OUR AIM IS TO BECOME A TOTAL FOODS FIRM: VARUN BERRY

Encouraged by the strong results for the March quarter and the annual financial results for 2014-15, Britannia Industries has an aggressive plan to expand its product offerings and sales network. VARUN BERRY, managing director, Britannia Industries, talks

For the second quarter in a row, Britannia has managed revenue in excess of ~2,000 crore. How?

The fourth quarter has been pretty good, as our consolidated revenue grew 14.3 per cent (over a year before) to ~2,032 crore, mainly due to the continued growth momentum. The operating margin expanded 200 basis points on an equalised basis for the year, despite no pick-up in the market. We have grown in double digits, even as the market remained in single digits.

The agenda we had set for ourselves has resulted in better numbers. This quarter, we could reach out to a million outlets directly as compared to 730,000 previously, and a total of 3.5 million outlets. Overall, our distribution agenda moved in the right direction. Our brands are stronger and we had a lot of action in the quarter. We were visible in the Filmfare awards and cricket tournaments, and had some brand launches. This was supported very ably by our supply chain. The market is still in single digit growth, while we have grown in double digits. All the activities we have run in sales and marketing helped us gain some traction and some share.

Any strategy to improve sales of value brands?

We are not going to do much hand-holding. There is a lot of discount sales and promotion and we are cutting back on the discounts. We are certainly going to look at improving our value portfolio and on how to distribute deeper into rural areas and outlets not available currently. That, hopefully, will give us traction in the long run.

How many more outlets are you targeting?

We are going to look at a 25 per cent rise in direct sales channels in FY16, mainly in rural markets.

Strategy for the first quarter of this financial year?

I can’t disclose plans now. The overall agenda is clear. We want to strengthen our brands and distribution and make these ever-efficient from an operation standpoint. We want to make sure we get costsavings and have the right people with the right passion for sales. In the long term, our aim is to become a

total foods company.