This is an unusual story of a housewife based in Ludhiana whose passion for cooking turned her into a successful entrepreneur. Rajni Bector, who made delicious ice-creams for family and friends, slowly started selling them in f?tes in late 1970s. Today, she is successfully running Rs 450 crore Cremica Group which is a widely diversified food products and service company, growing at rate of 30% per annum. Cremica group is a supplier to global and Indian food giants like McDonald?s, Pizza Hut, Caf? Coffee Day and Barista, to name just a few.
Recalling her journey of success, 67 year-old Bector shares, ?Things got going with setting up a small ice-cream making unit with a capital outlay of Rs 20,000 in the backyard of our home in Sarbha Nagar, Ludhiana in 1983. After catering at weddings and parties, I set up the first bread-making unit outside Ludhiana in 1988 which later turned into a family business. Now I am being assisted by my three sons. The much needed breakthrough happened when we partnered with McDonald?s which brought expertise in our management operations.? ‘Mrs Bector Cremica today rolls out 10,000 tonnes of biscuits, 1,500 tonnes of sauces and 35 lakh bread loaves in a month.
?As I came from a well-off family, money was not the factor for which I was working. The main reason to start the venture was my passion for cooking. Women of affluent families did not work then and I had to hear unpleasant comments from many. But my firmness changed the conservative approach of people towards working women. Interestingly, the same people who used to criticise me are now full of praise for me. Though I did not have any formal training or background in economics but my recipes were a runaway success in Punjab. Moreover, entrepreneurship came naturally to me and my husband used to guide me whenever I needed insights,? Bector avers.
Bector believes that the best way for survival lies in expansion and expects turnover for her company to touch Rs 600 crore by 2010. The group?s major growth has been in biscuit business and McDonald?s contributes 10% to the total revenue of the company and Rs 100 crore comes from exporting food products to 50 countries. The firm is also planning to enter into a venture of ready-to-eat ethnic dishes.
Commenting on the delay in execution of a plan to set up of a food park in Punjab in collaboration with the state government, Bector adds, ?There have been many bureaucratic hurdles which caused the delay. But we are firm in carrying out expansion plans in states like Himachal Pradesh due to tax benefits instead of Punjab.?