Favourite Bidi Factory is one of India’s leading Bidi manufacturing companies. We are a team of strong and dedicated achievers and have charted out a defined growth path for ourselves. With an aspiration to reform standards and incorporate innovations in the Bidi manufacturing sector, Adil Masood is here with a vision “To be India’s most profound manufacturer and exporter of different types of bidis by delivering high quality products.” Our main brands are “Chaman Bidi” ,“Chaman Gold Bidi” and “Favourite Bidi”. The head office is situated in Meerut and the distribution and sales offices are spread across India.
HISTORY OF BIDIS
Bidi is a leaf-rolled cigarette made of coarse, uncured tobacco, tied with a string at one end. For every cigarette ten bidis (beedis or biris) are smoked. The word bidi is originated from the Marwari word ‘beeda’ which is a betel leaf wrapped offering of betel nuts, herbs and condiments. The beeda (which is better known as “PAAN” in India) is a symbol of esteem, and display of respect and reverence across the Indian subcontinent and the bidi gradually started being equated with it. The Indian medicinal systems, especially Ayurveda, also prescribe inhalation of the fumes of medicinal herbs, rolled in leaves. The myth of tobacco’s medicinal properties along with parallels in Ayurveda, led to an easy acceptance of the bidi in sub-cultures.
There is no historical record of the exact period during which the practice of smoking tobacco rolled in leaves started in India. The cultivation of tobacco started in southern Gujarat in the late 17th century. Hookah smoking was popular among local people. But because the hookah was tedious to carry around, a cheaper and portable form of the hookah was developed, called the chillum. Initially, communities in Gujarat made bidis only for their own consumption, but their increasing popularity inspired some to make it into a home-grown business. Soon bidis made locally became more popular than hookahs, largely because bidis overcame the obstacle of sharing the hookah, as individuals could smoke without hurting caste and religious sentiments, and also because they were portable and did not require assembling and extensive preparation to light up.
Today, Bidis dominate the smoking market of India. Affluent people in Rajasthan, Gujrat and in Marathwada region of Maharastra still consider smoking as a prestige.