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High inflation in recent times resulted in a marked slowdown in growth rates, said Hindustan Unilever Chairman Nitin Paranjpe in the HUL annual report released on Monday. However, he noted that India continues to remain the fastest-growing FMCG market globally.
As India deals with record-high inflation Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever, said in his statement that the company leveraged the rapidly growing domestic chemicals industry to further reduce its import dependency.
‘Dynamic teams’
“This year, we faced unprecedented inflation in commodities and packaging, as well as transport costs. Our teams moved dynamically to ensure business continuity by securing material supply, quickly onboarding new suppliers, flexing formulations and making strategic buying interventions. In fact, we localised the sourcing of many of our chemicals and leveraged the growing domestic chemicals industry to reduce our import dependency. To remain future fit in an increasingly technology-enabled world, we are now employing sophisticated digital tools to identify new innovation partners, monitor and review quality performance, and track logistics and supply risks in real-time,” said Mehta.
Cyber risks
HUL’s annual report also noted that the company is facing increasing macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds compared to last fiscal year. Uncertainties heightened inflationary pressures for the company.
The risk of cyber-attacks will grow with increased digitisation, said the report. It also noted that rapidly evolving business models will be another challenge for the company this year.
“In the near future, with geopolitical tensions and commodity price inflation, the business environment will continue to be challenging. I truly believe that with a compelling business strategy, our five growth fundamentals – Purposeful Brands, Improved Penetration, Impactful Innovation, Design for Channel and Fuel for Growth — and the future-fit technology that we have built over the last few years will hold us in good stead. In fact, the last two years of the pandemic have made us more responsive and resilient as a business. Our competitive advantage continues to be our purpose-driven set of people and a wide and diversified product portfolio with more than 50 trusted brands across 15 distinct categories,” said Mehta.
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