Britannia The Best Known Brands In India Marketing Essay

Britannia The Best Known Brands In India Marketing Essay The objective of this project is to identify the problem faced by Britannia Industries Limited in the SCM area and provide a solution to it. The main problem identified is the â€Å"Bullwhip Effect† and the proposed solution is to implement an ERP based solution. Organization Background Britannia is one of the best-known brands in India, one of the largest biscuit manufacturers in the country, The Company known as Britannia Industries Ltd. today began in 1892 in a ordinary house in Kolkata. The initial investment to form the company was 295 Indian Rupees (US$7) at today’s exchange rate. More than 100 years later, sales have reached approximately 18.7 billion Rupees (US$400 million). Britannia begins with the business producing electricity, Britannia mechanized its operations, and in 1921, it became the first company east of the Suez Canal to use imported gas ovens. Britannia’s business was flourishing. But, more importantly, Britannia was acquiring a reputation for quality and value. As a result, during the World War II, the Government reposed its trust in Britannia by contracting it to supply large quantities of â€Å"service biscuits† to the armed forces. And therefore the company was incorporated in 1918 as Britannia Biscuits Co. Ltd. in Calcutta and in 1924, Peek Frean UK acquired a controlling stake in the company, which was later passed on to Associated Biscuits International UK (ABI). During the 1950s and 1960s, Britannia expanded its operations beyond Calcutta to Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. In the year 1978 company went for public issues and Indian shareholding crossed 60%, firmly establishing the Indian ness of the firm and formed Britannia Industries Limited (BIL). Four years later in 1983, it crossed the Rs100 crores revenue mark. In 1987, Nabisco acquired ABI. Then in 1989, JM Pillai, a Singapore-based non-resident Indian (NRI) businessman, and Grouped Danone acquired Asian operations of Nabisco and the controlling stake in Britannia. Later, Danone and Nusli Wadia took over Mr. Pillai’s holdings. Britannia has been jointly owned by Danone and Wadia Group since 1997. The two along with five other companies form a holding company called Associated Biscuits International Ltd., which owns a 51% share of Britannia. The remaining 49% share is held by the public and financial institutions. On the operations front, In 1997, the company unveiled its new corporate identity – â€Å"Eat Healthy, Think Better† – and made its first foray into the dairy products market. In 1999, the â€Å"Britannia Khao, World Cup Jao† promotion further fortified the affinity consumers Britannia strode into the 21st Century as one of India’s biggest brands and the pre-eminent food brand of the country. It was equally recognized for its innovative approach to products and marketing: the Lagaan Match was voted India’s most successful promotional activity of the year 2001 while the del icious Britannia 50-50 Maska-Chaska became India’s most successful product launch. In 2002, Britannia’s New Business Division formed a joint venture with Fonterra, the world’s second largest Dairy Company, and Britannia New Zealand Foods Pvt. Ltd. was born. In recognition of its vision and accelerating graph, Forbes Global rated Britannia ‘One amongst the Top 200 Small Companies of the World’, and The Economic Times pegged Britannia India’s 2nd