How it started
History
The company was established in 1892 by a group of British businessmen with an initial investment of ₹295. 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 was 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 acquired a controlling interest in BBCo. During World War II, the government of British India needed a continuous supply of biscuits for British soldiers. The Britannia Biscuit Company supplied biscuits to British Army for several years, at times devoting up to 95% of its production capacity to meet the needs of the armed forces. 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 acquired the parent of Peek Freans and became a major foreign shareholder. In 1978, Britannia came out with its public issue, and its Indian shareholding had increased to 62%, which firmly established Britannia as an Indian company. The 38% foreign stake was owned by the UK-based Associated Biscuits International Limited (ABIL).
In 1993, textile tycoon Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing took control of the company from Britannia's then-chairman Rajan Pillai, with the help of French food giant Danone. In 2009, the Wadia Group became the largest shareholder in BIL after acquiring a 25% stake owned by Group Danone.
In December 2018, it launched a new category, Treat Crème Wafers.
Britannia acquired a controlling stake in Kenya's Kenafric Biscuits in October 2022. In September 2022, Varun Berry was appointed as Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Britannia Industries Limited, and Ranjeet Kohli was also appointed Executive Director and CEO.
In December 2022, Britannia Industries entered into a joint venture agreement with Bel SA of France and Britannia Dairy Private Limited (BDPL) to develop, manufacture and sell cheese products in India and other markets. Under the joint venture, Bel SA acquired a 49% stake in BDPL, a subsidiary of Britannia Industries, for ₹262 crore and infused an additional ₹215 crore in the joint venture.
From Wikipedia’s article on Britannia Industries, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2