Rakshit Hargave walked into Britannia Industries today for his first official day as CEO & Managing Director, sharing a short message that captured both excitement and responsibility: “The first day was amazing; meeting the people and look forward to work together as we build a total foods global company.”
That brief reflection marks an important shift for one of India’s most iconic FMCG companies. While his appointment was announced earlier in November, today’s message signals the start of a leadership transition that could shape Britannia’s next decade.
Hargave’s arrival comes at a time of senior-level transitions at Britannia, following the long leadership run of Varun Berry. The company has been operating in a highly competitive environment, where input-cost volatility, distribution expansion and faster innovation cycles continue to challenge even the strongest FMCG players. Britannia enters this phase with a market cap of Rs. 1,45,441 crore (up 24.5% over the past year), Rs. 18,488 crore in revenue and Rs. 2,317 crore in profit — momentum largely powered by its flagship biscuit brands Good Day, Marie Gold, and Milk Bikis, alongside a steady push into dairy, cakes, rusks, and wider snacking categories.
Rakshit Hargave brings more than 30 years of consumer-sector experience and is known for building businesses in high-growth, operationally demanding categories. His last role as CEO of Birla Opus had him setting up a national paints business from scratch — factory projects, supply-chain networks and go-to-market operations. Before that, he held leadership positions across global and Indian companies, including Beiersdorf (NIVEA), HUL, Jubilant FoodWorks, Kimberly-Clark, and Tata Motors. His experience cuts across sales, marketing, brand building, and large-scale execution — areas that align closely with Britannia’s next phase.
Inside Britannia, innovations such as premium biscuits, healthier snacking formats, dairy expansion, and rural penetration have been essential drivers over recent years. The company has also been sharpening efficiencies in procurement and distribution while managing inflation-led volatility in wheat, sugar, and milk prices. Analysts point out that the next phase for Britannia will require balancing price sensitivity with product innovation — something Hargave has managed well in previous roles where he handled both legacy brands and new-market building.
What makes his appointment interesting is the moment he joins: a 133-year-old company with household brand recall stepping deeper into adjacent food categories, exploring global opportunities, and facing competition from both multinational and emerging homegrown players. His post today described Britannia as a “total foods global company,” echoing the company’s broader ambitions to move beyond biscuits and baked goods while scaling its presence in international markets.
Hargave is also known for putting strong emphasis on talent and culture — traits visible in his choice to describe his Day 1 around people rather than products. In several past roles, he has been credited with building young leadership pipelines and setting up organisational structures that support fast execution. For Britannia, which runs one of the country’s widest FMCG distribution networks, leadership alignment across factories, supply chains, sales teams, and innovation hubs will be key.
There is also a symbolic element to this leadership change. Britannia, founded in 1892, has seen only a handful of CEOs in its modern era. Each shift marks the start of a distinct operational cycle. Hargave steps in at a time when Indian snacking habits are evolving, premium categories are expanding, and global ambitions are becoming central to strategy for most large FMCG companies.
His first-day post may have been brief, but it sets the tone: grounded, people-first, and forward-looking — traits that could define how Britannia writes its next chapter in India and beyond.
