Bectors Food: From a Backyard Enterprise to the Most Successful IPO of 2020

Jitesh Nair
Research Faculty, IBS Case Research Center, IBS Hyderabad (Under IFHE - A Deemed to be University u/s 3 of the UGC Act, 1956), Hyderabad, Telangana, India. E-mail: jitesh@icmrindia.org

Ramakrishna Sadhu
Freelancer, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. E-mail: ramakrishnasadhu@icmrindia.org

The case describes how Rajni Bector (Rajni) converted her hobby and passion for ice cream making, baking, and cooking into a commercial success. What began as a backyard enterprise in 1978 grew over the years into a multi-million-dollar family business with a successful IPO in 2020. The case begins with a brief background of Rajni and her early entrepreneurial journey on how she started her own venture and managed it on her own for a decade with support from her husband. The case then focuses on the growth phase of the business beginning with Rajni's three sons joining the business and the subsequent partnership with McDonald's that laid the foundation for its longterm growth and development and helped Bectors Food become the largest supplier of breading, bakery items and liquid condiments to major institutional clients all over India. The case then describes the various steps the company took to create value for the investors and promoters, including seeking private equity participation followed by a restructuring exercise that resulted in the business being split among family members with separate ownership and companies for biscuits, bakery items and liquid condiments. The case also touches upon how the company sought to generate higher growth and wealth creation for the founders and investors by expanding its manufacturing facilities, introducing new products, and focusing on the retail consumer space as well as the exports route. Subsequently, the case touches upon the need for the company to create a well-established distribution network for greater market penetration and to improve brand recall through customer outreach programs. The case ends with a focus on Bectors Food's successful Initial Public Of fering (IPO) in December 2020 and its future strategies to improve market share and compete with major brands in the biscuits segment as well as position itself as a household name pan-India across the biscuits, bakery, and liquid condiments markets.

The super success of the IPO has brought bigger responsibilities. Now, the onus is on us to prove ourselves and retain the faith reposed by investors in us. I have told my entire staff to work with utmost dedication and turn work into worship.¹

- Rajni Bector,
Founder, Bectors Food, December 2020

Today as you know, we are one of the leading brands in biscuits and bakery business in North India, and we have established this brand from scratch. We hold a 4.5% market share in North India. We export 12% of the total biscuit exports from India.²

- Anoop Bector,
Managing Director,
Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities Ltd. (MBFSL),
December 2020

As an entrepreneur first you have to create a product and then develop a market accordingly because nobody knows what the consumer needs and what they will like, it all depends on your gut feeling.³

- Akshay Bector,
Chair man and Managing Director,
Cremica Food Indu stries Pvt. Ltd. (CFIPL),
December 2016

Introduction
Mrs. Bectors Food Specialties Ltd. (MBFSL), a manufacturer and exporter of premium biscuits and bakery products to retail and institutional markets, was the most successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 2020 in India. Headquartered in Punjab (a state in northern India), the company received full subscription for its IPO within two hours of the start of the bidding process. The company attracted bids nearly 198.02 times the number of shares on offer to become the third most subscribed IPO ever in terms of the number of times it was subscribed in the history of the Indian stock market.⁴ It was listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE)⁵ on December 24, 2020.

Rajni Bector (Rajni) founded an enterprise (Bectors Food) in 1978 when she set up a small ice cream making unit in her backyard. Her passion for cooking and baking led her to pursue a course in baking from Punjab University once her children were old enough to go to boarding school. With support from her husband, Dharamvir Bector (Dharamvir), who purchased an electric churner and provided an initial investment of 20,000, Rajni began ice cream production on a larger scale from the backyard of her home in Ludhiana. After Dharamvir decided to wind up his family business and support his wife full-time in her venture, they moved into a commercial facility. The business became popular in Punjab for her ice creams.

The business scaled up with the entry of Rajni's three sons-Akshay Bector (Akshay), Ajay Bector (Ajay), and Anoop Bector (Anoop). After McDonald's entered India in 1993, it began looking for suppliers and Bectors Food became the sole supplier for McDonald's India Private Limited (MIPL). It incorporated MBFSL in 1995 to cater to the production requirements. The company also entered into joint ventures the same year with US-based Quaker Oats to set up Quaker Cremica Foods Private Limited (Quaker Cremica) and with UK-based EBI Foods, to set up EBI Cremica Food Coatings Pvt Ltd. (EBI Cremica). Bectors Food then brought in private equity investments, scaled up production capacity up, expanded distribution channels, and increased brand building activities, all of which helped the company's products become popular in the northern states of India.

As part of its plans to take the company public, the management was restructured into two entities in 2014 with clear ownership and responsibilities. Anoop and Ajay were given the responsibility of managing the biscuits and bakery business under MBFSL while Akshay took on the ownership of the liquid condiments business under Cremica Food Industries Pvt. Ltd. (CFIPL). Within a couple of years, Ajay exited the business and Anoop went ahead with an IPO for MBFSL in 2020. As of December 2020, MBFSL had a market capitalization of over 2.4 bn.

Rajni continued to be at the helm of the business and was the driving force behind the success of both MBFSL and CFIPL. On January 26, 2021, the prestigious PadmaShri⁶ award was conferred on her by the Government of India for her contribution to trade and industry. (Refer Exhibit I for a list of awards received by Rajni).

Idea Gen eration an d Validation
Rajni was born in Karachi (Pakistan) in 1940 and grew up in Lahore. Her father was an accountant general and after the India-Pakistan partition, the family moved to Delhi where she completed her schooling and enrolled in Miranda House, a prestigious college in Delhi, for higher studies. However, she had to discontinue her studies after getting married at the age of 17 to Dharamvir of Ludhiana, Punjab, who was managing his 100-year-old family business of trading in food grains, oil, and fertilizers. The couple was blessed with three sons. Rajni was passionate about cooking and also loved to bake breads and biscuits along with making ice creams. She regularly cooked and served ice creams, cakes, and cookies at kitty parties and family gatherings. Once her children were old enough to join boarding school, she decided to pursue her passion and took up a baking course at Punjab University.⁷

The idea of starting her own venture took root in her mind when she took up a catering order for 2,000 people. She then decided to convert her passion into a fulltime business opportunity. Despite peer pressure, since women from elite families were not expected to work in those days, Rajni, with the support of her husband and encouragement from Dr SC Jain, a family friend, purchased a hand-churner and set up a small ice cream unit in her house where she began to prepare ice creams. She sold the ice creams at public festival gatherings, parties, and fetes. "At that time, fetes used to happen, and I decided to put my first stall in one of them, right next to Kwality. I was scared. Surprisingly, people loved my ice creams. In fact, they did not even go to Kwality until my stock lasted. Even the Kwality manager wanted to taste my ice cream,"⁸ said Rajni.

Buildin g th e Busin ess
Rajni single-handedly ran the business, and Bectors Food gradually became famous for its ice creams and Rajni became a reputed entrepreneur in Ludhiana. It was only a matter of time before the business became a household name in Punjab for its biscuits and bakery items.

The Birth of a Brand
The name 'Cremica' came up in the early 1980s when Dharamvir decided to register their products under a brand. Rajni gave it the name Cremica from 'cream ka', a hindi-word meaning 'made out of cream'.⁹ The growth of the business primarily came about through word-of-mouth publicity generated through the many orders for weddings, parties, and even caterers that they catered to. The home business soon expanded and a commercial production plant was set up in 1983 with Dharamvir investing 20,000 in ice-cream making and baking equipment.¹⁰ The couple thus shifted operations from their backyard to a location on GT Road in Ludhiana. The business soon expanded from ice creams to bread and biscuits. The company developed the 'Mrs. Bector's Cremica' brand for biscuits while the brand 'English Oven' was created for the breads and bakery products business.

Becoming a Family Business
In the mid-80s, Punjab witnessed severe terrorist insurgency that eventually had an impact on Dharamvir's family business. He then decided to focus his attention fully on Rajni's food business and planned to scale it up with external funds since the business was entirely bootstrapped¹¹ till then. In 1988, Bectors Food took a loan of 4.8 mn to set up a separate plant for manufacturing bread and biscuits.¹² In 1990, the continued threat caused by the terrorists in Punjab crippled the family business and led to its eventual closure. With Dharamvir involved full-time in Rajni's food business, the couple set up a biscuit unit in 1991¹³ and by 1992, the plant had the capacity to produce 200 tons of biscuits a day.¹⁴ The 'Mrs. Bector's Cremica' brand had by then established brand recall, with biscuits being sold at railway stations and sauces and wafers served on 'Rajdhani' superfast trains.

Business Strategies
India liberalized its economy in 1991 and MNCs such as McDonald's decided to set up shop in the country. Since food processing in the country was still at a nascent stage, the burger giant scouted for suppliers of raw materials (buns and sauces) for its Indian operations. By then, Bectors Food had grown into a regional player in northern India with reported revenues of around 200 mn in 1996.¹⁵

Part nering wit h McDonald's
Bectors Food sensed a great opportunity and reached out to McDonald's and briefed them about its business and capabilities.¹⁶ Though the company had its initial share of problems and challenges as its products were put through constant trials by McDonald's and the business incurred losses for more than a year, it eventually succeeded in becoming the sole contract manufacturer for McDonald's in India in 1995, beginning with a contract to supply sesame buns and sauces to McDonald's. "At that time, we were doing some breads and buns business, but largely focusing on the biscuits segment. But when McDonald's approached us, we thought it could be a big deal. After imparting rigorous training to our workers, and testing our capability and quality standards by making a series of visits to our factory, McDonald's got convinced about us,"¹⁷ said Akshay.

To cater to the contract requirements, Bectors Food incorporated MBFSL with Anoop as the Managing Director on September 15, 1995. It was an unlisted public company with headquarters at Phillaur, near Jalandhar, Punjab, with a state-of-theart facility for production of buns. This association with a multinational food brand was a huge turning point for Bectors Food. Since servicing McDonald's required expertise, Bectors Food entered into two 50:50 joint ventures with US-based Quaker Oats and UK-based EBI Foods.

Joint - Ventur es
The first 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) was with Quaker Oats, McDonald's supply partner in the US. Quaker Cremica was established in September 1995 to manufacture liquid condiments and sauces exclusively for McDonald's. Quaker helped in designing and setting up the plant with a capacity of producing 0.1 million liters of sauces per month. However, in December 1999, Quaker Oats handed over its stake in the JV due to a change of ownership in the US, and exited the joint venture.¹⁸

The second JV was with EBI Foods through EBI Cremica for a facility to initially manufacture bread crumbs. When Kerry Ingredients acquired EBI in 2002,¹⁹ the JV began making batter and breading for McDonald's. The new entity soon began supplying breads, pizza bases, sauces, and other liquid condiments to McDonald's in India, setting the stage for a long-standing relationship that continued even till 2020. By 2009, the company had an installed capacity to produce 250,000 buns per day for McDonald's.²⁰ This JV helped Bectors Food entrench itself in the institutional market by becoming a key supplier to other marquee international and national brands like Sodexo, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's, Cafe Coffee Day, Barista, Air India, Indian Railways, Taj Group, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, etc. "This division (EBI Cremica) now supplies to literally every manufacturer of frozen foods in India including HUL, Venky's, Alkabeer, Gadre Marine and Oberoi's Flight Services who were earlier dependent on imports,"²¹ said Ajay, then managing director for EBI Cremica.

At the same time, through MBFSL, Bectors Food came up with vegetarian mayonnaise and a pizza-pasta spread for the Indian market in 1996.²² These products were a result of an initiative taken to solve a major challenge that Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) like McDonald's faced since they could not offer a tasty condiment for vegetarians.

Marketing Strategies
Between 2000 and 2010, Bectors Food improved its market share and became one of the top five manufacturers of biscuits through MBFSL and the third largest producer of tomato ketchup through CFIPL in India. While partnerships with big brands provided the early impetus for large scale production and growth, MBFSL and CFIPL la ter bega n fo cusing on t he retail market an d ventured into different produ ct segments, manufacturing quality products that appealed to the taste buds of Indian consumers. The retail market initiative was based on three pillars-quality, taste, and innovation.

Quality
Both MBFSL and CFIPL established a robust quality control mechanism through a designated quality assurance team that handled product inspections, material analysis, and product testing along with providing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines. All the manufacturing facilities had quality certifications such as Foundation for Food Safety Certification (FSSC 22000) and the US FDA Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Rajni had a zero-tolerance policy for any quality deviation and insisted that the quality of products had to be maintained at any cost.²³ For instance, CFIPL's tomato ketchup continued to have 34.5% tomato paste in its composition even as competitors such as Kissan and Maggi reduced the percentage of tomato paste in their ketchups. "My passion for food and my taste buds brought me this far. I still taste, select, and approve recipes for our products,"²⁴ said Rajni.

Product Innovation
Bectors Food continued introducing innovative products that ranked high on taste and quality since it had a good understanding of the evolving Indian palate. In addition to customizing and localizing its food products to appeal to customers, the company strove to offer natural products to the extent possible. It also created a diversified retail product portfolio including bread, biscuits, cakes, mayonnaise, sauces, sandwich spreads, dips, etc. This was possible due to the commencement of new facilities with imported production lines as well as expansion of capacity of the existing facility.

MBFSL MBFSL was one of the leading companies in the premium and mid-premium biscuits segment and the premium bakery segment in north India. The biscuits range included cookies, creams, crackers, digestive, and glucose under their flagship brand 'Mrs. Bector's Cremica'. MBFSL entered into an agreement in 2010 with Cadbury India Limited for contract manufacturing of Oreo biscuits. In 2019, it launched various new biscuit products that included 'Trufill' 'Premium Sugar and Classic Crackers', 'Pista Almond Cookies', 'Choco Chip Cookies', and 'Honey Oatmeal Cookies'. As of June 30, 2020, the bakery segment had a total of 96 products.²⁵

Between 2006 and 2020, MBFSL increased the capacity of its existing plants and built new facilities to launch new products on a regular basis. It had 6 manufacturing units at Phillaur and Rajpura (Punjab), Tahliwal (Himachal Pradesh), Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Khopoli (Maharashtra), and Bengaluru (Karnataka). The Khopoli facility commenced production in 2007 while the Greater Noida Facility went in for capacity expansion the same year. In 2013, capacity expansion was undertaken at the Tahliwal facility with a new imported line for manufacturing crackers biscuit. The Bengaluru facility commenced operations in 2014. In 2015, a new imported line was installed at the Phillaur facility replacing the Indian line, for manufacturing biscuits. A new production line for breads was established in 2018 at the Greater Noida and Bengaluru facilities. During this period of new plants and capacity expansion, MBFSL introduced 'sub breads' branded as 'English Oven Sub'; introduced Jeera Biscuits and Ajwain Crackers to suit ethnic taste preferences; and commissioned a sheeting line capable of producing 'Focaccia Breads', 'Panini Breads', and 'Ciabatta Breads'.²⁶

MBFSL partnered with Dentsu Media for marketing and branding products. "We believe that Dentsu media's team understands the dynamics of our category, where branding and strategy play a pivotal role. Their meticulous, innovative and tailormade approach convinced us of this partnership in accordance to our growth plans,"²⁷ said Anoop (Refer Exhibit II for MBFSL's segment information).

MBFSL had a strong distribution network in India and globally in the general trade and the modern trade segment. It distributed biscuits through its wide network of 154 super-stockists and 644 distributors, supplying to a wide range of customers through 458,000 retail outlets and 3,594 preferred outlets. The bakery products sold under the brand 'English Oven' also had a strong distribution network with 132 distributors and over 14,000 retail outlets situated in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru under modern trade and general trade channels, direct sales to supermarkets, departmental stores, or indirect sales through wholesalers and distributors.²⁸ It also manufactured and sold a variety of bakery and frozen products such as bu ns, kulchas, pizzas, and cakes for Qu ick Serv ice Restaurants (QSR) customers with a pan India presence and cloud kitchens such as Rebel Foods Private Limited as well as PVR Limited.

CFIPL
By 2016, CFIPL was producing Indian gravies and curries, tomato ketchup, sauces, mayonnaise, bread spreads, salad dressings, syrups, and dessert toppings for the mass market. In 2016, it introduced a Vegetarian Mayonnaise Squeeze pack that made the mayonnaise more portable and easier to store. Additionally, it launched Tombo, a spicy flavored ketchup, and a trial pack of Dips and Spreads in tandoori, original, pizza pasta, veg mayo, cheese jalapeno, and salsa Mexican flavors. Similarly, the Speciality Sauces had a diverse range of Continental flavors-Peri Tomboy, Thai Sweet Chilli, Sweet Onion, Barbecue, Chipotle, Honey Mustard, and Sriracha.²⁹ CFIPL was the first company in India to launch the 'OPERA' cottage style potato crisps. These were handmade using fresh, farm-picked potatoes gently cooked in olive oil in artisan batches.³⁰ "Cremica has always stood for quality compared to any other brand available in the market. Cremica is known for product innovation and over the years we have been introducing new categories year on year."³¹ said Akshay. These aspects helped the company stand out and differentiate itself from bigger players like Hindustan Unilever, ITC Foods, and Britannia.

CFIPL launched a series of products at AAHAAR 2019.³² It entered into a different market segment targeting liquor bars and cafes with bar syrups. CFIPL introduced the Bonheur range of Bar syrups in association with French syrup manufacturers Maison Routin and Mediterranean wraps. It also launched a new product range unveiling seven new flavors of mayonnaise. Besides, the company launched a product for health-conscious people in the form of Sugarlite Salad dressing in 14 different flavors. The company launched many of the products for the premium segment at the beginning and later offered them to the mass market. According to Akshay, "So we are positioning the product across the whole spectrum. For example, when we started Mayonnaise product, it was only for the upper section of the society. Today, mayonnaise has become a part of our day-to-day tiffin. We at Cremica are pure play domestic market. We have moved from cities to rural areas."³³

In a bid to strengthen its product portfolio, CFIPL expanded into categories such as fruit jams and specialized flavored syrups used in beverages in 2019. The company also inaugurated the Cremica Food Park the same year built on over 55 acres with an investment of 1,000 mn in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh. The core facility in the food park was a fruit and vegetable processing line with a capacity of up to 40 tons per hour. The mega food park enabled the company to expand into other value-added food categories like frozen food products or ready-to-cook products at very low cost.³⁴ "Today the focus of the company is to penetrate the products deeper into the retail channel. For that, a lot of investment has gone into creating supply chain, improving packaging, and to create new products. Our products are available in almost 50,000 outlets nationally, and expansion of this part of the business is going to be very significant in the coming years,"³⁵ said Akshay.

Funding an d Wealth Creation
Bectors Food was successful in growing its revenues and it reached a position where it was able to rope in private equity investors to create value and wealth.

Restructuring
In 2014, Bectors Food demerged the biscuit and bakery businesses from condiments with Anoop and Ajay taking up the responsibility of managing the biscuits and bakery business under MBFSL, which contributed 65% of the company's revenue.³⁶ Akshay took over the condiments business under CFIPL (Refer Exhibits III and IV for directors list for both the companies). Post the demerger, Motilal Oswal Private Equity Advisors Private Ltd (MOPE) obtained a major stake in the biscuit and bakery business. The settlement was done not only to grow the business that was restricted to northern states of India, but also to ensure better returns for the investor, and expedite an exit route for MOPE, the key investor in MBFSL. Post the demerger, Anoop planned to take the MBFSL business public through an IPO while Akshay intended to continue CFIPL as a private firm and take the condiments business national in the retail space.

Funding
Bectors Food decided to raise Private Equity (PE) funds for the first time in 2006 when Goldman Sachs, the New York-headquartered investment bank, bought a 10% stake for 700 mn through its unit Jade Dragon (Mauritius) Ltd.³⁷ The company had till then opted for debt funding (loans) for its capital requirements. The need for PE was felt as the company wanted to compete against larger players in the retail sector and strive to become a pan-India player. The amount was utilized to expand the business outside Punjab and Himachal Pradesh through acquisitions and organic growth. Some of the money was used to develop state-of-the-art, fully automated plants in Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh, and Greater Noida. However, Goldman Sachs exited the business in 2009, selling its stake to private equity firm MOPE for only $6 mn ( 440 mn).³⁸ MOPE bought the stake through its India Business Excellence Fund (IBEF) in 2010. It also purchased an additional 10% stake in 2013 having paid $13 mn for the total

20% stake. In 2015, post the restructuring, Linus Private Limited, Mabel Private Limited, GW Crown PTE. Ltd., and GW Confectionary PTE. Ltd. acquired a stake in MBFSL.³⁹ Even as the company grew, raising capital was still a challenge. "We started off with very small investments and thus raising private equity was a major problem. There was obviously a lot of hard work and strategizing involved, but soon investors also started believing and understanding our potential and that we are here to stay as a brand"⁴⁰ said Akshay about how funding paved way for expansion during the growth stage of the company.

In 2016, Ajay and Motilal Oswal PE sold their 46.75% stake in the biscuits business to a group of investors led by private equity companies CX Partners and Gateway Partners.⁴¹ Motilal Oswal exited with a six times return on investment in a five-year period at 3 bn. CFIPL raised $15 mn in June 2016 from Rabo Equity Advisors with the objective of tripling its distribution network, adding a new food park and manufacturing unit.⁴² MBFSL raised 1,620 mn from anchor investors ahead of the opening of its initial public offering on December 15, 2020. The company allotted a total of 5,625,415 shares at 288 per share to anchor investors including Nomura Securities, Goldman Sachs India, HDFC Life Insurance Co, Sundaram Mutual Fund, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co, and Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co, among others.⁴³

Taking the IPO Route
In August 2018, MBFSL filed an application and received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an 8 bn IPO. The company initially backed out but finally decided to go in for an IPO in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, primarily driven by the private equity investors' desire for a partial exit. According to the management, the IPO filing was approved by SEBI in less than a month, the first such case for a non-public sector undertaking.

The 5.4 bn IPO opened on December 15, 2020, and under the offer, the company planned to issue fresh equity shares worth 405 mn along with sale of shares worth 0.5 bn held by private equity companies Linus Pvt. Ltd., Mabel Pvt. Ltd., GW Crown Pte. Ltd., and GW Confectionary Pte. Ltd. It was a record-breaking IPO that received subscriptions worth 400 bn for an offer of shares of 5.4 bn.⁴⁴ The shares began trading on the NSE from December 24, 2020. The promoters owned a 52.39% stake in MBFSL before the issue, and the rest was held by the public. The company planned to use the proceeds to finance project costs in the expansion of Rajpura plant that would have a new biscuit production line.⁴⁵ The public issue was subscribed 29.33 times in the retail category,⁴⁶ 176.85 times in the QIB⁴⁷ category, and 620.86 times in the NII⁴⁸ category. ICICI Securities Limited, IIFL Holdings Limited, and SBI Capital Markets Limited were the lead managers. Post the IPO, the promoters held 51.13% of the shareholding (Refer Exhibits V, VI and VII for MBFSL's shareholding pattern, its subsidiaries, and competitors).

Road Ahead
With intense competition and consumer preferences rapidly changing toward vegetarian and healthy food options, companies in India had been heavily focusing on products based on improved nutritional standards while putting in place effective quality control systems. This resulted in the industry becoming more organized and streamlined. According to the 'Report on Indian Biscuit & Bakery Industry' released by Technopak Advisors, a leading management consulting firm, in 2020, the domestic retail biscuit and bakery (breads and buns) market was slated to grow at a CAGR of 9% while the institutional bakery segment in the country could see a 20% growth for the period 2020-2025.⁴⁹

Bectors Food had built a successful brand name both in the institutional and retail markets over the four decades from the 1980s. While Rajni's passion and entrepreneurial commitment helped her establish the business and taste success, her family played a key role in taking it to the next level. According to Akshay, family business offered a great platform to grow as an individual and contribute to making it large. Bectors Food, through MBFSL and CFIPL, became the sole/primary contract manufacturer for many major private/third-party labels and QSRs. The company was a leading exporter of biscuits, cookies, and liquid condiments such as ready-to-eat curries and gravies-to more than 60 countries including Australia, the USA, the UK, Canada, West Asia and Africa.

MBFSL planned to set up a Greenfield project in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, at an estimated cost of 1 bn. From the analysts' perspective, the company had to scale up its biscuits business to compete with giants like Britannia, Parle, and ITC. CFIPL continued to focus on condiments like mayonnaise and tomato ketchup, along with dips, spreads, dressings, jams, and snacks. It invested 2 bn in opening a food park in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh, and a food processing facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in 2020. The company had plans to enter the frozen snack food and further expand the ready-toeat segment from the existing ready-to-eat curry pastes.

All this augured well for Bectors Food, which had predominantly been a leader in north India, to increase the brand reach and become a household name pan-India.

Suggested Readings

1. "Anoop Bector on Stellar Debut and Future Plans of Mrs. Bectors," www.economic times.indiatimes.com, December 24, 2020.
2. Rounak Jain, "Mrs Bector's Food IPO Investors Saw Their Money Double on Listing Day," www.businessinsider.in, December 24, 2020.
3. Himadri Buch, "Meet the Woman Behind IPO Star Mrs Bectors Food Specialities," www.moneycontrol.com, December 18, 2020.
4. Partha Sinha and Rohan Dua, "Mrs Bector's Food: From 300 Home Kitchen to 1,000 cr Co," https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 18, 2020.
5. Sundar Sethuraman, "Mrs Bectors Subscribed 198 Times, Highest Ever for a Rs 200-cr Plus IPO," https://www.business-standard.com/, December 17, 2020.
6. Navdeep Yadav, "Interview: Home Recipes That are Set for a $73 million IPO` - Mrs Bector's Food is No Cookie Cutter," https://www.businessinsider.in, December 15, 2020.
7. "Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities Limited IPO (Mrs. Bectors Food IPO) Detail," www.chittorgarh.com, December 15, 2020.
8. "Mrs Bectors Raises Rs 162 Crore from Anchor Investors Ahead of IPO," https:/ /economictimes.indiatimes.com/, December 14, 2020.
9. Sharleen Dsouza, "Mrs. Bectors IPO: Here's All You Need to Know," https:// www. bloombergquint.com, December 14, 2020.
10. "FDI in Food Processing Rises 44 pc to $904.7 mn in 2019-20," https:// economictimes. indiatimes.com, June 11, 2020.
11. "A Family Business Gives You the Platform to Grow: Cremica Food Industries' CMD," www.thehindubusinessline.com, October 10, 2019.
12. "Rural Sector will Drive Demand in Six Months", https://www.tribuneindia.com, May 1, 2020.
13. Prachi Gupta, "How McDonald's Laid the Foundation of Cremica's Business, Akshay Bector Tells: Interview," https://www.financialexpress.com/, March 21, 2019.
14. "Cremica Joins Hands with French Company Maison Routin for Bar Syrup Products," https://www.exchange4media.com, March 15, 2019.
15. Meenakshi Verma Ambwani, "Cremica Food Industries Plans to Expand into New Categories," https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/, January 29, 2019.
16. Varun Jain "Cremica to Invest Rs 200 cr to Open Food Park and Food Processing Unit," https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com, March 23, 2018.
17. Varun Jain, "India Food Service Market to Reach Rs 5,52,000 cr by 2022: Report," economictimes.indiatimes.com, November 14, 2017.
18. Rahul Sachitanand, "What Strategy Should Regional Brands Follow to Win Over Customers?" https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/, December 7, 2016.
19. Asmita Bakshi, "There is No Substitute for Hard Work," www.indiatoday.in, November 10, 2016.
20. Karishma, "Mrs Bector's Cremica Launches a Range of New Products," https:// www. hungryforever.com/, July 2016.
21. "Cremica Sees Growth of 35 pc in Revenues Owing to Expansion and Capacity Addition," https://economictimes.indiatimes.com, May 23, 2016.
22. Nabamita Chatterjee, "Cremica is Known for Product Innovations & Customised Food Products," www.retail4growth.com, October 13, 2014.
23. Sounak Mitra, "A Bector Uninterested in Serving Cremica Fare," https:// www.business-standard.com, January 4, 2014.
24. "Cremica Launches Opera; India's First Cottage Style Potato Crisps," www.adgully.com, June 24, 2013.
25. "We Hope to Be in Metros & Big Cities by Year-End: Akshay Bector," https:// economictimes.indiatimes.com, June 4, 2013.
26. Gulveen Aulakh, "Rising Star: Cremica Group Venturing into Different Snack Segments," economictimes.indiatimes.com, May 12, 2010.
27. Manu Kaushik, "Kitchen Biz to Baking Giant," www.businesstoday.in, October 4, 2009.
28. Viney Sharma, "Cracker of a Deal and Cremica Gets the Cream," https:// economictimes.indiatimes.com, June 4, 2007.
29. "Goldman Sachs Set to Buy Stake in Cremica for $15m," www.economictimes.india times.com, July 22, 2006.
30. Mrs Bectors Foods Specialities - Red Herring Prospectus, www.sebi.gov.in, (Accessed on February 8, 2021).
31. Himanshu Kakkar, "Married Off as a Student, She ' 'Mrs. Bector' of Baker y Products and Condiments: Meet Rajni Bector," https:// wow.outlook business.com/rajni-bector/, (Accessed on January 30, 2021).

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1. Nitin Jain, "Success of IPO Brings Bigger Responsibility: Mrs Bector Founder," www.tribuneindia.com, December 29, 2020.
2. Navdeep Yadav, "INTERVIEW: Home Recipes That are Set for a $73 Million IPO - Mrs. Bector's Food is No Cookie Cutter," https://www.businessinsider.in, December 15, 2020.
3. Punita Sabharwal, "Playing the Chip Shot is Cremica's Akshay Bector Who Launched India's First Vegetarian Mayonnaise," https://www.entrepreneur.com/, December 4, 2016.
4. Sundar Sethuraman, "Mrs Bectors Subscribed 198 Times, Highest Ever for a 200-cr Plus IPO," https://www.business-standard.com/, December 17, 2020.
5. NSE is India's leading stock exchange and is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. NSE was established in 1992 as the first dematerialized electronic exchange in the country.
6. The PadmaShri is one of the highest civilian honors of India, given in recognition of an individual's distinguished service or achievements in any field of activity or discipline.
7. Himanshu Nitnaware, "Ice-Cream in Her Backyard to Running an Empire Worth 540 Cr: Meet Mrs Bector," www.thebetterindia.com, December 15, 2020.
8. Gulveen Aulakh, "Rising Star: Cremica Group Venturing into Different Snack Segments," www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, May 12, 2010.
9. Himanshu Kakkar, "Married Off as a Student, She ' 'Mrs. Bector' of Bakery Products and Condiments: Meet Rajni Bector," https://wow.outlookbusiness.com/rajni-bector/ (Accessed on January 30, 2021).
10. Gulveen Aulakh, "Rising Star: Cremica Group Venturing into Different Snack Segments," www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, May 12, 2010.
11. Bootstrapping is a term used in business to refer to the process of using only existing resources, such as personal savings, personal computing equipment, and garage space, to start and grow a company.
12. Gulveen Aulakh, "Rising Star: Cremica Group Venturing into Different Snack Segments," economictimes.indiatimes.com, May 12, 2010.
13. Himanshu Kakkar, "Married Off as a Student, She ' 'Mrs. Bector' of Bakery Products and Condiments: Meet Rajni Bector," https://wow.outlookbusiness.com/rajni-bector/ (Accessed on January 30, 2021).
14. Manu Kaushik, "Kitchen Biz to Baking Giant," www.businesstoday.in, October 4, 2009.
15. I b i d .
16. Aheli Bose, "Mrs Bector's Cremica: Biscuits and Breads, Sauces and Spreads," http:// www.wiserworld. in, (Accessed on February 9, 2021).
17. Manu Kaushik, "Kitchen Biz to Baking Giant," www.businesstoday.in, October 4, 2009.
18. "Mrs Bector's Food Specialities Red Herring Prospectus," www.sebi.gov.in, December 2020.
19. https://www.kerrygroup.com/docs/history/Corporate-History-18-2-17.pdf
20. Manu Kaushik, "Kitchen Biz to Baking Giant," www.businesstoday.in, October 4, 2009.
21. Gulveen Aulakh, "Rising Star: Cremica Group Venturing into Different Snack Segments," www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, May 12, 2010.
22. "Cremica LinkedIn Page," https://in.linkedin.com/company/cremica, (Accessed on February 9, 2021).
23. Himanshu Kakkar, "Married Off as a Student, She ' 'Mrs.Bector' of Bakery Products and Condiments: Meet Rajni Bector," https://wow.outlookbusiness.com/rajni-bector/ (Accessed on Januar 30, 2021).
24. I b i d .
25. "Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities Limited IPO (Mrs. Bectors Food IPO) Detail," www.chittorgarh.com, December 15, 2020.
26. http://www.cremica.in/assets/pdf/Mrs.-Bector-Investor-Presentation-February-2021.pdf
27. Mrs. Bector's Food Specialties Signs on Dentsu Media, https://brandequity.economictimes.india times.com, June 18, 2015.
28. http://www.cremica.in/assets/pdf/Mrs.-Bector-Investor-Presentation-February-2021.pdf
29. Karishma, "Mrs Bector's Cremica Launches a Range of New Products," https://www.hungryforever. com/, July 2016.
30. They involve customized production in small batches where unique, top-quality ingredients are used.
31. Nabamita Chatter jee, "Cremica is Known for Product Innovations & Customised Food Products," www.retail4growth.com, October 13, 2014.
32. The International Food and Hospitality Fair' held at New Delhi in 2019.
33. Prachi Gupta, "How McDonald's Laid the Foundation of Cremica's Business, Akshay Bector Tells: INTERVIEW," https://www.financialexpress.com/, March 21, 2019.
34. Meenakshi Verma Ambwani, "Cremica Food Industries Plans to Expand into New Categories," https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/, January 29, 2019.
35. Var un Jain, "Cremica to Invest 200 cr to Open Food Park and Food Processing Unit," www.economic times.indiatimes.com, March 23, 2018.
36. Sounak Mitra, "A Bector Uninterested in Ser ving Cremica Fare," https://www.businessstandard. com, January 4, 2014.
37. "Goldman Sachs Set to Buy Stake in Cremica for $15 mn," economictimes.indiatimes.com, July 22, 2006.
38. Himanshu Kakkar, "Married Off as a Student, She ' "Mrs.Bector" of Bakery Products and Condiments: Meet Rajni Bector," https://wow.outlookbusiness.com/rajnibector/ (Accessed on January 30, 2021).
39. "We Hope to Be in Metros & Big Cities by Year-End: Akshay Bector," https:// economictimes.indiatimes. com, June 4, 2013.
40. Asmita Bakshi, "There is No Substitute for Hard Work," www.indiatoday.in, November 10, 2016.
41. ICRA Rating, "Mrs.Bector's Food Specialities Limited," https://www.icra.in, September 2016.
42. Rahul Sachitanand, "What Strategy Should Regional Brands Follow to Win Over Customers?" https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/, December 7, 2016.
43. "Mrs Bectors Raises 162 cr from Anchor Investors Ahead of IPO," https:// economictimes.indiatimes. com/, December 14, 2020.
44. Rounak Jain, "Mrs Bector's Food IPO Investors Saw Their Money Double on Listing Day," www.businessinsider.in, December 24, 2020.
45. Sharleen Dsouza, "Mrs. Bectors IPO: Here's All You Need to Know," www.bloombergquint.com, December 14, 2020.
46. Resident Indian Individuals, NRIs and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) who apply for less than 0.2 mn (2 lakhs) in an IPO.
47. Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) are those institutional investors who are generally perceived to possess expertise and the financial muscle to evaluate and invest in the capital markets.
48. Non-Institutional Investors/bidders (NII) are resident Indian individuals, eligible NRIs, HUFs, companies, corporate bodies, scientific institutions, societies, and trusts that apply for more than 0.2 mn of IPO shares.