Britannia Industries Limited is an Indian company specialised in

food industry The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, ...

, part of the

Wadia Group Wadia Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. It was founded by Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia in 1736 and is the oldest company in India, with its subsidiary The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, establis ...

headed by Nusli Wadia. Founded in 1892 and headquartered in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, it is one of India's oldest existing companies and best known for its biscuit products. The company sells its ''Britannia'' and ''Tiger'' brands of

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be s ...

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

s and

dairy product Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items i ...

s throughout India and abroad. Beginning with the circumstances of its takeover by the Wadia Group in the early 1990s, the company has been mired in several controversies connected to its management. However, it still has a large market share and it is profitable.

History

The company was established in 1892 by a group of British businessmen with an investment of 295.Company Overview
Britannia Industries Initially, biscuits were manufactured in a small house in central Kolkata. Later, the enterprise was acquired by the Gupta brothers, mainly Nalin Chandra Gupta, an attorney, and operated under the name "V.S. Brothers." In 1918, C.H. Holmes, an English businessman based in Kolkata, was taken on as a partner and The Britannia Biscuit Company Limited (BBCo) was launched. The Mumbai factory was set up in 1924 and

Peek Freans Peek Freans is the name of a former biscuit making company based in Bermondsey, London, which is now a global brand of biscuits and related confectionery owned by various food businesses. Owned but not marketed in the UK, Europe and USA by De B ...

UK acquired a controlling interest in BBCo. Biscuits were in high demand during World War II, which gave a boost to the company's sales. The company name was changed to the current "Britannia Industries Limited" in 1979. In 1982, the American company Nabisco Brands, Inc. acquired the parent of

and became a major foreign shareholder. In September 2022, Varun Berry was named as the Executive VC and MD of Britannia. The company also announced the appointment of Rajneet Kohli as its executive director and chief executive officer. The market capitalization of Britannia Industries Limited as in December 2022 stood at Rs. 1,08,992.90 crore.

Businesses

The company's principal activity is the manufacture and sale of biscuits, bread,

rusk A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...

, cakes and

dairy products Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in ...

Biscuits

The company's factories have an annual capacity of 433,000 tonnes. The brand names of Britannia's biscuits include '' VitaMarieGold'', ''Tiger'', ''Nutrichoice'', ''Good Day'', ''50 50'', ''Treat'', ''Pure Magic'', ''Milk Bikis'', ''Bourbon'', ''

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

'' ''Time'', ''Little Hearts'' and ''Toastea'' among others. In 2006, ''Tiger'', the mass market brand, realised $150.75 million in sales, including exports to the U.S. and Australia. This amounts to 20% of Britannia's revenue for that year. Britannia Industries has roped in Bollywood actor Salman Khan to endorse its range of 'Tiger' brand of biscuits. According to Britannia, Khan will play a role in further enhancing Tiger's core values through his association in presenting the brand, its products and promotional activities.

Dairy products

Dairy products contribute close to 10% to Britannia's revenue.Abhrajit Gangopadhyay
"Danone move may hit Britannia's dairy plans"
''Hindu Business Line'', 7 January 2002 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. Its main competitors are Nestlé India, the

National Dairy Development Board The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is a statutory body set up by an Act of the Parliament of India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying of the Government of India. The main office is in Ana ...

(NDDB), and

Amul Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) is an Indian dairy state government cooperative society, based in Anand, Gujarat. Formed in 1946, it is a cooperative brand managed by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is ...

(GCMMF).Aarati Krishnan
"Britannia Industries: Pare exposures"
''Hindu Business Line'', 3 February 2002 Britannia holds an equity stake in Dynamix Dairy and outsources the bulk of its dairy products from its associate. On 27 October 2001, Britannia announced a joint venture with Fonterra Co-operative Group of New Zealand, an integrated dairy company which handles all aspects of the value chain from procurement of milk to making value-added products such as cheese and buttermilk. Britannia intends to source most of the products from New Zealand, which they would market in India. The joint venture will allow technology transfer to Britannia. Britannia and New Zealand Dairy each hold 49% of the JV, and the remaining 2 percent will be held by a strategic investor. Britannia has also tentatively announced that its dairy business (probably including Dynamix) would be transferred to the joint venture. However, the authorities' approval to the joint venture obliged the company to start manufacturing facilities of its own. It would not be allowed to trade, except at the wholesale level, thus pitching it in competition with Danone, which had recently established its own dairy business.

Performance and profitability

Between 1998 and 2001, the company's sales grew at a compound annual rate of 16% against the market, and operating profits reached 18%. More recently, 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%.Ruchita Saxen
"Battle-scarred Britannia on expansion spree"
''

Business Standard ''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busin ...

'', 6 October 2007 Britannia acquires a controlling stake in Kenya's Kenafric Biscuits.

Disputes and controversies

Wadia and Rajan Pillai

Kerala businessman Rajan Pillai secured control of the group in the late 1980s, becoming known in India as the 'Biscuit Raja'. In 1993, the

acquired a stake in Associated Biscuits International (ABIL), and became an equal partner with

Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches o ...

in Britannia Industries Limited. In what ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bu ...

'' referred to as one of ndia'smost 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 Tihar Prisons, also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram, is a prison complex in India and the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, Government of Delhi, the prison contains nine central prisons, and is on ...

Wadia and Danone

The Wadias' Kalabakan Investments and Group Danone had two equal joint venture companies, Wadia BSN and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

registered Associated Biscuits International Holdings Ltd., which together held a 51 percent stake in Britannia.Dev Chatterjee
"Danone takes arbitration route to end Wadia ties"
''

'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2012. The ABIH tranche was acquired in 1992, while the controlling stake held by Wadia BSN was acquired in 1995. It was agreed that, in case of a deadlock between the partners, Danone was obliged to buy the Wadia BSN stake at a "

fair market value The fair market value of property is the price at which it would change hands between a willing and informed buyer and seller. The term is used throughout the Internal Revenue Code, as well as in bankruptcy laws, in many state laws, and by sever ...

". ABIH had a separate agreement signed in 1992 and was subject to British law. Wadia was to be Danone's partner in the food and dairy business, and product launches from Groupe Danone's were expected but never materialised despite the JV being in existence for over 11 years in India. Under the 1995 joint venture agreement, Danone is prohibited from launching food brands within India without the consent of the Wadias. In addition, the partners agreed there would be the right of first refusal to buy out the remaining partner in the event of the other wishing to sell its holding. In June 2006, Wadia claimed Danone had used the Tiger brand to launch biscuits in Bangalore. In May 2007, Nusli Wadia told the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that Danone invested in a Bangalore-based bio nutrition company, Avesthagen, in October 2006 in violation of the government's Press Note 1, 2005, which requires a foreign company to obtain the consent of its Indian joint venture partner before pursuing an independent business in a similar area, including joint ventures based purely on technical collaboration. Danone argued that Press Note 1 did not apply to it as it did not have a formal technology transfer or trademark agreement with Avesthagen, and that its 25% holding in Britannia was indirect. Wadia also filed a case in the Bombay High Court for a breach of a non-competition clause in that connection. The court ordered Danone not to alienate, encumber or sell shares of Avesthagen. In September 2007, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India rejected Danone's claims that it did not need a non-compete waiver from the Wadias to enter into business in India alone. After a prolonged legal battle, Danone agreed to sell its 25.48% stake in Britannia to Leila Lands, which is a Wadia group entity based in Mauritius, and quit this line of business. The deal was valued at $175–200 million. With this buy-out, Wadia holds a majority stake of 50.96%.

Intellectual property dispute

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 without its consent. Britannia claimed the company found out that Danone had launched the Tiger brand in Indonesia in 1998, and later in Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and Egypt, when it attempted to register the Tiger trademark in some of these countries in 2004. 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 second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...

, the Tiger brand of biscuits in Malaysia was renamed Kraft Tiger Biscuits in September 2008. Britannia initiated legal action against Danone in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

in September 2007. The dispute was resolved in 2009 with

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Grea ...

securing rights to the Tiger brand worldwide, and Danone paying ₹220 million to utilise the brand."Britannia surges on Danone dispute settlement"
''Economics Times'', 1 September 2009

Sponsorship

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federa ...

2018–present

References

External links

* {{S&P CNX Nifty companies Food and drink companies of India Groupe Danone brands Companies based in Kolkata Food and drink companies established in 1892 Indian brands Indian companies established in 1892 NIFTY 50 Wadia Group Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Indian companies established in 1918