Britannia Industries said that managing director and chief executive officer Varun Berry has resigned, while the recently appointed chief, Rakshit Hargave, will now serve as both MD and CEO. Berry, who was serving as the Executive Vice-Chairman and MD at Britannia, also got re-designated as the CEO in May following Rajneet Kohli's resignation in March. Varun Berry has worked at Britannia for the past 13 years, joining the consumer goods firm as the vice president and chief operating officer in 2013.
Before his stint at Britannia, Berry worked with PepsiCo's India unit and Hindustan Unilever. Last week, Britannia named Birla Opus' Hargave as its new CEO and executive director. Hargave will start his term as the CEO and MD on December 15, for a period of five years.
The Board of Directors, at its meeting held 10th November, 2025, took note of the resignation tendered by Mr. Varun Berry. Based on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Board has approved the waiver of the notice period applicable to Mr. Berry. Accordingly, he shall be relieved from the services of the Company with effect from the close of business hours on 10th November, 2025.
Consequent to his resignation from the Board, Mr. Varun Berry also ceases to be a member of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee, CSR Committee, Risk Management Committee, Finance Committee, Strategy and Innovation Steering Committee and IT Committee of the Company. Mr. Rakshit Hargave held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Birla Opus, the Paints venture of Aditya Birla Group in his previous assignment. He has submitted his resignation from Birla Opus and will be joining the Company on 15th December, 2025.
He is a veteran in the consumer industry with experience both in India and outside. He headed operations of the German Skincare Company Beiersdorf (makers of NIVEA) in ASEAN and ANZ regions. Before that he headed Africa operations and was also the Managing Director of Nivea India.
Prior to Beiersdorf, he worked with Hindustan Unilever as Sales and Marketing Director, Kimberly Clark Lever and Chief Operating Officer, Lakme Lever. He also worked with Jubilant Foodworks wherein he successfully launched the iconic Domino's Pizza 30 minutes guarantee delivery model. Mr. Rakshit started his career with Tata Motors after completing his Engineering and joined Nestle India thereafter.
Mr. Rakshit is an MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi and also holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi. He received the Distinguished Young Alumni Award from IIT Varanasi.
