Online Cake Bhejo: Patna Man Turns Mom’s Last Wish into a Rs 1.5 Cr Millet Bakery Chain
Online Cake Bhejo: Patna Man Turns Mom’s Last Wish into a Rs 1.5 Cr Millet Bakery Chain
Ashish Ranjan’s ‘Online Cake Bhejo’ combines entrepreneurship with social impact, empowering women farmers through millet-based bakery products.
Ashish Ranjan, a college dropout from Patna, Bihar, has transformed his mother’s final wish into a thriving business venture. Following her advice to pursue his passions, Ashish co-founded ‘Online Cake Bhejo’ (OCB) in 2017 with his friend Buddhisen Bittu. Initially an online cake delivery service, OCB has evolved into a successful bakery chain with a turnover of Rs 1.5 crores for FY 2023-24.
Pursuing his final year of computer science engineering in Haryana, Ashish had two papers to complete when his mother passed away. He had just started working in a new job but didn’t like the work environment and the way his seniors spoke to him. Though he had no business background, his heart lay in returning home and setting up a business.
The journey began with Ashish leaving his engineering studies and a new job in Haryana. Although he started with an aggregator model for cakes, quality concerns led him to rethink his approach. Inspired by a Jharkhand woman making millet cookies, Ashish pivoted to focus on millet-based products.
In 2018, Ashish and Buddhisen launched their bakery, initially bootstrapping with Rs 20,000. They later received seed funding from the Bihar Startup Policy and a grant of Rs 10 lakh, which helped establish a manufacturing facility. Their model not only emphasizes quality but also aims to empower women farmers.
OCB employs over 50 women across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, training them in baking millet-based products like cookies, muffins, and bread. These “She Groups” are equipped with necessary tools and linked to market channels, providing both livelihood and high-quality products. The bakeries offer a range of items, including millet cookies at Rs 150 per 300 grams and ‘brown bread done right’, which incorporates millet flour.
Ashish’s vision includes expanding these opportunities, continuing to support female farmers, and growing the bakery chain, which now features two company-owned stores, five franchises, and three She Group stores.
Though his father, a key supporter, passed away in 2018, his legacy lives on in Ashish’s success.
