The Balaji Wafers plant in Rajkot is modern in architecture and infrastructure for the production of snackfoods. The company has become a part of the folklore of the fast-growing Indian food industry as it has successfully taken on global brands. Known as a regional leader previously, we learned on our recent visit that it has entered North India with its fifth snack manufacturing plant in Sandila in Uttar Pradesh.
Balaji excels in identifying and responding to regional flavor preferences, delivering localized snacks that resonate with customers. In addition, it is known for its down-to-earth approach to its marketing and distribution, relying on the quality of its products. From what we saw on our visit to the Rajkot plant – state-of-the-art automated manufacturing and logistics, the company has more than sixty snack varieties that are delivered in more than a hundred SKUs.
We were shown the fully continuous and automated potato wafers line from where the trucks unload the potatoes that have been tested and approved at the gate into giant steel bins. (Higher sugar content truckloads are turned away at the gate since the wafers produced from these are too red apart from their sugar content.) From here, the line proceeds to washing, peeling and slicing, deep frying, seasoning and continuously into the form, fill and sealing lines. Mostly automated quality controls at each step reject imperfect products. The integrated Rajkot plant handles 15 tons of potatoes an hour that are ultimately packed at a rate of 1,800 packs a minute for automated cartoning.
Robotically stacked on pallets, the cartons are moved on robotic vehicles to a pair of adjacent automated vertical warehouses. Balaji’s logistics operations are key to its ability to deliver wafers in excellent condition to its customers. A sampling of its wafers reveals a great consistency in their size, seasoning, and unbroken condition.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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