The cookie crumbles: Mumbai’s iconic Parle G factory shuts shop after 87 years
After Parle confirmed that its Parle biscuit factory, which has not been functioning for some time, will be shut forever, residents said they will miss the sweet smell of baking that would envelope the area when the factory fired its ovens.
Vile Parle residents said that as the family which own the biscuit company had taken the decision to shut down the factory, they had no opinion on whether the landmark factory should stay or go. “If our opinion was to be taken, this factory was our neighbour and we look at it as a heritage site,” said Seema Bajaj, resident of Vile Parle (East). “This aroma reminds us about the biscuit and wherever we get the vanilla fragrance, we always associate it with this factory.”
The 87-year-old facility made biscuits, cakes and candy bars, but as production shifted to other units across the country, the Vile Parle site has seen a drop in production capacity over the past few years. Located under a bridge at VS Khandekar Marg that divides Vile Parle into its west and east sections, the factory began producing candy in 1929 and began manufacturing biscuits 10 years later.