BRITANNIA IS LOOKING AT THE FUTURE OF FOOD: VARUN BERRY

Since inception, Britannia has changed hands several times. Amid the challenges that come with changes in ownership, the brand remains steadfast in its focus on consumer preferences and is currently a leading FMCG brand in India. Varun Berry, managing director and vice chairman of Britannia, talks to Suchetana Ray and Rajat Mishra about the company's thrust areas, strategies and plans to add more food categories to its portfolio in the coming years

- Suchetana Ray and Rajat Mishra

Britannia has changed hands many times, what has made the brand recall persistent? 

I think Britannia as a brand is rock solid. And I think what builds the centennial companies is their robust business model and strong brand. Without these two, it is almost impossible for a company to sustain for such a long time. The interesting thing about Britannia is that it has changed many hands and remained a fairly robust business. Another interesting thing is that about 10 years back, our market cap was only Rs 3,500 crore, but now it has gone to Rs 1,25,000 crore. So, the journey has had many phases, but for this kind of companies, which have been in existence for a long time, something clicks at some stage, and then they become mega companies.

But hats off to the people who built Britannia and nurtured this company and gave us solid brands. Bourbon, Jim Jam, Marie Gold … all of these are very old brands that resonate with consumers even today. I think it is a great testimony to the people who built this company.

What is it that you think came together for Britannia?

The most important thing for me is that the business has to move at full steam in all directions. Internally, in Britannia, we call it the “golden triangle” which is, growing the top line in double digits, growing the bottom line faster than the top line and also growing the market share. I think that the golden triangle came together about 10 years ago, I am sure in the history of 115 years that we have, there must have been other instances of the golden triangle coming through. But at least in the last 25 to 30 years, we did not have all three coming together at the same time.