Copyright thehindubusinessline
For Rakshit Hargave, joining Britannia will be going back to the foods segment, in which he cut his teeth during his early career, in Nestle as brand manager handling Maggi noodles and then as marketing chief at Dominos Pizza India. On Wednesday, Hargave, after spending four years at paints company Birla Opus as CEO, said he was resigning to join biscuits maker Britannia as its CEO. This move marks another turn in a career defined by versatility across industries, from automotive and FMCG to retail. He joined Birla Opus, the newly set up paints company of Aditya Birla Group’s Grasim Industries in November 2021. While updating his LinkedIn profile, he wrote, “currently building the most ambitious and exciting paints business in the world ever”. These were no idle words. Hargave, who joined Birla Opus in November 2021, played an important role in building the company and in a remarkably short period of time, Birla Opus has become the India’s number 2 decorative paints brand, just behind market leader Asian Paints. Hargave was instrumental in building the six manufacturing plants at Opus, establishing the distribution, and creating a large product portfolio comparable to peers. Wide experience Hargave has had a wide and varied experience and except for one or two short stints with other sectors he has stuck to the food and personal care segment for most of his career. After a year at Tata Motors in 1992-1993, he moved to Nestle where he spent over six years. This was followed by a short stint at ABN Amro Bank and then he joined Dominos Pizza, where he spent close to four years. He was part of the team that turned around a loss-making company into a top performing company in a little over three years. In 2005, he joined Hindustan Unilever as sales and marketing director for the joint venture Kimberley Clark Lever, after which he spent four years at Lakme Lever as Chief Operating Officer. His next move was Beiersdorf, maker of Nivea, where he worked for close to 11 years till 2021 in various roles and geographies. At Britannia, he will be replacing former CEO Ranjeet Kohli, who stepped down in March 2025. Hargave has a Bachelor of Technology degree from IIT, Banaras Hindu University, followed by an MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi. Published on November 7, 2025
