Sanjiv Mehta, chairman & managing director, HUL, talks about the company’s business strategies Q At Hindustan Unilever, how do you view inclusive business strategies? A Our purpose at Unilever is to make sustainable living commonplace. As a company, we have three strong beliefs: Brands with Purpose Grow, Companies with Purpose Last and People with Purpose Thrive. Inclusive business for us means looking after the interests of all our stakeholders, focussing on long-term value creation and while growing our business, reducing our environment footprint and increasing societal impact. We believe in the fundamental premise that, if we look after the interests of our stakeholders – consumers, customers, employees, suppliers, society and the planet – we will be able to create shareholder value. We are committed to supporting stakeholders across the value chain. We are doing so with employees in our offices and factories, with those working in the farms where our raw materials are harvested, with the retailers selling our products, and with those reached by our advertising, engagement platforms and partnerships. Through our purpose-led brands we are working not only to meet the unmet needs of consumers but to promote equality, challenge stereotypes and help build a more diverse and inclusive world. Q How has HUL leveraged its brand power for this purpose? A We recognise that the biggest impact we can have on the society is through our purpose driven brands. Let me illustrate this through a few examples. ‘Dove’ is on a mission to ensure young girls have a positive attitude towards body image. The brand supports young girls by helping them raise their self-esteem and realise their full potential. ‘Surf Excel’ believes that dirt and experiences are a gateway to unleashing human potential. The brand encourages mothers through its ‘Dirt is Good’ campaign to push their children to learn, while Surf Excel takes care of the dirt and tough stains. ‘Brooke Bond Red Label’ is about coming together and bridging differences over a great cup of tea. It stands for making the world a more welcoming place by breaking barriers of caste, creed, religion and social stereotypes. On working with small-holder farmers – Our work with small-holder farmers as part of our Sustainable Sourcing agenda focusses on training them on good agricultural practices such as drip irrigation, nutrient management and pest and disease management. Thousands of small-holder gherkin farmers in southern India and farmers growing tomatoes for HUL have benefitted from these training initiatives. On working with distributors and suppliers – We constantly seek to build a long-term relationship with our partners who distribute our products. We help them with technology and management practices. We have been a pioneer in the area of big data and analytics as a tool to drive their growth and in using intelligent analytics at the back end, to enable them to deliver better on-shelf availability in stores. On developing communities – ‘Prabhat’ is our community development initiative that aims to build sustainable and inclusive communities around HUL’s manufacturing locations which are dotted across India. In the last few years, through focussed efforts in the areas of water conservation, skills for livelihood, health and hygiene we have touched almost three million lives in over 30 locations and have had over 5,000 HUL employee volunteers engage with these communities. On Hindustan Unilever Foundation – HUF is our not-for-profit company that acts as a vehicle to anchor water management-related community development and sustainability initiatives of Hindustan Unilever Limited. By the end of 2018, we have cumulatively and collectively created more than 700 billion litres of water conservation potential through improved supply and demand management of water across 4,300 villages. On Project Shakti – It aims to provide livelihood enhancing opportunities to women micro-entrepreneurs in rural India. Shakti entrepreneurs (SEs) are given training for familiarisation with HUL’s products and basic tenets of distribution management. HUL has a team of Rural Sales Promoters who coach and help SEs in managing their business. Today, Project Shakti has over one lakh micro-entrepreneurs across 18 states. On Suvidha Community Hygiene Centre – It is a first-of-its-kind urban water, hygiene and sanitation centre in one of Mumbai’s largest slums. The community centre provides drinking water, sanitation, hand washing, shower facilities and laundry services at an affordable cost. This has been described as an oasis in the midst of squalor.
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Photo Credit: Sanjay Borade
