Britannia vs ITC: A Tale of Two Titans in the Indian Food Industry

In the fiercely competitive landscape of the Indian food industry, Britannia Industries Ltd and ITC Limited stand out as two formidable titans, each commanding a significant share of the market and vying for consumer attention. While both companies have carved out their own niches and built strong brand identities, a closer examination reveals distinct strategies, strengths, and contributions to the culinary landscape of India.

Britannia Industries Ltd:

Britannia, with its rich legacy spanning over a century, has become synonymous with taste, trust, and tradition in Indian households. The company's extensive product portfolio encompasses a wide range of biscuits, cakes, dairy products, and snacks, catering to diverse tastes and preferences across the country. Britannia's unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and consumer satisfaction has earned it a loyal following and cemented its position as one of India's leading food brands.

Britannia's success can be attributed to its deep-rooted understanding of Indian consumers and their culinary preferences. The company's ability to blend traditional recipes with modern flavors and packaging has resonated with consumers across generations, fostering a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. Britannia's iconic products like Good Day biscuits, Marie Gold ,50-50,MilkBikis , Nice ,Croissant , NutriChoice range, and Treat cakes have become household staples, evoking fond memories and moments of shared joy. Alongwith bakery they are into dairy and croissant business

ITC Limited:

ITC Limited, a diversified conglomerate with interests in various sectors including food, agriculture, and hospitality, has emerged as a dominant player in the Indian food industry. ITC's food division offers a diverse range of products spanning packaged foods, snacks, beverages, and culinary essentials, catering to the evolving tastes and lifestyles of Indian consumers. With a focus on innovation, quality, and sustainability, ITC has established itself as a trusted name in the Indian culinary landscape.

ITC's food division leverages its expertise in agriculture and supply chain management to source high-quality ingredients and produce a wide array of premium food products. From the popular Sunfeast biscuits and Yippee noodles to the innovative Bingo snacks and Fabelle chocolates, ITC's food portfolio reflects its commitment to excellence and consumer satisfaction. The company's emphasis on sustainability and responsible sourcing further underscores its commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

Points of Distinction:

While Britannia and ITC compete in the same market space, each company brings its own unique strengths and strategies to the table. Britannia's heritage and legacy give it a distinct advantage in terms of brand recognition and consumer trust, while ITC's diversification and innovation capabilities enable it to explore new product categories and markets. Britannia's focus on traditional recipes and flavors resonates with consumers seeking familiar tastes and experiences, while ITC's emphasis on premiumization and culinary innovation appeals to those looking for indulgent and gourmet offerings.

Comparison:

BRITANNIA VS  ITC 
Business

Description	Britannia	ITC
Established	1896	1910
Nature of business	Public ltd	Public ltd
Turn Over INR	4015.00 Crore	69480Crore
Market share ( value)	38%	11.0 %
Ads Major methods	Cricket events and players	TVC
New areas of promotion	Health and wellness	Health and wellness

IMPORTANT BRANDS PITCHED AGAINST EACH OTHER

Category	Britannia	ITC	Leader
Cookies	Good Day	Moms Magic	Good Day
Cream	Treat ,Jim Jam	Bounce	Treat
Glucose	Tiger	Sunfeast Glucose	Parle G
Chocolate	Pure Magic	Dark Fantasy	Pure Magic

Britannia To Venture Offshore To Increase Market Share

India’s most favorite Britannia works on devising a magical business tactic to capture the hearts of offshore residents by setting its foot into several countries.

Britannia

Our love for Britannia is indescribable. We all would have, at any point of time in our life, developed an intense crush with each and every product of Britannia starting from ‘Little hearts’ till smiley ‘Milk Bikis’.

Britannia aims to fulfill the requirements of its audience more than they actually expect. Basically it wants to project itself as a food industry rather posing as a bakery industry with a wide range of cheese spread, cubes, milk, skimmed milk, etc.

Consolidating the annual report, it is believed that Britannia acts as a major growth driver in dairy by selling value-added products like cheese, dahi and milk based drinks.

Target nations

Britannia would primarily target the countries that are at the stage of development and is expected that it would contribute around 14-15 per cent of its turnover in the next 4-5 years.

1000 crore plant in Maharashtra

Also the company is planning to expand its portfolio in India by diversifying the range of products and increasing the product price likely. A huge plant will be set up in Maharashtra that would cut off the production cost of products.

The Nepal invasion

Recently it has signed a 10 year technical collaboration with the famous Nebico Pvt. Ltd., a Nepal company and has decided to intrude the taste buds of Nepalese. The investment is worth 55 crores and is planned to increase even more in the upcoming years.

Overseas ventures

Britannia entered the Lankan market in the year 2008, after launching a range of biscuits under the brand name Britannia Lanka. It has finally decided to put an end to its 'unviable' Sri Lankan operations due to its financial loss.

After an adverse economic impact, the West Asia business started to face a severe downfall in UAE, where Britannia has quite sizeable presence.It  has  an unit in Oman  catering   Gulf countries.

Even after facing all these challenges, Britannia came back with a bang with its marketing strategy and made significant brand investments. This thereby strengthened its competitive position in the global arena.

Source: Various  news magazine 

Britannia Brings Biscotti -Cake As Biscuit

Biscotti  from Britannia Industries ltd

Britannia  has launched  cake in biscuit characteristic named  ''Biscotti' , a novel experiment  where consumer  can have flavour of both biscuit and cake , even we can compare it  to rusk flavored as cake .  Britannia  and other  major biscuit manufacturers have realized that  premium products  could lead to better sales and margins , Today consumers are ready to experiment new categories  and products  which might be costlier but with higher delicacy.Its intersting  to see that  biscuit manufacturers are  developing new varities  in biscuit categories  with flavours like  zeera , cheese , fenugreek seeds , oats , raggi , atta  etc .

Britannia Banks On Heaven

Biscuit  Companies  have now   started  putting focus  on premium  biscuits  such as  cream , chocolates ,milk  and  adding  ingredients  like   oats  , honey , almonds , pistachio  etc.

Britannia has launched  Heaven  cookies   with  oats , butter and berries  as  healthy  alternatives for cookies freaks .

 

Parle has  similar cookies  such has"  Milano "  cookies  etc .

'Snackuits' Britannia s answer to healthy snacks

Britannia Industries one of the largest bakery manufacturer  in  India  is trying to increase its share  in snacking business  which has market turnover  of  Rs  7000/ - 10000 /crores . Early entrant to this market have been  Pepsi co with Aviva  and  Parle  Hippo .

Britannia  has launched  new  variants  to its  power brand 50-50  with  flavors  like " Swiss Cheese & Chilly", "Chinese Hot & Sweet" and " Italiano Pizza". These variants are mainly targted  towards indian housewives  for their penchants for snacks . Britannia would offer these baked snacks with healthy tag  of  zero transfat  product. Media and tvc have been planned would be released soon .Snackuits  aptly  reminds consumers for snacks which are baked as biscuits.Other product which  Britannia has launched in this category are  "Time pass"  and  "Nutrichoice" . "Time pass"  poppable  spicy snacks  are  being tested in  different regions .  "Maska - chaska "was instant hit with youth  for its unique flavours which was extension of  brand 50 -50. Snackuits are being marketed in North , East and West  region at present . Price tags for snackuits are being kept  as Rs10/- for 30 gm pack and Rs 20/- for 50gm pack .

Its worth to note that  snacking market  is  being estimated to be 20%   for coming years . Britannia with increasing competition has made moves to diversify into other popular food segments-.Ready- to- eat , dairy  and snacking .

Britannia's " Good Day " Completes 25 years

Britannia  's power  brand  Good day  completes  its  25 years of existence launched in 1986   and is worth more  than  Rs 100 crore brand   rightly placed  as one of the power brand from Britannia .which includes Marie , Milk bikkis, Bourbon , Fifty - Fifty ,  Nutri choice

Good Day  complete 25 years 

Its origin can  be attributed to the  Britannia  R & D which bridged  the  gap  of biscuit and cookies . Good Day  is the major  product  as far as market leaders  from Britannia is concerned . Good Day  biscuits could not be replicated by competitors  like Parle , ITC and now  United Biscuits . Of course  Unibic  has come closer by creating a cookies niche  in biscuit segment successfully .

Rich  in recipe  the  Good Day  has  been popular among masses  with its  bite and taste . In addition Britannia   has used  ingredients like  cashew , pistacchio  and  chocolate  to add spice to it brand .



Good Day  biscuit  has now many variants  such  as   Butter , Cashew , Pista ,Chocochips, Choconuts . Britannia has planned to showcase Good Day  with human touch in its tvc and media campaign .

Britannia Shubkamanayien Gift Pack For Raksha Bandhan

All major biscuit manufacturers  are  making  gift packs  during festive  seasons  . People  have  started  giving cookies, snacks  and cakes  as gift packs  on  major  festivals  thus moving away from conventional sweets and chocolates  gift packs .

Britannia has  launched  a beautiful  gift pack in  triangular shape   with  Bourbon (4nos) biscuits pack and  Little hearts(1nos ) biscuit pack inside for Raksha Bandhan festival  . Colors and  message displayed  on gift  packs  attracts  consumers . Priced at Rs75.0/- for 335.0 g

Parle Products Goes For Expansion Mode To Thwart Competition

 Parle  Products  the leading  biscuit manufacturer  in India  has adopted  a aggressive  expansion plan  to maintain its leadership position in biscuit segment through increasing its production  capacities and distribution channels .

A report

The Rs6,000 crore biscuits major Parle Products, which has pilfered Britannia Industries Ltd’s market share, is looking to maintain its leadership in the branded biscuits segment.
Parle claims to hold a market share of 40% in volume and 32% in value terms in the branded biscuits segment. At present, Britannia has a market share of 28% in volume terms and 32% in value.

Analysts estimate Britannia has lost about 4% volume share in the last three years, whereas Parle has gained the same.
Going forward, the company plans to double its distribution network and increase the number of its manufacturing units.

source
complete story  on -DNA

Britannia Presents Good Day Choco Nut In New Packaging

With  competition eating up  its  market share  Britannia has launched  new products  to take on ITC , Kraft and Mcvities  new launches .Britannia s Good day Choco Nut  puts itself  into  ITC   Dark Fantasy  category 

One  of  Britannia s  old product  Good day  choconut  has been  launched into new avatar .Launched earlier during 2004 -2005 . Basic product features remains the same with  changes done in product packaging .Now Good day Choco nut   dons slick packaging  depicting richness of chocolate and nuts . In addition to wrapper it also provides a enclosed pvc  box  which  supports  the  fragile biscuits  .

Its  a case of  "Old wine in a new bottle "


Britannia  Good Day biscuit review

Vir Sanghvi On His Favorite Cookies

     Vir Sanghvi  India s Ace  political commentator  turns  his attention towards  his  favorite  biscuits and cookies . An article in HT  Brunch . Knows  a lot on  Biscuit market and trade .

Not only has it been a long time since Britannia ruled the waves, it has also been many years since Britannia ruled the Indian biscuit shelves. In my youth, Britannia and biscuits were synonymous. You had the Parle Gluco biscuit of course (apparently the largest-selling biscuit in India in that
era), but the ones that ordinary middle class families like ours chose to buy were Britannia’s versions of such British favourites as Bourbon, Marie, Thin Arrowroot and Nice (pronounced, we were told, like the city in France – not that it mattered as long as we got to eat the layer of sugar on the outside.)

I discovered later that this had to do with Britannia’s original corporate parentage (British companies with such reassuringly dated names as Huntley-Palmer) and the colonial desire to export great British brands to each corner of the empire.

Then, the Brits got taken over by Americans. Such giant conglomerates as RJR Nabisco (maker of the mighty Oreo which is to the US biscuit – sorry, cookie! – market what Coca Cola is to its soft drink sector) were placed firmly in control and the sweet old colonial brands started vanishing. Eventually, it all got very complicated with Nabisco being taken over by Wall Street bankers, Indian Britannia being sold, its new owners fighting with its new French partners etc. etc.

In any case, I am assured now that this avatar of Britannia, part of Nusli Wadia’s empire, has its own Indian identity and is so successful that foreigners try and steal its brands (Tiger biscuits, for instance). Fair enough. But two points are worth making. One: it is not the Britannia I grew up with. (But then, this is not the India I grew up in either so I guess that’s only to be expected.) And two: that the relaxation of food imports means that the shelves at my local grocer’s groan under the weight of so many imported biscuits and cookies from all over the world that the biscuits of my childhood (the great Britannia varieties) end up being relegated to the back of the shop while fancy expensive biscuits with French and German packaging occupy pride of place.

Source

All In Good Taste - Hindustan Times

Britannia Taps Baked Snacks Market With Time Pass

Pic courtesy : afaqs.com

Biscuit major Britannia has ventured into the fairly new baked snacks category, launching a baked wheat snack called Time Pass targeted at the youth. The company claims that the wheat product is free from trans fat, MSG and cholesterol.

The snack is being made available in three flavours - Mindless Masala, Tapori Tomato and Loafer Lemon - at two price points, Rs 5 and Rs 10. Since it is targeted at the youth, the brand has adopted a language that is not pretentious and appeals to the youth. Time Pass aims to participate in the banter of youth and makes 'doing nothing' a legitimate option.


Interestingly, Britannia usually communicates with housewives or children. The youth is a new target group that the company is speaking to in this communication. It has chosen the radio route, which allows interactivity as the youth can easily connect with radio and music.

R Balakrishnan (Balki), chairperson and chief creative officer, Lowe Lintas, who conceptualised the campaign, says, "The attempt with Time Pass was to introduce an exciting offering in Britannia's snacking portfolio of 'delectables' for the youth - a brand that is an anti-thesis to the mindless rat race. It is dismissive, indifferent, irreverent - a way of life."

Britannia isn't the first to launch baked snacks. Companies such as Parle forayed into this market with the Aamir Khan-endorsed Smart Chips, and later, Parle Agro launched its brand of baked snacks, Hippo.Frito Lays  Aliva, ITC  Bingo

Shalini Degan, category director (delight and lifestyle), Britannia Industries, speaking on tackling competition in the category, says, "Baked snacks are a very new and nascent category in the Rs 6200 crore Indian snacking market and will obviously see a slew of launches one after another. However, the leader will be the one that is able to delight consumers with taste and is able to connect and satisfy them using this new technology effectively."

more on
http://www.afaqs.com

Britannia To Increase Rural Retail Visibility Through Marketing Agency

Britannia Industries Ltd  India's Largest  Biscuit Manufacturer  has  turned  their marketing focus  to rural segment of the market . Having  stiff competition in metro s  Britannia  is trying new segments  to improve their  sales . Hitherto  rural  markets  have been mostly  catered by  regional  and local bakeries . Britannia now with Percept Out of Home is trying to increase their rural visibility across retail .

Britannia Industries has appointed Percept Out Of Home to execute the Rural Retail Visibility drive for their new range of cookies “Britannia cookies” across India. The activity has been executed across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and six more North Eastern states. The campaign started in the month of September 2010 and will be rolling on till mid-October 2010.

Percept Out Of Home joined hands with rural retailers and installed tin plates across 22,000 retail outlets including Kirana stores, Bakeries and Tea Stalls. Spot selections were done on the basis of maximum visibility and appeal. Percept Out Of Home was assigned the task to connect with retailers and provide long lasting visibility solutions to the brand Britannia.

Said Mr. Rajesh Amla – Business Head, Rural Vertical, Percept Out Of Home, “Percept Out of Home is focusing into the FMCG sector in a big way in order to expand its presence in the rural markets as a service provider. Britannia Industries has empanelled Percept as one of their agencies to support their various rural and retail initiatives across India, and have ambitious plans in this area. Percept Out of Home’s south regional office located in Bangalore is servicing the account. The ongoing campaigns of Britannia have further demonstrated our ability to deliver creative and innovative solutions across diverse markets.”

Source :www.medianewsline.com

Parle Vs Britannia - Parle Leads The Pack

Article in  TOI

MUMBAI: More consumers seem to be munching on Parle biscuits while sipping on their hot cuppa, which is probably why the company is said to have toppled Britannia Industries' numero uno position to become the largest selling biscuit company in India.

Last year, the Vijay and Sharad Chauhan-controlled Parle Products, which makes the ubiquitous ‘Parle-G' glucose biscuits, had attained volume leadership in the market. Now, with a total turnover of around Rs 4,000 crore coming from biscuits, Parle Products has emerged as the clear market leader, with a difference of almost Rs 1,000 crore. Britannia Industries reported a turnover of Rs 3,400 crore for the financial year 2009-10, with biscuits contributing around Rs 3,000 crore.

The Rs 5,000-crore Parle Products, which also makes confectionery products, draws 80% of its turnover from biscuits. Although Britannia Industries has disputed the fact that Parle has become the market leader, the cookie seems to be crumbling a bit for the Wadia-owned company. Going by the turnover numbers, Parle leads with a margin of Rs 1,000 crore over Britannia.

While the Chauhans did not respond to a TOI query, at least two people familiar with the matter confirmed the development. Parle Products' annual share (moving average total) in biscuits, sources told TOI, stands at around 45% as against Britannia's 38%. Historically, the biscuit pie was made up by one-third of Britannia, one-third of Parle Products and one-third of the balance share where other smaller brands lost or gained share.

In response to an email sent to Vinita Bali, MD, Britannia Industries, a company spokesperson said, "Britannia continues to lead the biscuit market in all categories except glucose, where it lost some share about a year ago and has partly recovered that. However, glucose as a category within the overall biscuit market has declined."

"Britannia has a large and diverse portfolio ranging from health & nutrition (e.g. NutriChoice Digestive, NutriChoice 5 Grain, etc.) on the one hand to delightful & indulgent products on the other (e.g. GoodDay, Treat, Bourbon, etc.), while Parle largely dominates the discounted glucose segment, whose share is declining in the overall biscuit market," the spokesperson said.

Britannia also said that The Nielsen Company, which tracks sales and market share numbers, does not cover all points of sale. "The growth rate it reflects for Britannia is, in fact, lower than the actual growth rate, by 3-4%. Relative position of Britannia and Parle, in terms of annual turnover, has remained constant over the last few years as per annual results declared by both the companies," the spokesperson said. 

Source : Times Of India 

Indian Biscuit Industry  Review 

Britannia Vs Parle – Battle for the market continues

Britannia and parle the two food majors of India in the field of biscuits and bakery products . fighting it out in market for the share of consumers pocket and market dominance .In yester years it was market segments which both have dominated and not much was seen to disturb that arrangement.Parle with its Parle G , Kraxkjack and manaco where as Britannia has Good day , Marie gold , Creams
Britannia dominated the premium segment of biscuits where as parle dominated the mass ,low premium biscuits ,things were pretty predictable but for the
entry of new players have changed that status .Now that ITC and Priya gold are trying to break into their market and have established them selves as important players in biscuit market . These two major biscuit producers has are now forced to innovate products by the consumers to create brands which could be differentiated .
Both are trusted brand are ranked in top brands for biscuit ,both have a long history of brands . The Major difference though is that where Britannia is revenues from bakery products is around 90 % ,share of biscuit sales is around –80% for parle
Recently two categories has seen major ad war are bourbon and salty snacks . Parle has come up with new bourbon under its hide and seek umbrella brand .Pitching against Britannia s popular bourbon which has 70% market share of the bourbon biscuits . Parle upped its TV ads by roping in Hritik roshan . Similarly Parle has re jigged its Krack Jack biscuits to Britannia's 50- 50 eating up its market share . Krack Jacks with new packaging and TV ads of Krack and Jack promoting the brands . It would be interesting to see what impacts these would have on the sales of these two biscuits .
PARLE VS BRITANNIA
Business

Description	Britannia	Parle
Established	1896	1929
Nature of business	Public ltd	Family run business
No of manufacturing units	5 own ,40CMU	8 own units ,60 CMU
Market share ( value)	32.80%	32.94%
Ads Major methods	Cricket events and players	Celebrities endorse ment
New areas of promotion	Environment	Health and wellness

IMPORTANT BRANDS PITCHED AGAINST EACH OTHER

Category	Britannia	Parle	Leader
Glucose	Tiger	Parle -G	Parle-G
Marie	Marie Gold	Parle Marie	Marie Gold
Salty snacks	50-50	Krack Jack	Krack Jack
Choco chips	Good day	Hide n seek	Good day
Milk	Milk bikis	Milk sakhti	Milk bikis
Bourbon	Bourbon	Hide n Seek	Bourbon
Nice	Nice	------	Britannia Nice
Multi grain	Nutri choice	-----	Nutri choice
Cream	Cream Treat	Kreams	Cream treats
Cookie	Good day	20-20	Good day

So the battle for market share continues and advantage is for consumers who will get better product from both these biscuit majors .

Ads   Learn to bake delicious  cakes and pastries 

 

Ads  Keto Diet 

Britannias marketing strategies

Britannia being the largest manufacturer in bakery segment has developed a very aggressive marketing strategies for its product in view of tough competition from reputed brands and local products .Britannia in recent years has seen low growth in its market share .

Its has first of all categorised its product into 5-6 Power brands ( GOOD DAY , TIGER , FIFTY-FIFTY , CREAM TREATS , MARIE , MILKBIKIS ) and reduced the numerous sku''s it had in its inventory .Each brand has brand manager responsible for the business.

Diversified into dairy , wafers and snacking products through merger and acquisitions . these has given it some breakthrough from its stagnating market share of bakery products.

Now new focus has been for its categories of wellness and indulgence .Wellness concepts has been introduced for health conscious masses as this lobby becomes more vocal and with fear that the bakery products are not considered as nutritious products hence there are several launches as iron/vitamins/calcium fortified and low or zero fat biscuits .Few Brands would come with some form of fortification such as Nutrichoice , Marie , Tiger with few changes in pack sizes and prices .