Britannia Industries on Monday said its Executive Vice-Chairman, MD & CEO Varun Berry has resigned. Berry’s notice period has been waived off, the company said. Rakshit Hargave, who was to join Britannia as executive director & CEO effective December 15, will now take over as the CEO and MD. The company named its chief financial officer Natarajan Venkataraman as the interim CEO.
Berry, who led Britannia for 11 years as its MD, will be the third top executive after Vinita Bali and Sunil Alagh to quit the firm after a long stint. Sunil Alagh had left Britannia as its MD & CEO in February 2004 after putting in 30 years at the firm following differences with the promoters. Vinita Bali, who took over from Alagh as the CEO & MD in January 2005, left Britannia in March 2014 after nine years.
Berry had replaced her in April 2014 as the company’s MD after joining a year before in January 2013 as the chief operating officer. He became head of India operations in June 2013 and was inducted into the board as the ED in November 2013.
Over 12 years, Britannia’s net sales and profit saw a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3% and 20.1% under Berry’s leadership, while the firm’s share price grew 27.7% in terms of CAGR.
However, in recent quarters, Britannia has faced stiff competition from local and regional brands and has had to adopt a price-led strategy to protect margins amid inflationary pressures. Berry had said the company would move to an “aggressive topline and volume-led growth” in the second half of FY26.
Talking about Hargave during an analysts’ call on Friday, Berry said: “Rakshit is a great guy. I’ve been interacting with him ever since we hired him. And I think he’s the perfect choice (for the CEO’s position at Britannia). He is going to handle the entire business. And my job will be to help him wherever he needs help. I will not handle the business directly once he takes over.”
It is unclear where Berry is headed to next.
Britannia on Monday said the company will aggressively address regional competitors supported by cost efficiencies, look at profit improvement through growth in topline and market share gains, focus on growth in adjacencies, and expand its international footprint.