Godfrey Phillips India

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Godfrey Phillips India Ltd.
IndustryTobacco
PredecessorAbdulla & Company Edit this on Wikidata
Founded1844; 178 years ago (1844) in London
FounderGodfrey Philips
HeadquartersDelhi,
India (since 1967)[1]
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Bina Modi (President & MD)
Bhisham Wadhera (CEO)
ProductsCigarettes, Tobacco leaf, Candies, Chewing gum
Brands
List
    • Cavanders
    • Four Square
    • Marlboro
    • Red & White
    • Jaisalmer
ParentModi Enterprises
Websitegodfreyphillips.com

Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. (GPI) is a tobacco manufacturer headquartered in India. The firm was originally established in London in 1844. GPI was one of the first UK companies to mass-produce cigarettes, apart from being one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco along with John Player & Sons.

GPI manufactures and sells cigarettes, smoking tobacco and cigars,[1] apart from having a non-tobacco line of products released in 2009 that include confectionery.[2] GPI is the flagship company of Modi Enterprises,[3] one of the largest cigarette manufacturers.

The company has an annual turnover of approximately 7200 crores, according to the 2018-19 estimate. The company also has business interests in pan masala, chewing and confectionery products. Godfrey Phillips India recently launched Pan Vilas pan masala for the Indian market. Additionally, the company also manufactures and distributes Marlboro in India under a license agreement with Philip Morris.

History[]

The house of Godfrey Phillips was established in 1844 at Bevis Marks in Aldgate, London, by cigar manufacturer Godfrey Phillips, who was the eldest son of Henry Phillips, born in the country fields outside London in October 1826.[4] When his sons were old enough and working in the business, the firm's name was changed to Godfrey Phillips & Sons, Ltd.[4]

On 21 August 1900[5] Godfrey Phillips died and in 1908 the partnership was sold, and Godfrey Phillips, Limited, was formed. The first directors were the partners- Joseph Phillips, chairman, Philip Phillips, David Phillips, Spencer Phillips and Arthur Phillips. Later, the business was listed on the London Stock Exchange as Godfrey Phillips Plc.[4]

In 1936, Godfrey Phillips (India), Limited, was created; the attractive building of native-style architecture was devoted to the manufacture of the group's brands Cavander's, De Reszke and Greys.[4]

In 1967, Godfrey Phillips Ltd. of London made an arrangement with International Tobacco Co. who opened a factory in Northern India to manufacture on the company's behalf. Upon the merger of D. Macropolo & Co. Ltd., with the company, International Tobacco Co. Ltd. became a subsidiary of it.[1]

In 1968, Philip Morris Inc. made a take-over bid for Godfrey Phillips Plc and the family shareholders were unable to prevent the company being sold.

Godfrey Phillips India's operations primarily span the country with prominence in northern and western part of the country. GPI has three manufacturing facilities spread across the country - at Rabale (Mumbai) and two units in Ghaziabad (near Delhi). They also have a state-of-the-art R&D centre in Mumbai and a food R&D in Ghaziabad, and a tobacco-buying unit in Guntur (Andhra Pradesh).

Godfrey Phillips India has an expansive International Business Division, that caters to all of GPI's product categories in International Markets. IBD has business associations with various players in international tobacco industry to export its own cigarette brands, cut & blended tobacco, tobacco leaf and providing technical services and contract manufacturing. Many countries from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America are a part of its portfolio.

Brands and products[]

GPI manufactures a variety of products related to tobacco through its subsidiary brands. Godfrey Phillips India also manufactures and distributes iconic cigarette brand Marlboro under a license agreement with Philip Morris International Inc. Likewise, the company also has a non-tobacco range of products. They are detailed below:[6]

Product Brand/s
Cigarettes Cavanders, Four Square, Marlboro (owned by Philip Morris), Red & White, Stellar, North Pole, Tipper
Tobacco leaf – [note 1]
Candies Funda Goli
Pan masala Pan Vilas
Vapes Verge
Notes
  1. ^ GPI is tobacco provider of companies such as Philip Morris, ITG, JTI, Eastern Co., European Tobacco, Libyan Tobacco Company and RNTA.

Trading cards[]

Godfrey Phillips Ltd. also produced a large variety of cigarette cards to advertise their products, with several topics such as film actresses, animals, aircraft, famous people from history, among others. The first cards set was launched in 1904 and featured anonymous pin-up girls.[7]

In the 1920s, the company took advantage of the rise popularity of association football trading cards in those times, releasing football collections in 1920, 1922 and 1923. Godfrey Phillips Ltd. issued a series of 1,100 football cards of the first collection, followed by 2,462 in 1922 and 940 in 1923.[8]

Nevertheless, the outbreak of the World War II caused a severe shortage of paper, and tobacco companies were forced to bring an end to the production of cigarette cards.[8]

Godfrey Phillips cigarette cards

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Godfrey Phillips India History on Economic Times.com
  2. ^ GFI non-tobacco products
  3. ^ About us on Godfrey Company website
  4. ^ a b c d ‘G.P.‘ Enters Its Hundredth Year, By Arthur I. Phillips, Chairman and Managing Director, published in the journal "Tobacco" in 1940
  5. ^ GRO death certificate
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ Godfrey Phillips, Ltd. on Dumbarton Oaks website
  8. ^ a b The History of Football Cigarette Cards by John Simkin, on Spartacus Educational, September 1997

External links[]


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