Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. (GPI) is a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

manufacturer headquartered in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The firm was originally established in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1844. GPI was one of the first UK companies to mass-produce

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

s, apart from being one of the founding companies of

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mor ...

along with

John Player & Sons John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...

. GPI manufactures and sells

s, smoking tobacco and cigars,Godfrey Phillips India History
on Economic Times.com apart from having a non-tobacco line of products released in 2009 that include

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

. GPI is the flagship company of Modi Enterprises. The company had an annual turnover of approximately 2925.74 crores as of March 2021. The company also has business interests in pan masala, chewing and confectionery products. The company also manufactures and distributes

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...

in India under a license agreement with

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris I ...

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.‘G.P.‘ Enters Its Hundredth Year, By Arthur I. Phillips, Chairman and Managing Director, published in the journal "Tobacco" in 1940 When his sons were old enough and working in the business, the firm's name was changed to Godfrey Phillips & Sons, Ltd. On 21 August 1900GRO death certificate 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. In 1936, Godfrey Phillips (India), Limited, was created; the building of native-style architecture was devoted to the manufacture of the group's brands Cavander's, De Reszke and Greys. 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. In 1968, Philip Morris Inc. made a

takeover bid In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

for Godfrey Phillips Plc and the family shareholders were unable to prevent the company being sold. Godfrey Phillips India has manufacturing facilities at

Rabale Rabale is a residential area located between the suburbs of Airoli and Ghansoli on the Thane-Belapur road in Navi Mumbai. Rabale Area is well known for the Rabale MIDC area which houses many manufacturing units. Rabale railway station is situa ...

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city is ...

, and two units in

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...

(near

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

). They also have an R&D centre in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and a food R&D in Ghaziabad, and a tobacco-buying unit in

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

(

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

). Godfrey Phillips India has an International Business Division, for international export of its own cigarette brands, cut & blended tobacco, tobacco leaf and providing technical services and contract manufacturing.

Brands and products

GPI manufactures a variety of products related to tobacco through its subsidiary brands. Godfrey Phillips India also manufactures and distributes cigarette brand

under a license agreement with Philip Morris International Inc. Likewise, the company also has a non-tobacco range of products. ;Notes

Trading cards

Godfrey Phillips Ltd. also produced a variety of

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible ca ...

s 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 A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

girls.Godfrey Phillips, Ltd.
on Dumbarton Oaks website In the 1920s, the company took advantage of the rise popularity of

association football trading card An association football trading card is a type of trading card relating to association football, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. These cards feature one or more players, clubs, stadiums, or trophies. Football cards are most often ...

s 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. The outbreak of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

caused a severe shortage of paper, and tobacco companies were forced to bring an end to the production of cigarette cards.The History of Football Cigarette Cards
by John Simkin, on Spartacus Educational, September 1997 File:Soldier corporal mayor card.jpg, Corporal Mayor, "Types of British Soldiers", 1900 File:Godfrey card marsh.jpg,

Marian Marsh Marian Marsh (born Violet Ethelred Krauth; October 17, 1913 – November 9, 2006) was a Trinidad-born American film actress and later an environmentalist. Early life Violet Ethelred Krauth was born on October 17, 1913, in Trinidad, British ...

, "Film Favorites", 1934 File:Great northern railw card.jpg, Great Northern Railway locomotive, 1934 File:Chip off godfrey card.jpg, Dogs, "Animals" series, 1935 File:Davinci godfrey card.jpg,

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, "Famous Minors" series, 1936 File:Phillips card boyes.jpg, Walter Boyes of

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

, 1936 File:Godfrey phillips colbert cleopatra.jpg,

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...

as Cleopatra, 1938

References

External links

*
Cigarette war in Calcutta – Godfrey Phillips alleges mop-up by rival distributors
''The Telegraph''

{{Non-sports trading cards Manufacturing companies established in 1844 Tobacco companies of India Manufacturing companies based in Delhi Indian cigarette brands Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Modi Enterprises Indian companies established in 1936 Indian companies established in 1844

History

Brands and products

Trading cards

See also

References

External links