Varun Berry resigns as Britannia MD and CEO; Rakshit Hargave to take over from 15 Dec

Britannia Industries Vice-Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Varun Berry has resigned, and the company’s board has accepted his resignation, waiving his notice period. His exit will be effective at the close of business hours on November 10, 2025, the company said. Berry has been the MD of Britannia for more than a decade, and before that, he was the CEO of PepsiCo Foods India.

Britannia has appointed Rakshit Hargave as its new Managing Director and CEO, effective December 15, 2025. Until he takes charge, N. Venkataraman, currently Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, will serve as interim CEO.

About Rakshit Hargave

Hargave previously served as CEO of Birla Opus, the paints business of Grasim Industries (Aditya Birla Group), where he played a key role in building and scaling its decorative paints operations. He helped develop a high-performing team, set up six integrated manufacturing units, and expanded distribution and supply networks across India.

He has also held leadership roles across top consumer and automotive companies, including Beiersdorf (NIVEA), Hindustan Unilever, Jubilant Foodworks, Nestlé India, and Tata Motors.

Hargave holds an MBA from FMS Delhi and an Electrical Engineering degree from IIT (BHU) Varanasi.

About N. Venkataraman

Venkataraman, 61, is a Commerce graduate and a qualified Cost Accountant. He has been with Britannia since April 2007 and heads Finance, Commercial, Legal, Secretarial and Business Strategy functions. He is also responsible for driving cost-efficiency initiatives.

Before joining Britannia, he led finance functions across two-wheeler and commercial vehicle businesses at Eicher Motors.

Leadership shift and strategic direction

The leadership transition aligns with Britannia’s ambition to evolve into a global total foods company, bolstered by cost efficiencies, top-line growth, market share expansion, product innovation, diversification and a stronger international footprint.

Last week, Britannia Industries announced its second-quarter earnings for FY26, reporting a 23% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 655 crore, compared with Rs 532 crore in the same quarter last year.

Consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,840 crore, up from Rs 4,667 crore in Q2 FY25.

Berry had attributed the growth to GST rate rationalisation announced by the Centre in late August and implemented from September 22. He noted that while transitional challenges related to supply chain, trade and distribution channels impacted performance toward the end of the quarter, the situation is expected to normalise progressively in the coming quarter.