ITC Overtakes Britannia, Ends Reign of the Cookie King for Second-Biggest Packaged Foods Company in India

ITC has surpassed Britannia to become India's second-largest packaged foods company by sales, trailing only Nestle. With consolidated sales of Rs 17,194.5 crore in FY24, ITC's 9% growth outpaced Britannia's 2.9%, driven by strategic product launches and expansion.

ITC Ltd now is the country's second-biggest listed packaged foods company, touching out Britannia Industries on sales, as per the latest set of quarterly financial reports of both companies. In that sector, ITC now stays behind only Nestle.

Its latest annual report stated that consolidated sales of the foods business stood at Rs 17,194.5 crore for the year ended March 31, 2024. This includes domestic sales and exports, reflecting the momentum of ITC food brands like Aashirvaad atta, Bingo potato chips, and Sunfeast biscuits.

In contrast, Britannia had consolidated sales of Rs 16,769.2 crore, while its total income was at Rs 16,983.4 crore, including other revenues outside of the core foods segment. Nestle India remains the market leader in the segment with total sales of Rs 24,275.5 crore for FY24, though it was for 15 months as the company had changed its financial reporting cycle.

ITC's food business has grown 9% in FY24 over the year-ago period, nearly three times that of Britannia, which rose 2.9%. The strong performance was due to a price hike of 7-8% in atta and more robust growth in other categories like biscuits and salty snacks; each of these grew 10% over FY23.

Sources close to the industry admit that ITC's strategy has been to continuously expand its portfolio of premium brands and introduce over 100 new products each year. This aggressive strategy has given a fillip to ITC's sales growth.

Earlier reports from NielsenIQ have suggested that ITC is increasingly gaining the lead in the domestic packaged foods market ahead of rivals Britannia and Parle Products in the nine months up to September 2023. This continued into FY24 as ITC's FMCG segment posted gross sales of Rs 20,966 crore, an increase of 9.6% yearly. 

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There is a tectonic shift in market dynamics, impacting rivalry and choice for consumers, with the second position by ITC in the packaged foods industry in India.