Success Story of Britannia Industry : How Britannia is Leading the Biscuit Industry since Decades?
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Britannia Industries is one of India’s leading food companies with a 100-year legacy and annual revenues in excess of Rs. 9000 Cr. Britannia’s product portfolio includes Biscuits, Bread, Cakes, Rusk, and Dairy products including Cheese, Beverages, Milk and Yoghurt.
Britannia is a brand which many generations of Indians have grown up with and is cherished and loved in India and the world over. Brand Britannia is listed amongst the most trusted, valuable and popular brands in various surveys conducted by prestigious organizations.
Know the Success Story of Britannia in the article ahead. Also get a glance on Britannia company profile and know about Britannia's History, Business Model, Founders, Revenue Model & more...
Britannia - Company Highlights
| Startup Name | Britannia Industries Limited |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Industry | Food Processing |
| Parent Company and Owner | Wadia Group |
| Founded | 1892 |
| CEO | Varun Berry (Since 2014) |
| Revenue | 11,878.95 crores INR (US$1.7 billion) - 2020 |
| Areas served | Worldwide |
| Website | www.britannia.co.in |
Britannia - Recent News
Britannia - About and How it Works?
Britannia - Logo and its Meaning
Britannia - Founder and History
Britannia - Mission
Britannia - Products
Britannia - Business Model
Britannia - Revenue and Growth
Britannia - Acquisitions
Britannia - Competitors
Britannia - Challenges Faced
Britannia - Future Plans
Britannia - FAQs
Britannia - Recent News
22 June, 2021 - Britannia Industries Limited announced relief measures to support over 10,000 frontline personnel impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. The company will provide term insurance policy and hospitalization insurance of ₹2 lakh and ₹1 lakh respectively to their sales personnel and merchandisers employed with its distributors across the country.
3 June, 2021 - Britannia Industries has approved a proposal to raise Rs 698.51 crore by issuing bonus debentures to eligible equity shareholders. The bonus debenture committee of the board of directors of the company has approved the allotment.
Britannia - About and How it Works?
Britannia Industries Limited is a food company, which is engaged in the manufacture of Biscuits, Bread, Cakes, Rusk, and Dairy products including Cheese, Beverages, Milk and Yoghurt. The Company operates through the Foods segment, which comprises bakery and dairy products.
The Company's product brands under the biscuits' category include Good Day, Crackers, NutriChoice, Marie Gold, Tiger, Milk Bikis, Jim Jam + Treat, Bourbon, Little Hearts, Pure Magic and Nice Time. Its products under breads include Whole Wheat Breads, White Sandwich Breads and Bread Assortment. Its products under diary category include Cheese, Fresh Dairy and Accompaniments. Its products under the cakes' category include Bar Cakes, Veg Cakes, Chunk Cake, Nut & Raisin Romance, and Mufills. Its product under rusk category includes Premium Bake.
The products of the Company are exported across the world, which include Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC), African Countries and American Countries. Its subsidiaries include Manna Foods Private Limited and International Bakery Products Limited.
Britannia - Logo and its Meaning
As explained by a spokesperson of Britannia, Britannia's new logo signifies, "rebranding as the Total Foods Company from now on with the expansion of its offerings in both healthy and indulgent products. The wings of a bird signify freedom to choose, whenever and wherever you want to enjoy your food."
Britannia - Founder and History
Britannia Industry was founded in 1892 by a group of British businessmen with an investment of ₹295. Initially, biscuits were manufactured in a small house in central Kolkata.
1918 - The Company was born on 21st March of the year 1918 as a public limited company.
1921 - Britannia became the first company east of the Suez Canal to use imported gas ovens. Britannia's business was flourishing. But more importantly Britannia was acquiring a reputation for quality and value. As a result during the tragic World War II the Government reposed its trust in Britannia by contracting it to supply large quantities of 'service biscuits' to the armed forces.
1924 - A new factory was established in the year 1924 in Mumbai. In the same year the Company became a subsidiary of Peek Frean & Company Limited UK, a leading biscuit manufacturing company and further strengthened its position by expanding the factories at Calcutta and Mumbai.
1952 - The Kolkata factory was shifted from Dum Dum to spacious grounds at Taratola Road in the suburbs of Kolkata. During the same year automatic plants were installed in Calcutta.
1954 - The automatic plants were installed in Mumbai plant also in the same year the development of high quality sliced and wrapped bread in India was initiated by the company and was first manufactured at Delhi.
1965 - A new bread bakery was set up at Delhi in the year 1965.
1975 - Britannia Biscuit Company takes over biscuit distribution from Parry's during the year 1975.
1976 - The company had introduced Britannia bread in Calcutta and Chennai.
1978 - The company made Public issue, in that Indian shareholding crossed 60%.
1979 - The Company redefined itself from Britannia Biscuit Company Limited to Britannia Industries Limited.
Fast forward to Current Status, 2021 - Britannia is one of India's oldest existing companies. It is now part of the Wadia Group headed by Nusli Wadia. Britannia's revenue stood at 11,878.95 crores INR (US$1.7 billion) in 2020.
Britannia - Mission
The mission statement of Britannia says, "To improve the financial health of our members and customers by satisfying their evolving borrowing, investment and housing needs."
Sarika Anand
Britannia - Products
Bakery Products : Â Biscuits account for 95% of Britannia's annual revenue. The company's factories have an annual capacity of 433,000 tonnes. The brand names of Britannia's biscuits include VitaMarieGold, Tiger Biscuits, Nutrichoice, Good day, 50-50, Treat, Pure Magic, Milk Bikis, Bourbon, Nice Time and Little Hearts amongst others.
In 2006, Tiger, the mass market brand, realized $150.75 million in sales, including exports to the U.S. and Australia. This amounts to 20% of Britannia revenues for that year.
Dairy Products : Dairy products contribute close to 5% to Britannia's revenue. The company not only markets dairy products to the public but also trades dairy commodities business-to-business. Its dairy portfolio grew to 47% in 2000-01 and by 30% in 2001-02.
Britannia - Business Model
The company operates in two business segments, namely, bakery products and dairy products. The company derives ~95% of its revenue from the biscuits segment while, ~5%  of  its  total sales coming from  non-biscuits category (dairy) and International market.
The company’s Dairy business contributes close to 5 per cent of revenue and Britannia dairy products directly reach 100,000 outlets. Britannia Bread is the largest brand in the organized bread market with an annual turnover of over 1 lac tons in volume and Rs.450 crores in value. The business operates with 13 factories and 4 franchisees selling close to 1 mn loaves daily across more than 100 cities and towns of India.
Sarika Anand
Britannia - Revenue and Growth
Between 1998 and 2001, the company's sales grew at a compound annual rate of 16% against the market, and operating profits reached 18%. Presently, the company has been growing at 27% a year, compared to the industry's growth rate of 20%. At present, 90% of Britannia's annual revenue of Rs 22 billion comes from biscuits.
Britannia is one of India's 100 Most Trusted brands listed in The Brand Trust Report. Britannia has an estimated market share of 38%.
Britannia - Acquisitions
- Britannia Industries, India's largest processed food company, has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Fonterra Brands (Mauritius Holding) Ltd, Mauritius, for acquiring the latter's 49 per cent Equity and Preference shareholding in Britannia New Zealand Foods Pvt Ltd (BNZF), their Joint Venture Company engaged in Dairy business. This acquisition is subject to Reserve Bank of India approval.
- The company and its associates acquired majority stakes in Dubai-based Strategic Foods International LLC and Oman-based Al Sallan Food Industries in March 2007.
Britannia - Competitors
The top 10 competitors in Britannia Industry Limited's competitive set are:
- Parle Products
- ITC
- Horlicks
- Biskfarm
- Richfield Industries
- Frisco Foods
- Cookie Man
- MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd.
- Milo Australia & New Zealand
- Complan and Cadbury Bournvita
Its top Dairy competitors are:
Britannia - Challenges Faced
- A businessman from Kerala, Rajan Pillai secured control of the group in the late 1980s, becoming known in India as the 'Biscuit Raja'. In 1993, the Wadia Group acquired a stake in Associated Biscuits International (ABIL), and became an equal partner with Groupe Danone in Britannia Industries Limited. It was referred to as  India's most dramatic corporate sagas, Pillai ceded control to Wadia and Danone after a bitter boardroom struggle, then fled his Singapore base to India in 1995 after accusations of defrauding Britannia, and died the same year in Tihar Jail.
- Biscuit major Britannia Industries, the star amongst the Indian FMCG pack of late, says generating consumer demand remains the biggest challenge in the new year. FMCG companies in general reported lacklustre results in recent quarters. But the biscuit maker's numbers beat expectations, with the Bengaluru-based company's profit margins at a record high in the last two quarters.
- In a separate dispute from the shareholder matters, the company alleged in 2006 that Danone had violated its intellectual property rights in the Tiger brand by registering and using Tiger in several countries (in Indonesia in 1998, and later in Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and Egypt) without its consent. Whilst it was initially reported in December 2006 that agreement had been reached, it was reported in September 2007 that a solution remained elusive. In the meantime since Danone's biscuit business has been taken over by Kraft, the Tiger brand of biscuits in Malaysia was renamed Kraft Tiger Biscuits in September 2008.
- Britannia is also facing the challenge of rising employee attrition after the recent change of guard.
Sarika Anand
Britannia - Future Plans
"CCD Dairy Bread is an instance. We are looking for more such acquisitions in India covering a larger domain. But in the international market we will look at acquisitions in our core areas of biscuits and bakery," - Vinita Bali, managing director of Britannia.
- The maker of Good Day and Tiger Biscuits now plans to invest ₹700 crore over the next two years to set up greenfield facilities and scale up capacities of core products and another ₹300 crore for new launches including dairy, taking total investment to over ₹1,000 crore, said Varun Berry Managing Director, Britannia.
- Britannia Industries said it will invest ₹700 crore to open more factories as demand for packaged food, including biscuits, has exceeded production capacity with rural markets outpacing urban sales.
Britannia - FAQs
Is Britannia a FMCG company?
Yes, Britannia is a FMCG company and one of the favourite and oldest brands in India.
How many products are in Britannia?
Britannia's product portfolio includes Biscuits, Bread, Cakes, Rusk, and Dairy products including Cheese, Beverages, Milk and Yoghurt. Its brand portfolio includes Tiger, Marie Gold, Good Day, 50:50, Treat, NutriChoice and Milk Bikis. BIL has a presence in more than 60 countries across the globe.
Which country owns Britannia?
Britannia is an Indian Company with headquarters in Kolkata.
How does Britannia make money?
Britannia company operates in two business segments to make money, namely, bakery products and dairy products.
When was Britannia founded?
Britannia was launched on 16 April 1953.
How many employees are there in Britannia?
There are 4480 employees in Britannia.
Who founded Britannia Biscuit Company?
A British businessman C.H. Holmes founded Britannia Biscuit Company in 1918.
Who is the owner of Britannia company?
Wadia group is owner of Britannia.
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