Cautious HUL confident of long-term growth

New Delhi: FMCG major HUL is watchful of the situation after the second wave of the pandemic, but is confident of the medium to long-term growth prospects of the sector, according to company Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta.

The company in its annual report for 2020-21 said while there are encouraging developments, the trajectory of the pandemic still remains "unpredictable" to a large extent as the country is witnessing the second wave of Covid-19. While discussing prediction of the third wave, Mehta said HUL's focus would continue to ensure uninterrupted supplies of Covid relevant portfolio and meeting the demand arising out of evolving consumer needs.

"We remain watchful of the situation while focusing on driving volume-led competitive growth. "Even though conditions will remain unpredictable and we will be living with the effects of Covid-19 for some time, we remain confident of the medium to long-term growth prospects of the FMCG sector," said Mehta over the outlook for the company. According to HUL, despite being one of the fastest-growing markets globally for FMCG products, India's per capita FMCG consumption is still amongst the lowest in the world, giving the industry a long runway for growth. HUL is also investing in building capabilities for e-commerce and modern trade channels as consumer shopping behaviours is shifting towards e-commerce.

"We are investing in building capabilities for channels of the future viz. e-commerce and modern trade and are co-creating differentiated offerings which are fit for the channel," said Mehta. Over 5 lakh retailers are now ordering through HUL's eB2B app Shikhar, which had enabled its retailer partners to place contactless orders.

"We are scaling up the adoption of Shikhar, our eB2B app to create a digitally wired customer ecosystem which will help in optimising space and speed up restocking," He said. Mehta further said HUL's overriding priority remains, therefore, to protect lives and livelihoods. "As the second wave of the pandemic unfolds with predictions of a third wave in the offing, our focus continues to be on our people's health & safety, ensuring uninterrupted supplies of Covid relevant portfolio," he added.