From Kolkata to pan-India play: Bisk Farm targets top three spot in biscuits
Bisk Farm, founded in 2000, sells biscuits, cookies, cakes, rusks, and Indian snacks. It has traditionally been strongest in eastern and northeastern India, but now operates in 29 states
- Apr 30, 2026,
- Updated Apr 30, 2026 7:29 PM IST
Kolkata-origin biscuit maker Bisk Farm is aiming to break into the country's top three players as it pushes beyond its eastern stronghold, ramps up advertising spends, and expands through quick commerce and rural distribution.
In an exclusive conversation with Business Today TV as part of the BT Hidden GEMs series, Bisk Farm Managing Director Vijay Singh said the company, now in its 25th year, has already built a presence across 29 states and is preparing for a stronger national play.
"Currently, we are number four. The aspiration is to be the number three," Singh said, adding that innovation has been central to the company's rise in a crowded biscuits market.
The company, founded in 2000, sells biscuits, cookies, cakes, rusks, and Indian snacks. It has traditionally been strongest in eastern and northeastern India.
Fundamentals matter more than hype
Nitin Gupta of EY India said the strongest sign that a regional FMCG company can scale nationally is the depth of demand in its home market and the ability to replicate that model elsewhere.
"The biggest signal is the strength or the depth in your regional market first," Gupta said. If customers repeatedly buy the product, incentives are not needed to push sales, and supply chains can scale across geographies, the business has a strong base for national expansion, he said.
He added that in food categories such as biscuits, products must appeal beyond regional tastes. "The fundamentals become very very important," Gupta said.
On long-term value creation, Gupta said brand spending alone cannot drive durable growth. "Advertising is important...But advertising alone cannot sustain the growth," he said, adding that product quality, pricing discipline, and distribution remain the core pillars. "Without these three, no amount of advertising can help you grow."
'Innovation over imitation
Singh said Bisk Farm's growth has come from product innovation rather than copying established rivals. "We've tried to break clutter in not trying to be a me-too copy kind of biscuit company. Our innovations have been the real battlegrounds that have made us win many small battles," he said.
He said the company consciously stayed away from the glucose biscuit category in its early years because of thin or negative margins, and instead invested in new categories. "We are now the leading cracker company in the country as well,” Singh said, adding that crackers have become one of the more lucrative segments in India.
He also claimed larger competitors had replicated some of Bisk Farm's products, calling it validation of the company’s strategy.
'National growth needs distribution and visibility'
When asked how Bisk Farm built consumer trust and scale without chasing visibility, Singh said the optics matter when one wants to be a national player. "We've actually been trying to widen the budgets in terms of our spending, and we just concluded the T20 World Cup as well, where we were one of the sponsors on the Jio Hotstar platforms," he said.
"We have to make sure that distribution is also in place before we are able to spend the larger budgets. We will be escalating the spends that we are doing nationally," he said, adding that the company has been stuck largely with east and a lot with south so far because south gave the company the advantage of being state-specific vernaculars.
"So we did not have to really dominate in the Hindi-speaking national language spectrum, but we tend to do that much more strongly. We're using cricket as a big prop because this is one sport in our country that is crazy and cuts across all castes, colours, and creeds. So while we will be spending more in the few years to go, I think it's time we also make our imagery much wider, stronger, and brighter."
Zero debt amid economic shocks
Singh also said Bisk Farm has chosen steady growth over aggressive expansion, helping it navigate disruptions such as GST, demonetisation, and rising fuel costs linked to the West Asia conflict.
"We are a zero debt company, zero borrowed company, 100% self-owned company as well," he said, adding that higher LPG and fuel costs were affecting the sector, but said the company remained buffered because of its conservative approach.
Kolkata-origin biscuit maker Bisk Farm is aiming to break into the country's top three players as it pushes beyond its eastern stronghold, ramps up advertising spends, and expands through quick commerce and rural distribution.
In an exclusive conversation with Business Today TV as part of the BT Hidden GEMs series, Bisk Farm Managing Director Vijay Singh said the company, now in its 25th year, has already built a presence across 29 states and is preparing for a stronger national play.
"Currently, we are number four. The aspiration is to be the number three," Singh said, adding that innovation has been central to the company's rise in a crowded biscuits market.
The company, founded in 2000, sells biscuits, cookies, cakes, rusks, and Indian snacks. It has traditionally been strongest in eastern and northeastern India.
Fundamentals matter more than hype
Nitin Gupta of EY India said the strongest sign that a regional FMCG company can scale nationally is the depth of demand in its home market and the ability to replicate that model elsewhere.
"The biggest signal is the strength or the depth in your regional market first," Gupta said. If customers repeatedly buy the product, incentives are not needed to push sales, and supply chains can scale across geographies, the business has a strong base for national expansion, he said.
He added that in food categories such as biscuits, products must appeal beyond regional tastes. "The fundamentals become very very important," Gupta said.
On long-term value creation, Gupta said brand spending alone cannot drive durable growth. "Advertising is important...But advertising alone cannot sustain the growth," he said, adding that product quality, pricing discipline, and distribution remain the core pillars. "Without these three, no amount of advertising can help you grow."
'Innovation over imitation
Singh said Bisk Farm's growth has come from product innovation rather than copying established rivals. "We've tried to break clutter in not trying to be a me-too copy kind of biscuit company. Our innovations have been the real battlegrounds that have made us win many small battles," he said.
He said the company consciously stayed away from the glucose biscuit category in its early years because of thin or negative margins, and instead invested in new categories. "We are now the leading cracker company in the country as well,” Singh said, adding that crackers have become one of the more lucrative segments in India.
He also claimed larger competitors had replicated some of Bisk Farm's products, calling it validation of the company’s strategy.
'National growth needs distribution and visibility'
When asked how Bisk Farm built consumer trust and scale without chasing visibility, Singh said the optics matter when one wants to be a national player. "We've actually been trying to widen the budgets in terms of our spending, and we just concluded the T20 World Cup as well, where we were one of the sponsors on the Jio Hotstar platforms," he said.
"We have to make sure that distribution is also in place before we are able to spend the larger budgets. We will be escalating the spends that we are doing nationally," he said, adding that the company has been stuck largely with east and a lot with south so far because south gave the company the advantage of being state-specific vernaculars.
"So we did not have to really dominate in the Hindi-speaking national language spectrum, but we tend to do that much more strongly. We're using cricket as a big prop because this is one sport in our country that is crazy and cuts across all castes, colours, and creeds. So while we will be spending more in the few years to go, I think it's time we also make our imagery much wider, stronger, and brighter."
Zero debt amid economic shocks
Singh also said Bisk Farm has chosen steady growth over aggressive expansion, helping it navigate disruptions such as GST, demonetisation, and rising fuel costs linked to the West Asia conflict.
"We are a zero debt company, zero borrowed company, 100% self-owned company as well," he said, adding that higher LPG and fuel costs were affecting the sector, but said the company remained buffered because of its conservative approach.