Britannia’s Varun Berry resigns; Rakshit Hargave named new MD and CEO

Britannia Industries Ltd. on Monday announced that its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Varun Berry has stepped down from his role effective immediately.

“Accordingly, his resignation shall be effective, and he shall be relieved from the close of business hours today i.e. 10th November 2025, from his position as Vice-Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company,” Britannia said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

With his resignation, Varun Berry will cease to be part of several key committees of the board, including takeholders Relationship, CSR, Risk Management, Finance, Strategy and Innovation Steering, and IT Committees.

With this, the company has appointed Rakshit Hargave, who will now serve as both MD and CEO, Britannia told the stock exchanges in the filing.

Hargave will take over as Britannia CEO and MD from December 15, 2025, the company said. In the meantime, insider Natarajan Venkataraman has been appointed as interim CEO, it added.

Hargave's tenure as Britannia MD and CEO will remain in place for the next five years, the food manufacturing giant announced.

Hargave's appointment as CEO and executive director was announced last week from the company. Earlier, he was serving as CEO of Birla Opus.

Who is Varun Berry?

Varun Berry took over as Britannia CEO in May after former chief executive Rajneet Kohli resigned in March.

At the time, Berry, a company veteran, was already serving as Executive Vice-Chairman and MD at Britannia.

Varun Berry has worked at Britannia for nearly the past 13 years, and has been at key positions in the company for over a decade.

He joined the consumer goods giant as the vice president and chief operating officer in 2013.

Before his stint at Britannia, Berry worked with PepsiCo's India unit for over a decade. At PepsiCo India, the industry veteran joined as a Market Unit General Manager in 1993. Seven years later in 2007, he joined PepsiCo International as its Vietnam COO and left as the CEO of the company's International Dairy & Juice unit in the UAE.

Thereafter, he joined back the India unit of PepsiCo.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, he was associated with Hindustan Unilever for over six years, where he worked as a marketing manager.

Varun Berry's resignation from Britannia comes at a time when the company has chalked out a path for its next stage of growth. In the upcoming years, the company said it will become a “total foods company”, expanding its products.