Rakshit Hargave will serve as successor after Berry’s early exit, sending shares lower in Tuesday trade
Britannia Industries declared the exit of Varun Berry, who has stepped down as vice-chairman, managing director and chief executive officer after more than a decade in senior leadership roles. His resignation was disclosed through a stock-exchange filing on Monday.
In an email to Chairman Nusli Wadia, Berry wrote, “I would like to tender my resignation from the position of CEO and managing director of Britannia Industries. I will serve my notice period as per the contract…”.
According to the filing, the board and the Nomination & Remuneration Committee accepted his resignation at meetings held on November 10 and also decided to waive his notice period.
The company has already lined up a succession plan. Rakshit Hargave was named CEO last week, and he will additionally assume the role of managing director from 15 December. Until he comes on board, N Venkataraman, executive director and chief financial officer, will serve as interim CEO.
Hargave previously headed Birla Opus, the Aditya Birla group’s paints business.
In the mail note addressed to the chairman, Berry further added that “Thank you very much for your support for the past 13 years … I will be available as and when you want, beyond my departure from the company to guide Rakshit in whichever (way) you may want. I hope Britannia goes from strength to strength in the coming years.”
Berry has also exited his role as a non-executive, non-independent director at Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company.
Berry began his career with Hindustan Unilever in 1986, later joining PepsiCo India in 1993. He went on to lead PepsiCo Foods India as CEO in 2010. He moved to Britannia in 2013 as COO, became executive director for India operations, and took charge as managing director from April 2014.
Shares of India’s Britannia Industries slid close to 6 per cent in early Tuesday trading due to Berry’s resignation before his tenure ended.
Under his leadership, Britannia reshaped itself from a primarily biscuit-focused company into a broader food enterprise, adding categories such as dairy and other adjacent segments. Revenue rose 1.28 times to Rs 17,943 crore in FY25, while profit before interest, depreciation and tax improved from 9.7 per cent in FY14 to 18.8 per cent in FY25, peaking at 21.5 per cent during this period. The company’s market capitalisation touched nearly Rs 1.48 trillion on Monday, a sharp jump from Rs 10,116 crore in March 2013.
Britannia also said its board has identified key growth drivers to evolve into a global total foods company. These include boosting innovation and diversification, countering regional rivals through cost efficiencies, expanding profit margins via revenue and market-share gains, scaling adjacent businesses, and growing its international presence.
