BUILDING MUSCLE AT HUL

Sanjiv Mehta has scripted a dazzling growth story at Hindustan Unilever.

- AJITA SHASHIDHAR

EVEN THOUGH the MD and CEO of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Sanjiv Mehta, retired on June 1 after a 10-year stint, his tenure with the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate extends till March 2024 when his role as Unilever Indonesia chairman ends. Mehta has been travelling extensively to bid goodbye to team members across locations. Just back from Karachi after his farewell, he sinks into a couch in the library of the plush World Tower in Mumbai (where he lives) and reminisces about his years in HUL. “I bid farewell with gratitude in my heart and prayers on my lips,” he says.

Mehta took charge in 2013 when HUL’s turnover was ₹25,000 crore. Ten years later, when he stepped down, net sales were ₹59,549 crore. Market cap grew from ₹1.01 lakh crore in 2013 to ₹6.01 lakh crore in June 2023. In past one year, the company has added ₹8,000 crore revenue, growing the topline 16%. Volumes expanded 5% compared to FMCG industry’s -0.4% growth.

Mehta had an eventful tenure. When he took over in 2013, the country was in the midst of a rural slowdown. Then came demonetisation and GST followed by Covid and more recently high inflation. Mehta decided to focus on protecting the business model and strengthening the consumer franchise. “During high inflation, it was not about increasing margins. It was about ensuring that the business model is intact and margin dilution remains at acceptable levels. We grew market share in a very large part of our portfolio.” On the other hand, he stepped up innovations at the premium end to enhance margins—₹10,000 croreplus revenue in last 10 years has come from portfolios which didn’t exist earlier.