Karachi Bakery did not begin with a big investment or a business plan. It began with the pain of Partition and the memory of a home left behind. In 1947, during the Partition of India and Pakistan, Khanchand Ramnani came to India from Sindh. In 1953, he opened a small bakery in Hyderabad's Moazzam Jahi Market and named it Karachi Bakery, after the city he had left behind.
More than seven decades later, the bakery is a well known brand. Its fruit biscuits and Osmania biscuits are loved across India, and its products reach the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Singapore and more than 20 countries in all. Media reports estimate the company's revenue in the last year at between Rs 50 crore and Rs 100 crore.
A fresh start in Hyderabad
Ramnani's family was originally from Sindh, which is now part of Pakistan. He came to India with his four sons at the time of Partition. The family had a food and bakery business in Sindh, but in India they had to start almost from scratch.
Ramnani brought with him a few old recipes and memories of Karachi. He named his Hyderabad shop Karachi Bakery so that the memory of his old city would always stay with him. In its early days, the shop sold bakery products bought from other traders.
Slowly, Ramnani began making biscuits and bakery items himself. In the 1960s he started selling his special fruit biscuits and Osmania biscuits. People liked the taste so much that crowds gathered at the shop.
The biscuits that built the brand
The fruit biscuit is Karachi Bakery's best known product. Small pieces of sweetened fruit are mixed into the biscuit, giving it a distinct taste. The Osmania biscuit, a Hyderabad favourite, is the other pillar of its popularity.
In the beginning the bakery sold only fruit biscuits, Osmania biscuits and bread. As demand grew, the range expanded. Today it sells cakes, cookies, rusks, sweets, savouries and many other bakery products, and it has added French pastries to its range.
The business has grown into a large production network. According to a report from August 2023, Karachi Bakery has six manufacturing units that make and pack more than 10 tonnes of biscuits and other bakery products every day, employing more than 1,000 people. Biscuits were once made by hand and baked in brick ovens. Modern machines are now used in production, though the company says it keeps traditional methods and hand work for some of its special products.
A name that drew protests
The name Karachi Bakery also brought trouble. After the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, protests were held against the bakery in some places because of its link to the Pakistani city of Karachi. A store in Bengaluru was targeted, and some people demanded that the word Karachi be removed from the name. The bakery had to cover its signboards.
The company and the Ramnani family made it clear that this is a fully Indian business, started by a Sindhi Hindu family that came to India from Pakistan during Partition. For the family, the name Karachi is tied to the memory of their old city, not to any business link with another country.
The business remains with the Ramnani family. Khanchand Ramnani's son Lekhraj and other family members now run it. The family says its focus is on adding new products and new markets while keeping the old taste and quality intact.
