Britannia Industries Ltd. (BIL) aims to double the contribution from overseas business in five years, managing director Varun Berry said.
“From 7% now, we are planning to increase the contribution from our overseas business to 15% in five years”, Mr. Berry told The Hindu .
Britannia, which turned 100 this year, expanded overseas in 2007 by acquiring units in Dubai and Oman. It is currently implementing a greenfield unit in Nepal at an investment of about ₹55 crore. “We are keen to enter countries in the SAARC and in Africa,” he said, adding that the route could be organic, inorganic or through a joint venture.
Earlier, Mr. Berry told investors on a conference call that BIL was looking at countries in and around India as well as in the ‘Middle East’ and Africa where the company could start operations by 2020. “We will be aggressive.. we are aiming at having manufacturing facilities in one new geography per year,” he said.
Betting on croissants
Mr. Berry was upbeat about BIL’s foray into the croissant segment (through the BritChip Foods venture). “We expect a ₹200 crore contribution within two years of the launch of this product [this year end],” he said adding the firm planned to take the product to rural markets too.
BIL plans to increase the share of non-biscuit products in five years to 50%, from about 20% now, Mr. Berry said. However, this would be done without sacrificing the biscuit business and through a “lot of inorganic growth,” he said.
The company will relaunch some key brands to further strengthen its biscuit portfolio, said Ali Harris Shere, VP marketing.
Besides introducing new formats like Swiss rolls, muffins and multigrain rusk, BIL also plans to strengthen the dairy business by focusing on value-added segments.
