Here comes the Sun!

630 am each day, I get to my balcony to see the rising sun. To me, the beauty of daybreak inspires positivity in my thoughts and actions. I believe that while you might not have control over how things pan out by the end of the day, you can always choose how to begin your day- why would you then choose anything other than the immense possibilities brought forth by fresh energy and ideas?

Today, we can either worry about the pandemic and when it will end or we can focus on doing our best to keep our families and people safe and work to run our businesses in the broader interest of our communities. This has translated into three important things for me.

Safeguarding lives and livelihoods

If there are only two things that we can focus on; it should be all about safeguarding lives and livelihoods i.e. keeping people safe and protecting earnings. At HUL, we remain committed to improving the health and well being of our 1.3 billion-strong populace, enhancing their lives and halving environmental footprint. To me, there is no better time than current to enhance this impact. We are doing our best to make our products of health and hygiene available to millions of consumers and while doing so, have taken various measures to keep our people and partners safe. We have also committed to invest Rs 100 crores to support the nation in the fight against COVID 19 by reducing the prices of our essential products and making medical equipment, products and services available by working with various hospitals, government authorities and other organisations. 

A big shout-out here, to all of my HUL colleagues and our partners, especially in supply chain and customer development, who are out there toiling every single day to ensure running of our factories and the consequent flow of our products to your nearest store, all in a bid to continue serving you, our consumers. Owing to this spirit and endeavor, we are confident that in due course, we will address all transient issues and re-establish our supply chain to its full rhythm. (#HULstandsfortheNation)

Building a brighter future, together

On 1st April, we completed our merger with GSK Consumer Healthcare business and this brings into our fold iconic brands such as Boost and Horlicks . The boost (pun intended) that we now get to our nutrition business, will enable us serve the needs of multitudes of consumers and help address issues of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency. We are also delighted to welcome 3500+ people into the HUL family, as a result of this merger. Additionally, in March, we announced acquisition of the VWash brand; our foray into the rapidly growing female intimate hygiene segment. All this means, we will only get stronger and continue to build a better future.

Connect deep and wide while maintaining social distance

It speaks of the agility, capacity and resilience of our teams that we are able to get so much done in this short period of time, particularly as we all operate from various locations and with many challenges. It has been pleasant for all of us to learn that it is indeed possible to do a fully digital Board meeting, make key decisions, close an M&A deal all without people being in the same room and that we can shape business plans across various divisions without getting caught up in alignment issues. 

Over the past few weeks, across multiple calls, I have been e-invited into so many homes, gotten the chance to see and talk to the family members of many of my colleagues and have been lucky to participate in many virtual celebrations. We are at the cusp of something special; we can and we will build more meaningful social connections, not just networks.

Historically, we have had the tendency to overestimate possibilities in the short term (both on what is likely to happen and what we can do about it) and underestimate change that can occur in the long term. As I reflect, I believe we are experiencing a paradigm shift and as a result, we will emerge stronger and orchestrate better times ahead….for here comes the Sun!

April 2020