How many of you can expand the initials in a company’s name? Did you know Amul stood for Anand Milk Union Ltd? Or that home furnishings chain IKEA is made up of the initials of founder Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, the farm where he grew up, and Agunnaryd, his hometown in Sweden?

BASF is a familiar brand name. The multinational company’s products range from chemicals and plastics to oil and gas. Its initials stand for Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik, reflecting its heritage of being founded in Baden, now in Germany. It reflects its beginnings as a producer of dyes, as well as the soda and acids that were necessary to produce the dyes.

For over 50 years, tyre company CEAT has been the flagship firm of RPG Enterprises. Its predecessor Cavi Elettrici e Affini Torino SpA was established in Italy in 1924. The name translates as Electrical Cables and Allied Products of Turin in English. The Turin connection goes further. Fiat stands for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin). 3M is so called because the company was originally called the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. The company wanted to mine a mineral called corundum. It didn’t mine much of it but went on to make a host of other products.

Logistics company DHL was so named for the initials of the last names of its founders Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn. The company started off operating a door-to-door express delivery service, ferrying documents between San Francisco and Honolulu. Compiled by Sravanthi Challapalli

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