A FULLY BAKED IDEA

How did a Ludhiana-based company go from being an experimental home kitchen to the bourses? The success story of Mrs. Bectors Food is rooted in its visionary leader Rajni Bector and her genetically-blessed taste buds.

- Debojyoti Ghosh

MOST WEDDING FEASTS of the early 1980s in the northern part of the country—think Punjab, Haryana, and thereabouts— would typically have a set of flavours in common: that of Rajni Bector’s ice creams, puddings, and salads with her signature dressings.

As she proudly proclaims, in the catering business world of Punjab and Haryana, she was the sole supplier of Western desserts and salads.

“I was catering to thousands of weddings in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ambala, and even Delhi, Dehradun, and Saharanpur. Back then there were no caterers who could provide these items to weddings and parties,” says Rajni Bector, founder and non-executive director, Mrs Bectors Food Specialities Limited.

Four decades later, the biscuit-and-bakery firm started in her home kitchen in Ludhiana, Punjab is India’s leading supplier of buns to quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, and Carl’s Jr. To boot, the company's541-crore blockbuster initial public offer (IPO) on the bourses (BSE and NSE) last December was oversubscribed by 198 times on the final day of bidding on December 17, reveals stock exchange data.

It reported the highest subscription among IPOs last year, outpacing the subscription figures of defence company Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders and Burger King India.