`Soon after taking over as Unilever’s CEO in January 2019, Alan Jope was quoted as saying, “Principles are only principles if they cost you something.” This was in the context of Unilever’s thrust on sustainability. Today, as Unilever faces criticism for not entirely pulling out of Russia, following the attack on Ukraine, Jope believes not abandoning the company’s employees there is the most principled position for Unilever to adopt. “Dare I say, many companies have announced their intention to leave Russia without the faintest plan,” Jope told TOI in an exclusive interaction. Jope, who’s on a three-day visit to India — Unilever’s second-largest market — interacted with people at the Dharavi Suvidha centre and conducted market visits to general trade outlets in Goregaon East in Mumbai. Jope’s visit comes soon after its Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reported its financial numbers, which exceeded market expectations. The global consumer products major has now prioritised India, along with the US and China, with plans to provide higher resource allocations. The three countries contribute one-third to Unilever’s 52-billion-euro revenues and more than 50% to its growth.
On being asked what’s the overall strategy adopted by Unilever after the GSK deal fell through?
There are five elements to it. We’re going to invest in our biggest and best brands. Second is we’re going to over-resource India, America and China. Third is we’re going to win in e-commerce, because we think that’s a secular trend across countries. Fourth, we’re going to continue to put sustainability at the heart of our business model. And finally, we will implement the new organisation change to make it a simple, lean, fast-moving category expert company.
On being asked as Unilever has said it will over-resource India, US and China. He said, "Where we have to deploy centres of excellence, where we have to build capability, we’re going to do it first and foremost in the US, India and China. As we deploy Unilever’s capital for acquisitions, first call will be for the US, India and China. As we look to develop and grow talent with moves overseas, priority will go to the US, India and China. There are a lot of ways in which one can demonstrate with action the commitment to these markets. These three markets form a third of our revenues and they contribute more than 50% of Unilever’s growth. They’ll become half of our business probably at some point."
(With inputs from agencies)