TOUGH COOKIE

Britannia’s Biscuits-heavy portfolio ensured record growth in the lockdown phase and after, even as it stays the course to Becoming a total foods company

- RAJIV SINGH

Varun Berry came up with a cracker of an idea. After being dunked into a strict 21-day lockdown in the third week of March, and subsequent extensions till end-May, for the foods company that derives roughly 95 percent of its sales from biscuits, bakery and dairy—essential items of consumption—the road ahead was clear: A quick restart. By mid-April, Britannia was utilising 65 percent of its capacity, and Berry, its managing director (MD), had a plan: To follow “the 80:20 rule”.

The rule was simple: Twenty percent of the brands and SKUs (stock-keeping units), which contribute to 80 percent of Britannia’s revenue, were put on priority list. For the biggest premium biscuit maker, it was not tough to make the shortlist: Good Day and cream variants, Milk Bikis, Marie Gold, and Nutrichoice. “These are all high throughput varieties,” underlines Berry. The 80:20 formula gave the biscuit maker an instant advantage on four fronts: It streamlined productivity; gave more flexibility in manufacturing capacities; resulted in ensuring efficiencies in factories and distance travelled by the products; and brought laser-sharp focus in execution.