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Pia Promina DasGupta Barve

Alumnus: Loreto House, MS University, IIM C.

The daughter of Kolkata’s most legendary chef, Kewpie, PiaPriomina’s love for good food was nourished very early in life, surrounded as she was by generations of cooks past.  

Pia opted for O level cookery as her special subject in school and it came as no surprise when she topped the exam.She eagerly went on to earn her degree in Foods & Nutrition at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda. And excelled in this too.

Food Boutique began in 1969 as a patisserie and was Pia’s first business venture to encompass the growing demand for good professional caterers. The company soon diversified to distribute Fun Food products to the retail trade in Bombay. It also introduced Cookie Man cookies and Spice Drops in Bombay.

Pia was the first woman in the country’s meat packing trade. She was privileged to have a rare learning experience with a meat-processing unit that was attached to an abattoir.  This was her first step in mastering the skills required for the food processing industry. She became an adept at product development, production analysis, factory management and marketing.

Always ready for her next challenge, Pia quickly went on to becoming the industry leader in the development and export of frozen mango pulps and vegetables while with MAFCO. Her talents were further honed at Britannia Industries Ltd, India's premier biscuit manufacturer.

With this considerable experience under her belt, she then founded her family’s export business in foods and beverages. Here she gained immense knowledge of spices, tea, rice and vegetables. Remarkably, Pia was at the forefront in the evolution and export of teabags from India. But only after she trained as a tea taster and ran a production unit for the manufacture of tea and tea bags.

It was Pia who authenticated the recipes for her mother’s best-selling cookbook, “BanglaRanna.” She has always found time to be an integral part of Kewpie’s Kitchen; the country's most celebrated Bengali restaurant that boasts of recipes more than a 100 years old! This knowledge stood her in good stead when she recently designed the menu and trained the cooks for Hoogli restaurant, a gourmet cuisine outlet.

Pia was the COO of the first online shopping mall " NoShutters.com" launched in Calcutta in 2000.

Pia will dexterously turn out melt in the mouth bread rolls, succulent roast turkey, tempting vegetables, nectarous desserts and the most delicious spicy crabs this side of the Suez, as effortlessly as she stirs up an incomparable fish curry.And her uncomplicated approach to ingredients and effortless ten-minute prep has earned the eternal gratitude of countless amateur cooks.

The most finicky epicurean will delight in her home- made products; all created without preservatives or trans fat. Her inspired adaptation to healthy, light-cooking techniques is a mark of her genius, for Pia's curiosity and willingness to experiment demonstrate all the confidence of a gourmet chef. She has developed fabulous easy to use sauces as also spice mixes, biscuits and breads with unusual ingredients, a pomegranate juice that should be a must on every breakfast menu.  Ask for the moon and Pia is likely to bake and garnish it for you!

Pia's area of expertise on the other pages.

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