Rudkin began her business at her family estate, Pepperidge Farm, after the success of her all natural home baked bread (originally made to relieve her sons’ allergies). She gradually expanded her business to include Belgian cookies, frozen pastries, poultry stuffing and dinner rolls. The firm employed mostly women during a period when women in the work place were not commonplace. Rudkin orchestrated the sale pf Pepperidge Farm to Campbell Soup Company in 1960.