Complete SWOT Analysis of Britannia – Detailed Company Overview

Previously we looked into the SWOT Analysis of Nestle, a global food and beverage firm. In the article, we will analyse the SWOT Analysis of Britannia. 

Britannia Industries Limited is a food-related corporation based in India. It is one of India’s oldest firms, and it is best known for its biscuits, which it distributes both in India and overseas.

With its market position, Britannia’s marketing efforts have paid off. Marketing evolves over time in response to changing societal preferences. Attend our Free MasterClass on Digital Marketing, taught by IIDE’s Founder and CEO, Karan Shah, if you want to stay current with today’s effective marketing. 

Before we could start the SWOT Analysis of Britannia, let’s explore the company, its products, financial status and its competitors. 

 

About Britannia

                       

Britannia Industries Limited is an Indian food & beverage company that is part of the WADIA Group directed by NUSLI WADIA. It is one of India’s oldest existing companies and is popular for its biscuit products. It is spread throughout India and in more than 60 countries across the world. These brand products are available in close to 5 million retail outlets across the country and also reaches over 50% of Indian houses. 

At the outset, biscuits were manufactured in a small house in central Kolkata. Passed on the way, the enterprise was obtained  by the Gupta brothers, mainly Nalin Chandra Gupta, an attorney, and worked under the name “V.S. Brothers.” Biscuits were in significant demand during World War II, which gave a push to the company’s sales. The company name was changed to the latest “Britannia Industries Limited” in 1979.

 

 

Products of Britannia

• Biscuits 
• Bread
• Cake 
• Rusk 
• Dairy products like cheese, butter, ghee, etc.

 

 Competitors of Britannia

• TATA consumer products 
• Parle
• Amul
• Nestle 
• Mother dairy 

 

Now that we have a brief idea about the company, let’s probe into the SWOT Analysis of Britannia. 

 

SWOT Analysis of Britannia

 

Britannia is India’s most popular food product brand spread across a larger portion of the country. We shall do a thorough SWOT Analysis of Britannia to gain insight into the company’s performance. Now let us begin by exploring the strengths of Britannia : 

 

1. Strengths of Britannia 

An organization’s capabilities of acquiring more market share, getting more and more customers, and maximizing profits are noted as its strengths. Following are Britannia’s strengths:

 

• Brand portfolio: Britannia is the only company in India that offers bakery products for all income groups which helps them to acquire larger sectors of consumers. Britannia covers up to 30% of the market share in the biscuit production of India.
• Excessive brand recall: As the brand deals with a variety of products like biscuits, dairy products, cakes rusk etc they have high shelf visibility. Also due to aggressive marketing and advertising, resulted in the brand establishment.
• Benefiting Indian markets for the last 120 years: it is one of the most trusted brands in India. An intrepid baker made a bunch of yummy golden brown biscuits123 years ago in Calcutta. These biscuits were specially baked for officers of the British Raj who were used to the standard of English tea time snacking. over a few decades, this company served a large range of Indian houses with biscuits, dairy products etc. and also some nutritious food. Today it is one of the leading companies in India with3.5 million retail outlets 
• Penetration into the market and distribution: The company has large market network coverage with large SKU’s and making it available through its vast distribution system, Britannia has entered almost every remote corner of the world.
• Market leader in the bakery sector: BIL is a major competitor in the Indian Food market gaining leadership in the bakery and holding 30% of the market share. It manufactures both tasty and healthy varieties in biscuits, bread, cake, rusk and dairy products.
• 80:20 Growth Strategy: BIL focuses on the 80:20 strategy, which roughly translates into company focusing on 20 percent of its products to generate it’s 80 percent of the revenue. This has worked out successfully for them.

 

2. Weaknesses of Britannia

A company can never be overall perfect in all areas, it does have some weak areas where there is a need to put some extra effort. Britannia’s major flaws are: 

 

• Overdependence on biscuit business: 75% of the revenue of Britannia comes from the biscuit business. Although they hold a larger share in the market in terms of biscuits, they are over-dependent on that sector which may affect the company in the longer run.
• Indistinguishable products: As many companies produce similar products like Britannia for example bourbon biscuit is manufactured by both Parle and  Brittania and many local brands, it creates confusion in the minds of the customer which results in in in the loss of the company.
• No overseas presence: Brittania has its existence only in Oman and Dubai apart from India that too from subsidiaries so the overall export of the commodity is very low.
• Dairy business struggles: Dairy products add only 5%  to the total revenue of the company.

 

3. Opportunities for Britannia

Opportunities are the area where the company needs to focus and improve their result, sales and also profit.

 

• Upcoming Dairy products: With the emerging organoleptic features in the dairy sector, improving the dairy products can help the company to gain its market share and also position itself into the dairy market.
• Demanding healthier products and changing lifestyle: Increasing income, internet accessibility, education and changing lifestyle are carving more demand for healthy food products.
• Enter into foreign markets: Penetrating the foreign markets and expanding over there can help the company to recognize itself globally.
• E-commerce: There has been an increase in the eCommerce industry’s sales. This has led to many people now making purchases online. Britannia can generate revenue by opening online stores and operating through them.
• Introducing new segments: Britannia, being an established brand, has the opportunity to introduce new products such as croissants and wafers, which would appeal to the adventurous tastes of Gen-Z who are keen on trying out new products.

 

4. Threats for Britannia

Threats are external that can cause hindrance to the company s growth. Here are some of Britannia’s threats : 

• Increasing competition: Due to increasing numbers of brands ( local brands such as Anmol, Priya gold etc) the company is not able to differentiate its products from other brands. This can spoil the brand image of the company in the market.
• Increasing the Price of the raw materials: Increase in the price of the raw material will eventually increase the price of the product. Further, it will lead to a decline in the profit margin and reduced consumption as well.
• Buyer’s power increasing: Due to the variety of brands in the market that claim different Benefits to the consumer, it is becoming difficult for the consumers to stick to a particular brand. Thus, there is a brand switching by the consumer and they are getting the power to select the brand based on its preference, price etc.

Conclusion

 

Britannia is well-known and has a large worldwide footprint. Britannia’s SWOT analysis revealed that the organisation is trustworthy and has great brand recognition. But the primary issue is that it is facing rising market competition and has to improve its R&D department.

To thrive in the market, a firm must have its finest marketing efforts in front of the client at all times. With the changing times, digital marketing has become one of the most important ideas for all market aficionados. Digital marketing technologies such as SEO, SMM, and others enable the organisation to reach a broader audience while being cost-effective.

If you want to excel in this field and work for companies like Britannia, it is vital to have the necessary knowledge in the field of Digital Marketing. Check out  IIDE’s 3 months advance course to get started. 

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