Brand: Britannia:
What is Britannia: Britannia is India’s leading biscuit manufacturer with an estimated 38% market share.
Brands: Tiger, Marie Gold, Nutri Choice, Time Pass, Milk Bikis, 50-50, Good day, Bourbon, Treat.
History: Britannia was founded in 1892 with an investment of Rs. 295. Initially biscuits were manufactured in a small house in central Kolkata. Later, the business was acquired by the Gupta brothers and operated under the name of V.S. Brothers.
In 1918, C H Holmes, an English businessman in Kolkata was taken as a partner and ‘The Britannia Biscuit Company Limited (BBCo)’ was launched. The Mumbai factory was setup in 1924 and Peak Freans, UK acquired a controlling interest in BBCo.
Corporate History: Kerala businessman K. Rajan Pillai secured control of the group in the late 1980s, becoming known in India as the ‘Biscuit King’. In 1993, the Wadia Group acquired a stake in ABIL, UK and became an equal partner with Groupe Danone in Britannia Industries Limited.
Trivia:
- In 1921 it Britannia becomes the first company east of the Suez to use gas ovens.
- The company name was changed to the current Britannia Industries Limited in 1979.
- In 1989, it moved it corporate HQ to Bangalore.
- In 1997 BIL adopted a new corporate identity ‘Eat Healthy, Think Better’ and a new mission: ‘Make every third Indian a Britannia consumer’.
- In 2009, Britannia takes full control of Daily Bread; buys out New Zealand’s Fonterra from existing dairy joint venture— Britannia New Zealand Foods (BNZF)
- The Wadia Group acquired stake holdings from Group Danone and becomes the single largest shareholder in BIL.
