industry specially with its most popular brand called
Tiger.
Britannia is presently one of the biggest brands in India and also the leading food related brand.

4. It is well known for its ground breaking approach towards product manufacturing and marketing.
Forbes Global has rated it as one of the Top 200 Small Companies of the World and it is also the
second most trusted brand in India.
Following are its various brands in the biscuits segment:
Pure Magic
Treat
Britannia Cookies
Milk Bikis
Tiger
Nutri Choice
Good Day
Time Pass
Bourbon
Little Hearts
50-50
Nice Time
Marie Gold
Rusks
Priya Gold
Priya Gold is a part of Surya Foods & Agro Ltd that was established during November 1992. Its
commercial operations, which included selling and making biscuits under the brand name Priya
Gold started during October 1993. Following are the various biscuits and cookies offered by
Priya Gold:
Italiano Cookies
Glucose V
Chatpatta Jeera and Cashew
Butter Bite
Cheez Bit
Cheese Cracker
CNC
Marie Lite
Snacks Zig Zag
Coconut Crunch
Kids Cream
Classic Cream
Anmol
Anmol Biscuits is especially popular in eastern and northern India. It has a couple of top class
production units at Noida and Dankuni in West Bengal. Following are its main products:

5. Lemon Mazaa
Dil Khush
Funfill Choco Vanilla
Dream Lite
Yummy - Milk Cream
E-Time
Tip Top Kajoo Kurkure Masala
Funfill Orange
Coconutty
Funfill Rich Chocolate
Thin Arrowroot
Golmol
Marie
Jadoo
Veg Munch
Marie Time
2 in 1
Snackles
Butter Bake
Milk Made
Cream Cracker
Bakersville
Horlicks
Horlicks Biscuits were introduced during 1992 and since then the brand has witnessed increasing
popularity. These are liked by both children and parents. Every pack provides 100 percent
calcium and the biscuits are available in elaichi and standard flavors.
CREMICA
CREMICA is one of the most prominent biscuit brands in northern India. Its products are
primarily available in four categories – crackers, cookies, cream biscuits, and glucose biscuits.
The company is setting up a new plant in Himachal Pradesh, which is expected to have a
capacity of 5 thousand tons on a monthly basis. This will be a fully automated plant and is
supposed to be one of the very best in its kind in the country.
In a recent survey done by Insight, a famous consumer magazine, as per parameters stated by the
BIS, the glucose biscuits of CREMICA came first in the category for sweet biscuits.
It is also a part of the Indian government’s program to create fortified biscuits for people in
Afghanistan. The whole program is being done under the guidance of the World Food
Organization. It has also been entrusted with the responsibility of exporting biscuits to Iraq as
part of the World Food Program.
Sunfeast

6. Sunfeast is the biscuit brand of ITC and was initiated during July 2003. To start with the brand
dealt with glucose, Marie, and cream biscuits. Following are the major brands of Sunfeast:
Sunfeast Milky Magic
Sunfeast Dream Cream
Sunfeast Marie Light
Sunfeast Snacky
Sunfeast Dark Fantasy
Sunfeast sweet 'n salt
Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Choco Fills
Sunfeast Nice
Sunfeast Glucose
Sunfeast Special
Biskfarm
Biskfarm was established during 2000. It is marketed and held by SAJ Food Products (P) Ltd,
which is a sister concern of Aparna Group of Companies. It is primarily available in North
Eastern and Eastern part of the country as well as several parts in Southern, Northern, and
Central India. It is among the top 3 bakery brands in all the markets where it enjoys a substantial
presence.
Biskfarm biscuits can be categorized into the following products:
Sweet
Countlines
Semi Sweet
Creams
Crackers
Rusk
Rose
Rose biscuits are produced by Veeramani Biscuit Industries Limited, which is also famous as
VBIL. The company was incorporated during 1987 in the outer areas of Hyderabad. It produces
a wide variety of biscuits such as the following:
Cookies
Cream Biscuits
Marie Biscuits
Salt Biscuits
Glucose Biscuits
Salt & Sweet Biscuits
Coconut Biscuits

7. Sobisco
Sobisco is part of the Sona Biscuits Ltd group, which was incorporated during 1992. Its head
offices are at Kolkata and it is presently an ISO 22000 organization. It also enjoys the
membership of the American Institute of Bakery. It offers 54 different products under 4 major
categories such as sweet biscuits, salted biscuits, semi sweet biscuits, and cream biscuits.
Majority of its annual production is done in the sweet biscuits, and cream biscuits segments.
Dukes
Dukes biscuits are marketed by Ravi Foods Private Limited. The organization has set up many
plants in Hyderabad that are at par with ISO 9001 requirements. Yet another plant is being set up
at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand. It offers the following biscuits:
Marie Break
Cream Cracker
See Saw
Nice
Salt Kiss
Danish Butter Cookies
Masala Nibbles Namkeen
Salted Crackers
Cream 4 Fun
Teddy Bear Cookie Honey
Cream 4 Fun Bourbon
Dukes Minees Sandwich Cookies
Kukkies
Delicious Kukkies - Chocolate
Merry Milk
Nezone
Nezone Biscuits started off as an organization during 1996 and presently has a yearly production
of INR 100 crore. Its present production capacity is 60 tons and offers 40 different types of
biscuits that may be enumerated as below:
Chocolate Marie Biscuit
Sweet Biscuit - Elaichi
Marie Biscuit
Sweet Biscuit - Gluco Rich
Marie Super Biscuit
Milk Rusk
Nutri Marie Biscuit
Suji Rusk
Orange Marie Biscuit
Cream Biscuit - Energy Mix

8. Prince Marie Biscuit
Hit Cream Biscuit
Salted Biscuit: Snacks (Classic Salted)
Butter Cookies
Salted Biscuit: Snacks (Mast Masala)
Kaju Cookies
Sweet Biscuit - Butter Kaju
Coconut Cookies
Sweet Biscuit - Butter Yums
Classic Arrowroot Marie Biscuit
Following are other biscuits brands operating in India
Oreo
Sumo
Happy Bite
Business License
Contact your city's business license department to find out about getting a business
license, which essentially grants you the right (after you pay a fee, of course) to operate a
business in that city. When you file your license application, the city planning or zoning
department will check to make sure your area is zoned for the purpose you want to use it
for and that there are enough parking spaces to meet the codes.
You can't operate in an area that is not zoned for your type of business unless you first
get a variance or conditional-use permit. To get a variance, you'll need to present your
case before your city's planning commission. In many cases, variances are quite easy to
get, as long as you can show that your business won't disrupt the character of the
neighborhood where you plan to locate.
Because you're planning to start a business in your home, you should investigate zoning
ordinances especially carefully. Residential neighborhoods tend to have strict zoning
regulations preventing business use of the home. Even so, it's possible to get a variance or
conditional-use permit; and in many areas, attitudes toward homebased businesses are
becoming more supportive, making it easier to obtain a variance. Visit the Zoning section
of this article for more information.
Fire Department Permit
You may need to get a permit from your fire department if your business uses any
flammable materials or if your premises will be open to the public. In some cities, you
have to get this permit before you open for business. Other areas don't require permits but
simply schedule periodic inspections of your business to see if you meet fire safety
regulations. If you don't, they'll issue a citation. Businesses such as restaurants, retirement
homes, day-care centers and anywhere else that lots of people congregate are subject to
especially close and frequent scrutiny by the fire department.
Air and Water Pollution Control Permit
Many cities now have departments that work to control air and water pollution. If you
burn any materials, discharge anything into the sewers or waterways, or use products that
produce gas (such as paint sprayers), you may have to get a special permit from this
department in your city or county. Environmental protection regulations may also require

9. you to get approval before doing any construction or beginning operation. Check with
your state environmental protection agency regarding federal or state regulations that
may apply to your business.
Sign Permit
Some cities and suburbs have sign ordinances that restrict the size, location and
sometimes the lighting and type of sign you can use outside your business. To avoid
costly mistakes, check regulations and secure the written approval of your landlord (if
you rent a house or apartment) before you go to the expense of having a sign designed
and installed.
County Permits
County governments often require essentially the same types of permits and licenses as
cities. If your business is outside any city or town's jurisdiction, these permits apply to
you. The good news: County regulations are usually not as strict as those of adjoining
cities.
State Licenses
In many states, people in certain occupations must have licenses or occupational permits.
Often, they have to pass state examinations before they can get these permits and conduct
business. States usually require licensing for auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians,
building contractors, collection agents, insurance agents, real estate brokers, repossessors,
and anyone who provides personal services (i.e., barbers, cosmetologists, doctors and
nurses). Contact your state government offices to get a complete list of occupations that
require licensing.
Federal Licenses
In most cases, you won't have to worry about this. However, a few types of businesses do
require federal licensing, including meat processors, radio and TV stations, and
investment advisory services. The Federal Trade Commission can tell you if your
business requires a federal license.
Sales Tax License
There are two reasons you need a certificate of resale (in other states, this may be called a
"seller's permit" or a "certificate of authority"). First, any homebased business selling
taxable goods and services must pay sales taxes on what it sells. The definition of a
taxable service varies from state to state. Depending on individual state rulings, both the
parts and labor portions of your bill may be taxable.
Sales taxes vary by state and are imposed at the retail level. It's important to know the
rules in the states and localities where you operate your business because if you're a
retailer, you must collect state sales tax on each sale you make.
Before you open your doors, be sure to register to collect sales tax by applying for each
separate place of business you have in the state. A license or permit is important because
in some states it's a criminal offense to undertake sales without one.
Health Department Permits
If you plan to sell food, either directly to customers as in a restaurant or as a wholesaler
to other retailers, you'll need a county health department permit. This costs about $25 and
varies depending on the size of the business and the amount and type of equipment you
have. The health department will want to inspect your facilities before issuing the permit