Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

Preliminary filings made before stock market debuts often bring to the fore details that are stories on their own. Proof:

• Apparel chain Fabindia’s big opportunity in organic foods
• Logistics startup Delhivery’s overdependence on too few customers, including Amazon and Flipkart

Bikaji Foods International’s initial public offering (IPO) prospectus, filed last month, is no different. The snacks brand, backed by private equity investors Lighthouse Funds and IIFL Asset Management, is reportedly planning to raise Rs 1,000 crore (US$130 million) at a billion-dollar valuation.

But the one detail in the prospectus that stood out to me has to do with the product that Bikaji is synonymous with: bhujia.

The absolutely addictive savoury munch has an iron grip on large swathes of the Indian market. You only have to google bhujia and scroll through the endless sea of memes to understand what I’m talking about.

So, it’s not surprising that bhuijia accounted for over a third of Bikaji’s sales of ~Rs 1,300 crore (US$170 million) in the year ended March 2021. Bhujia’s share was almost as much as that of other Indian snacks–such as peanuts and potato sticks–put together. (Bikaji also makes sweets, frozen foods, papads, and cookies, among other things.) And in the six months ended September 2021, bhujia became Bikaji’s top revenue generator.

Clearly, Bikaji has a lot riding on bhujia. Which is why I was intrigued by this tiny piece of information I chanced upon in its IPO filing.

IPO-bound Bikaji Foods has a bhujia problem

A lot of you may not know that Bikaji was founded by a grandson of the founder of Haldiram’s, the reigning giant of Indian snacks, in 1993. Between them, the two brands now control nearly half the market.

Within Indian snacks, bhujia alone is a Rs 6,300 crore (US$830 million) business, according to Bikaji’s IPO document. While the company’s market share in this category is not available, it does make thirteen different kinds of bhujia. And I get that 100%. I mean, who can say no to more types of bhujia? (By the way, if you don’t care for bhujia, we really need to have a chat.)

So, Bikaji has leveraged its bhujia offerings to spread its footprint across most parts of India and 35 other countries.

But bhujia is also where Bikaji is most vulnerable. And that’s to do with where it’s made.

The snacks maker operates six manufacturing facilities, including four located in Bikaner, Rajasthan, which is where bhujia is said to have originated.