Why Britannia isn't losing sleep over Reliance's entry into biscuits

Reliance Industries ' entry into India's biscuit market is putting another heavyweight into an already competitive FMCG category, but Britannia Industries believes the pricing dynamics that helped the conglomerate disrupt the cola market may not work as easily here. With much of the biscuit market operating at ₹5 and ₹10 price points, Britannia CEO Rakshit Hargave says Reliance could find it harder to replicate the Campa Cola playbook.

"Reliance is a very respectable competition and we will watch carefully," Hargave said during the company's Q2 FY27 earnings call, adding that the company had already examined Reliance's products, which are initially being rolled out in Tamil Nadu, a key market for Britannia.

However, he said the economics of the biscuit business, particularly its dependence on low price points, could limit the scope for aggressive price-led disruption.

"We have obviously already seen their products and analysed them. Their disruption of price, which happened in the cola market, in the biscuit market, a large part of the market operates with ₹5 and ₹10. So, the ability to disrupt those two price points in the biscuit market is much more difficult than you can do in a cola market by discounting by ₹5 or ₹10," Hargave said.

He added that Britannia considers Reliance a formidable competitor and would closely monitor its moves. "But that said, obviously, Reliance is a very respectable competition and we will watch carefully. But we also have very, very strong bets and very strong plans to go ahead."

The entry comes at a time when competition in India's biscuit and packaged snacks market is intensifying, with established players defending shelf space and investing in product innovation. For Britannia, the immediate contest is not limited to Reliance. The company is also facing pressure from international brands in niche categories.

Battling on the shelf

Hargave pointed to the competition with South Korean biscuit brand Malkist in the cheese-filled cracker segment. Malkist, which pioneered the category of crackers with cheese or other fillings sandwiched between two biscuits, has built a presence in the market. Britannia responded with its Cheese Dipped range, launched earlier this year.

While the segment remains a relatively small part of the broader crackers market, Hargave said competition has been intense, with both companies increasing their investments.

"It has also done well. Obviously, we are competing with Malkist in this segment. And this is a small segment of the larger ecosystem of crackers. But yes, competition is fierce. And we also have been able to dent them. And they have also had to come back with a change strategy and have had to increase their investment," he said.

Britannia also indicated that it has recovered shelf space and market share after the disruption caused by fractional pricing in the previous year. According to Hargave, the ₹4.50 price point, which had gained traction among competitors, has largely disappeared, with the industry moving back to the ₹5 and ₹10 price points around May and June this year.

"Obviously, we have regained our shelf space. We have regained and done better on the share market," he said.

The company's competitive response is playing out alongside a period of elevated input costs. Britannia implemented a 3.5% price increase during the September quarter, but Hargave said this has only partially offset inflation. The company is working on further price increases, which will take time to reach the market because a significant part of its portfolio is sold at ₹5 and ₹10 and relies on pack-size reductions rather than direct price changes.

Britannia reported revenue from operations of ₹5,542 crore in Q2 FY27, up 16.6% year-on-year, while profit after tax rose 10.2%. For the first half of FY27, revenue crossed ₹10,000 crore for the first time, reaching ₹10,506 crore, up 13.1%.