{"id":2705,"date":"2020-12-04T09:23:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T09:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/doerlife.com\/?p=2705"},"modified":"2020-12-04T10:09:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T10:09:22","slug":"a-brief-history-of-britannia-the-indian-biscuit-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebglory.com\/doerlife.com\/a-brief-history-of-britannia-the-indian-biscuit-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brief History of Britannia – The Indian Biscuit Giant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

How it all began<\/strong><\/h5>\n

If the British introduced us to a cuppa tea<\/em>, biscuits were not too far behind. Here, is the brief history of Britannia from 1892 to 2020. What began as a small nameless biscuit making unit set up in 1892 in Calcutta with an investment of rupees 295, changed hands in 1897. Then on March 21, 1918, an Englishman C.H. Holmes partnered with the owners Gupta brothers to incorporate the unit and Britannia Biscuit Company Ltd (BBCo) was formed. Besides the British, the locals too began to develop a taste for biscuits which resulted in its demand to slowly grow. Encouraged by this growth<\/a>, in 1921, the partners imported industrial gas ovens and even added a new factory at Kasara Pier Road, Bombay in 1924. But the real large scale operations happened during the World War II (1939-1945), when the government of British India needed a continuous supply of biscuits for its soldiers. Since then to date, Britannia Industries Limited (BIL) continues to supply customized biscuits to fulfill specific nutrient requirements in war zones and during emergencies working closely with the United Nations World Food Programme.<\/p>\n

\"Britannia<\/p>\n

Image source: www.businessinsider.com<\/p>\n

Changing hands<\/strong><\/p>\n

Partnership, ownership, and shareholding also changed. From Gupta Brothers and CH Holmes Limited, to Peek Freans,\u00a0and later ABIL, Britannia the biscuit company was going through constant change. Only in 1978, with a public issue, the company firmly established itself as Indian, with a shareholding of over 60%. In 1979, the company changed its name from Britannia Biscuit Co Ltd to Britannia Industries Ltd (BIL).<\/p>\n

In 1983, BIL sales crossed INR 100 crores.<\/p>\n

But, the saga was far from over. Rajan Pillai, the \u2018Biscuit Raja\u2019 was at the helm in the 80s. \u00a0Accusations were surfacing of him defrauding Britannia. The twists and turns and Pillai-Wadia bitter boardroom struggles came to the fore. It all changed in 1993, when Nusli Wadia of the well-known Bombay Dyeing Wadia Group acquired a stake in Associated Biscuits International (ABIL) and became an equal partner along with the Danone Group in Britannia Industries Limited. Rajan fled to Singapore and was later taken into police custody in Tihar jail where he passed away in 1995.<\/p>\n

\"Britannia
Image credits: Amazon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The turn of the century<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the year 1997 with BIL entering into the dairy products market, a new corporate identity was being established. The mission was ‘Eat Healthy Think Better’ and ‘Make every third Indian a Britannia consumer’. Under Nusli Wadia\u2019s leadership, the company was preparing for a new century with new rules.<\/p>\n