Challenges ahead for Varun Berry

He is expected to chart out an aggressive growth plan for Britannia as it seeks avenues to expand top line

This is not the first time a challenge has been thrown at 50-year-old Varun Berry, chief operating officer, Britannia Industries. He takes charge of the Rs 6,200-crore company at a time when it has managed to effect a turnaround after struggling for a number of quarters on account of high food inflation, lower discretionary spends and increased competition from local and foreign packaged food and beverage majors.

The challenge for Berry, say analysts, would be to keep the momentum going after a stellar performance in the March quarter. The company posted a 66 per cent growth in net profit and a 70 per cent growth in operating profit — way ahead of street estimates — though net sales grew 13.5 per cent.

Berry is expected to chart out an aggressive growth plan for Britannia as it seeks avenues to expand top line — something predecessor Vinita Bali, now in charge of international operations, also did, with quick and aggressive launches into the breakfast space, snacks, milk beverages, etc, even as the company attempted to trade up consumers in its core biscuit portfolio with creams, cookies, etc. Berry, with 27 years behind him in companies such as Hindustan Lever and PepsiCo, is expected to dip into his vast experience to come up with out-of-box solutions to increase turnover, as Britannia looks to stay ahead of the curve. While packaged food companies are the ones who experiment the most with innovative products and flavour profiles, finding the one that suits the palate of the Indian consumer would be Berry's biggest test at Britannia.

While Britannia was among the first to quickly identify the growth potential that premium biscuit offerings presented - the strategy has now been replicated by almost everybody in the Rs 13,000-crore biscuit market making it difficult, say experts, for Britannia to differentiate itself from its rivals.  

Berry, with 27 years behind him in companies such as Hindustan-Lever and PepsiCo, is expected to dip into his vast experience to come up with out-of-box solutions to increase turnover as Britannia looks to stay ahead of the curve. While packaged food companies are the ones who experiment the most with innovative products and flavour profiles, finding the one that suits the palate of the Indian consumer will be Berry's biggest test at Britannia.