Sanjiv Mehta

Fulfilling the hopes, dreams, aspirations and desires of 1.3 billion Indians. As the National Anthem was played in Tokyo millions had their eyes moist but chest swelled with pride. #neerajchopra thank you !!

This was the first time I went to see a game in the stadium after the outbreak of pandemic. What better than India - Pakistan game of cricket !! It was a thrilling encounter in Dubai and kudos to men in blue. Well done Team India. Emotions always run high when India plays Pakistan but the heartwarming thing was that on the field the players displayed high standards of sportsmanship and in the stands the spectators were superb … cheering and encouraging their team but also applauding the opponents when they played well. This is how sports should be played and viewed.

Over seven decades ago, Hindustan Unilever’s Consumer Market Insights (CMI) function was introduced with modest beginnings and a quest for consumer-centricity. The function has, over time, blossomed into a powerhouse of data, 360-degree consumer insights and technology, giving us a competitive advantage.

Today, we celebrated 75 years of our very own CMI function. We spent the evening with the CMI team and some of our ex-colleagues who contributed to this beautiful journey.

In the picture below, Dr Rajni Chadha was our senior guest; she was part of the CMI team from 1958 to 1989. It was a humbling experience meeting and interacting with a CMI veteran who started working for HUL even before I was born.

#HULCMITURNS75
#HULCMILEGACY
#uniquelyunilever

On 14th April 2019, we saw an article in the newspaper that moved us. It was about immense hardship faced by women in the drought-prone hilly hamlets of Nashik, Maharashtra.

Wells in the villages dried up in the summer months, and women had to trek downhill for hours at night to fetch a few litres of water, only to return to search for more in the mornings. There was no water for bathing or washing clothes. It was a heart-wrenching situation.

I spoke to Reshma Anand, our CEO of Hindustan Unilever Foundation, where we work in thousands of villages to create water potential and told her that we need to step in. She, together with her team, picked up the challenge and, along with our NGO partners BAIF and SPWD, made a difference. Sharing a video that captures the story.

https://lnkd.in/dTCEUe6s

Across India's villages, we have created a cumulative water potential of over 1.9 trillion litres through the Hindustan Unilever Foundation.
Our journey continues…

After staying away for nearly 8 long months, as I entered the gates of Hindustan Unilever office once again, it reminded me how thankful I am to be a part of this great organisation. I am proud of the purpose, the values and the tradition that make HUL. In fact, it was to uphold one such tradition of the Diwali Pooja that the Management Committee came together. Though we missed our many colleagues, we prayed for our People, our Company and our Nation. I am confident that with our purpose-driven people, who have stood up against the many challenges thrown at us this year, we will come out stronger and so would our nation.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy and safe Diwali.

It is always a pleasure to speak to our nation's bright young students and youth who are India's future. While addressing the graduating batch of Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow yesterday, I shared some values & lessons for success that I imbibed in my formative years and tryst with life and the corporate world.

Discovering one's purpose, compassion, humility, integrity, courage, thoroughness in execution, and ambition & passion for excelling are some non-negotiables that help develop extraordinary leadership.

Sharing a Times of India article that captures a gist from my speech to the students

https://lnkd.in/gKhfPWGz

It was a pleasure to meet Mr Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of Textiles and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. 
We discussed a wide range of subjects and the work being done in FICCI.

It was a pleasure to meet and share thoughts with Shri Piyush Goyal, H’ble Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. We discussed various issues incl. strategies and capabilities of private sector and the role they can play in India’s inclusive and sustainable growth.

Values, purpose, and traditions from over the years are a part of our rich legacy that we proudly uphold. One such heartwarming and unique tradition is our annual 'Retired Directors Meet', an event I have had the honour and privilege of continuing during the last decade. For the 10th and final time in my tenure with Hindustan Unilever Limited, I welcomed our retired directors to our office yesterday to celebrate and share our progress with them.

Over the years, as I led HUL in quite a challenging external environment, our retired directors have been my true North Star, my beacon of strength and stability and a reservoir of knowledge and experience that I have so often turned to. Their guidance has been instrumental in shaping my HUL journey, and I will forever be grateful to each of them for their unwavering support.

Holi, the festival of colours is just a month away. This year, while we stay physically distanced, there is no reason why we should stay away from celebrations and bringing joy to those feeling left out. Our purpose driven brand Surf Excel brings alive the message of bonding with colours through this heart touching communication.

On March 31st 2024 evening, three colleagues turned friends who between them had spent 96 glorious years with Unilever got together to say goodbye to the big U and looked forward to a new dawn.

Madhusudan Rao was head of marketing during my Chairmanship of Unilever North Africa and Middle East and then after a very successful stint in London as global category head of Household Care came back to join my Management Committee at HUL and Unilever South Asia as Executive Director of Beauty & Personal Care.
I met Sandeep Kohli for the first time when I went to take over as the Chairman of Unilever Philippines. After working in Europe and South East Asia he joined my team as Executive Director of Beauty and Personal Care. He then moved to Middle East and then to Unilever Indonesia as head of Beauty & Wellness where our paths crossed again as I head their Board of Commissioners.

-It was an evening of nostalgia reflecting on the time spent at Unilever of battles won (& some lost), of fertile experiences and great relationships built over the years.
-There was a feeling of gratitude for the great time at Unilever and the lessons learnt.
-There was a sense of optimism and excitement about the opportunities and possibilities ahead.
-There were wishes for continued camaraderie, support and friendship.

Madhu and Sandeep represent the best of Unilever and their paths are strewn with immense contributions and battle honours won. Mona and I wish Madhu & Aruna and Sandeep & Sanjana happiness, fulfilment and continued success as they embark on new paths.
Unilever Madhusudhan Rao Sandeep Kohli Mona Mehta

Our incredible police force has been working relentlessly to protect us during the pandemic. We are honored to be able to support the heroes that keep us safe, by equipping them with Lifebuoy sanitizers to safeguard them from the virus. Thank you @MumbaiPolice for your tireless efforts

#WeSaluteYou #HulStandsWithTheNation

https://lnkd.in/gNJry3B

In an interview with Namrata Singh from The Times Of India, I talk about the new normal, its challenges, the kind of leadership that is comfortable with chaos and most importantly about the need for personal wellbeing. After all we are in a marathon and not a sprint, so we need to take care.

Over the last one year of the pandemic, Hindustan Unilever leaders have gone above and beyond their duty to not only ensure business continuity, but also the safety and wellbeing of their teams and of the communities in which we operate. While our leaders work tirelessly to care for our people, we realise they too may need support at times. The ‘Leader Check-in Circles’ – a group of 4-5 HUL leaders who could talk and listen, share their experiences and genuinely care for each other, was formed. The sessions are facilitated by experienced coaches and help recharge our leaders and create positivity that trickles down to their teams and the entire organisation.

After all, only a purpose-driven workforce filled with positivity can continue to drive a purposeful business! You may like to read more in Sachin Dave’s article on HUL’s support group for leaders in The Economic Times.

What a win! Once again, Team India showed us today how with resilience, teamwork, grit and courage, we can overcome all odds.

After losing the 1st test, Team India bounced back with renewed passion and determination. This time around, Ashwin, a bowler showed us the power of individual capability to flex to the need of the team. Not only did he take 5 wickets in the first innings, he clinched it with a century in second innings, that too when most other batsmen were finding it difficult. This is what agility is all about. Like in sports, success in business today requires agility, i.e. being able to flex yourself and not being constrained by what your role is but doing what the situation demands at that time.

Our R&D centre in Bangalore is one of the most beautiful Unilever offices in India, a place where innovations are conceived to improve lives while positively impacting the environment and society.

Recently, the team executed a small yet impactful idea at the site to construct a walkway by interlocking blocks made from recycled plastic with an anti-skid durable finish. Hundreds of kilograms of recycled plastic waste obtained from a local municipal waste facility were used to construct the sustainable pathway.

Along with our manufacturing locations, all our offices work towards establishing true circularity in operations. Net reduction and reuse of plastic are crucial to achieving the ambition we have set for ourselves.  It is heartening to see our people living our purpose of making sustainable living commonplace in every little way.

Over two decades ago, we launched #Shakti, our rural distribution network, to empower women in the hinterlands. Project Shakti has grown from strength to strength since then. The 1,60,000+ micro-entrepreneurs in our network not only sell products to make a living but also work as messengers of good health and hygiene in villages. Most importantly, Shakti Ammas build a culture of self-dependence among rural Indian women.

Giving more power to our Shakti Ammas, we have digitised the operations to empower Shakti Ammas with skills for the future while making our rural distribution channel more agile and convenient. The women micro-entrepreneurs now place product orders using HUL's flagship Shikhar app, receive incentives in their bank account and easily transact digitally with customers and distributors. Considering that many of our Shakti Ammas were using digital platforms for the first time, we had to ensure they received adequate support. Digitisation offers them a competitive advantage and opens avenues for growth.

Happy to share insights from our journey & key learnings documented by our execution partner United Nations’s Better Than Cash Alliance, an alliance that works towards accelerating the transition from cash to responsible digital payments based on UN principles.
Read the full report here:
bit.ly/3Re9Vzy

#SustainableDevelopmentGoals #SDGs

Honored to be conferred the honorary degree of ‘Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management’ by Xavier University (Xavier Institute of Management ) Bhubaneswar.
Credit to my family and the fabulous team of Hindustan Unilever...

Our brand #Vim strives to help simplify dishwashing for everyone and is making a sincere effort to tackle gender stereotypes in society. Three decades on, the brand continues to win hearts across the length and breadth of our country.  From providing the most effective solutions and evolving to meet the needs of changing times to creating thought-provoking campaigns such as 'Nazariya Badlo, Dekho Bartano Se Aage' to using eco-friendly packaging, the brand has come a long way in serving consumers.

I am pleased to share that Vim was recently recognised at #Cannes2022 as a winner of Kantar's Fastest Growing #FMCG Brand of the Decade award. Awards like these are a testimony to the trust our consumers have in us and our belief that great brands don't only deliver outstanding product benefits but are also a force for good.

As we progress on our diversity and inclusion journey, we have come a long way through focused interventions, progressive policies, leadership commitment and role modelling. Today, I am delighted to share that our R&D function in India, which includes 750+ scientists and 100+ PhDs, has become gender-balanced.

This milestone is particularly significant in a challenging external context of the underrepresentation of women in roles related to science, technology, engineering & math(STEM). Moreover, the share of women in R&D jobs, even in the private sector, which fares better on gender representation, is only 16%. The ratio of male to female scientists is 6:1.

As India's No 1 Employer of Choice and one of the largest private sector R&D base, we remain committed to leading the way for greater representation of women in STEM and reducing gender disparity in our organization and beyond.

R Gopalakrishnan (Gopal) was my Chairman in Unilever Arabia. He has also been a Vice Chairman of Hindustan Unilever.
Read this piece from RG, an erudite person, a eloquent speaker and a prolific writer. I too am a proud ‘soapman’.

I am proud to share that our film on water conservation - ‘The Shower’ created for our #StartALittleGood initiative has been recognised as the ‘Best Promotional Film” at the prestigious 67th National Film Awards in the ‘Non-Feature Films’ category.

Kudos to our very talented creative partners at Ogilvy, director Bauddhayan Mukherji, production house Little Lamb Films and the team from Hindustan Unilever that worked on bringing this stellar idea to life.

Priya Nair, Harman Dhillon, Aanandita Datta, Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Kainaz Karmakar, Hephzibah Pathak

New-age technology presents a unique opportunity to reimagine how we collaborate and work, regardless of location, while reaping benefits such as increased productivity and reduced costs and facilitating more flexibility and agility.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss and dive deeper into ground-breaking technologies and trends such as Connected Packaging, Immersive Reality, Beauty-Tech and the Metaverse experiments. As part of our Reimagine agenda at HUL, we continually look forward to seeing how we can embrace these new platforms to delight our consumers and benefit our organisation and stakeholders.

Sharing a few glimpses of my first-ever immersive board room meeting with my colleagues at HUL.

MAY THE SHOOTS GROW TALLER AS THE ROOTS GET STRONGER

HUL Alumni Meet, 2019
India Inc is adorned with people who proudly wear a badge ‘Trained by HUL’
We are proud of our Alumni and today at our campus we shared the progress of our Company with people who have helped build this institution.

#HULAlumniMeet2019

Safety – not just for employees but of their families and the society at large is a non-negotiable agenda for us at Hindustan Unilever.
Today, on National Safety Day, we are reiterating the importance of safety – at work and beyond, and starting off a company-wide activation to strengthen the safety mindset among all our people. We will especially be focusing on Personal safety and Road Safety this time around to ensure that our people and their families stay safe at all times.

It is important to demonstrate safety through day-to-day actions and set an example for the community at large. I urge all of you to make safety a first priority. Stay aware, stay safe!

Today while walking past the New York Stock Exchange, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Indian Flag fluttering besides the ‘Stars and Stripes’. It could be another listing by an Indian Company or another significant event between Indian businesses and the financial community in New York. Be that as it may, India is attracting enhanced interest due to several interrelated factors:
- It has been the fastest growing large economy with strong macro economic fundamentals, political stability and a big dream of becoming a ‘developed India’.
- A large and youthful population and a growing workforce boosts consumption and economic activities, fostering an environment conducive to business growth and expansion.
- Government reforms such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST), reduction in corporate tax rate and initiatives like ‘insolvency and bankruptcy code’ have created a more favorable investment climate.
- India has seen an increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with many global investors looking to tap into the country’s growth story.
- The rise of fintech and digital platforms has made investing more accessible to a broader audience, encouraging more retail investors to enter the market and a greater financialization of the economy.
- Significant investments in infrastructure both physical and digital are expected to yield long-term benefits for various sectors, making India more attractive to investors.
- The expansion of sectors like technology, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy provides investors with a variety of options.
- Enhanced focus on corporate governance, transparency, and shareholder rights is increasing the trust in the markets.
- With uncertainties in other global markets, investors are looking towards India as a stable option for their portfolios, particularly given its potential for growth.
- Strong participation from domestic institutional and retail investors provides stability and confidence in the Indian market.

These factors collectively contribute to a positive outlook for India, positioning it as an appealing destination for both domestic and international investors.

Ahead of our Annual General Meeting, I am immensely proud to present Hindustan Unilever Limited’s Performance Highlights Microsite for the Financial Year'23, which offers a glimpse of our purpose-led and future-fit business.

In the last year, we have demonstrated solid performance with a turnover of Rs. 58,000 crores and double-digit growth, expanded our sustainability - environmental & social initiatives and touched the lives of millions across India. In the last decade, the market capitalisation of HUL has increased by six folds to $76 billion making it one of the most valuable companies in the country.

HUL's success story results from our clear and compelling strategy and legacy where purpose leads, and profits follow, our passionate people across the business who go beyond the call of duty and last but not least, the trust of the millions of citizens who, as consumers of our brands and shareholders, have faith and confidence in our business.

Thank you LinkedIn!

#LinkedInPowerProfile2018

Happy. Hopeful. Humbled. Three words to describe how I felt when I saw the children of our employees express their vision of the planet through art. The future is indeed in the right hands! Amidst the uncertain world we live right now, this vision of sustainable future through children’s eyes indeed helps to keep our spirits up.

Every Indian has a role to play in taming the second wave. First and foremost we need to minimise new infections and it is our responsibility to be role models in our family and community by following COVID appropriate behaviour of
- Wear mask covering mouth and nose
- Maintain physical distance
- Wash your hands with soap and if you don’t have access to soap & water then use alcohol based sanitisers
-And those who are eligible and have access, get yourself vaccinated.

Sharing a public service message from FICCI and #Lifebuoy. Let us join hands, strengthen the hands of our government and healthcare doctors and workers and protect our nation. We are in this together and each one of us can make a difference.

When I first met the Honourable PM, Shri Narendra Modi in 2015, he extolled us to work on creating a sustainable hygiene centre for urban slums. This started our journey, and we put our minds together to create an innovative, scalable and sustainable model for community hygiene & sanitation called '#Suvidha.' In 2016, we launched our very first centre in Ghatkopar's highly-populated urban informal settlement. Even to date, I remember the smiles of Suvidha users and the happiness the centre brought to the community. Slowly and steadily, we gathered community insights and launched more centres. Today, I am delighted to share that we are expanding even further by launching 5 more centres in Mumbai, taking the total count of our operational centres to 12.

Suvidha impacts over 3,00,000 people annually with accessible and affordable facilities such as safe and clean toilets, purified drinking water, and shower and laundry - all under one roof. In addition, with inbuilt mechanisms to treat and recycle waste/grey water and conserve rainwater, we are helping save 50 million litres annually.

Suvidha is a perfect example of innovation and the power of private-public collaboration to drive impact at scale in the hygiene & sanitation space amidst rapidly growing urbanisation. It demonstrates how applying business acumen can propel social impact initiatives and drive change.

Scaling up Suvidha wouldn't have been possible without our ongoing partnerships with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and HSBC India. Together, we stay committed to enabling quality access to hygiene and sanitation for those who most need it.

#uniquelyunilever #DoingWellByDoingGood #circulareconomy

Covid, amongst many other things, has interrupted “childhood” as children are forced to be at home. Lovely communication by Surf Excel that nudges all the parents to restore childhood by becoming their childrens’ friends and encourages active play between parents and their kids. #BachpanZaraRukja.