Cheaper commodities will lower prices, boost volumes: HUL CEO

Entry Of More Competitors Good For Consumers, Says Mehta

- Namrata Singh

By delivering quarters of seven double-digit growth in a turbulent external environment, Hindustan Unilever's (HUL's) CEO & MD Sanjiv Mehta has displayed an innate ability to navigate the ship through choppy waters. It's a fact that inflation helped the company in posting higher headline numbers apart from its time-tested strategy of straddling the pyramid. But the real test for Mehta would come from the December quarter onwards, when the net material inflation would likely come down, prompting price reductions. In an interview with TOI, Mehta said that would mark the return of the elusive volume-led turnover growth. Excerpts:

What do you feel about the current operating environment?