HUL Project Report

TABLE OF CONTENT S. No

Content

Page No

1.

Executive Summary

2

2.

Introduction to HUL

3

3.

History of HUL

6

4.

Corporate Governance in HUL

16

5.

Corporate Social Responsibility

18

6.

Company Structure

17

7.

Brands for Life

21

8.

Market Analysis

44

9.

Performance Analysis

47

Page

10.

SWOT Analysis

50

1

11.

Recommendations

55

12.

Project Shakti

59

13.

Conclusion

60

14.

Bibliography

61

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hindustan Unilever Limited is the Indian arm of the Anglo-Dutch company –Unilever. Both Unilever and HUL have established themselves well in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) category. In India, the company offers many households brands like, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lipton, Lux, Pepsodent, Ponds, Rexona, Sunsilk, Surf, Vaseline etc. Some of its efforts were also rewarded when four of HUL brands found place in the ‘Top 10 brands’ list for the year 2008 published in The Economic Times. Unilever was a result of the merger between the Dutch margarine company, Margarine Unie, and the British soap-maker, Lever Brothers, way back in 1930. For 70 years, Unilever was the undisputed market leader but now faces tough competition from Proctor & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive.

✔ We have a listed the different FMCG product lines of HUL. ✔ We have done competitor’s analysis in which the market share of top FMCG companies are analysed & the market share of HUL’S different categories product are analysed with comparison to its competitors. ✔ Then performance analysis is made by taking 10 year financial data from 1998-2007. The profit & sales growth is analysed.

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As the per-capita income of India is increasing along with the Indian population. So, the future for the FMCG Companies is bright. To analysis the past performance & the future demand of HUL, FMCG products we have considered following points:

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HUL is also known for its strong distribution network in India. In order to further strengthen its distribution in the rural areas and to empower the local women, HUL launched a Project Shakti in 2000 in a district in Andhra Pradesh. The idea behind this project was to create women entrepreneurs and provide them with micro-credit and training in enterprise management, which would enable them to create selfhelp groups and become direct-to-home distributors of HUL products. Today Project Shakti is present across 80,000 villages in 15 states and is helping many underprivileged women earn their livelihood.

✔ We have done SWOT analysis to know the threat & opportunities of HUL in present market. ✔ The future opportunities for FMCG products are taken into consideration by analyzing the increased per capita income & increased disposable income to forecast the future demand of HUL.

Introduction to HUL Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. The company’s Turnover is Rs. 20, 239 crores (for the 15 month period – January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009). HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with annual sales of €40.5 billion in 2008. Unilever has about 52% shareholding in HUL. Hindustan Unilever was recently rated among the top four companies globally in the list of “Global Top Companies for Leaders” by a study sponsored by Hewitt Associates, in partnership with Fortune magazine and the RBL Group. The company was ranked number one in the Asia-Pacific region and in India.

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The mission that inspires HUL's more than 15,000 employees, including over 1,400 managers, is to “add vitality to life". The company meets everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care, with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company, Unilever, which holds about 52 % of the equity.

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Heritage HUL’s heritage dates back to 1888, when the first Unilever product, Sunlight, was introduced in India. Local manufacturing began in the 1930s with the establishment of subsidiary companies. They merged in 1956 to form Hindustan Lever Limited (The company was renamed Hindustan Unilever Limited on June 25, 2007). The company created history when it offered equity to Indian shareholders, becoming

the first foreign subsidiary company to do so. Today, the company has more than three lakh resident shareholders. HUL’s brands -- like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Sunsilk, Clinic, Close-up, Pepsodent, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr, Annapurna, Kwality-Walls - are household names across the country and span many categories soaps, detergents, personal products, tea, coffee, branded staples, ice cream and culinary products. They are manufactured in over 35 factories, several of them in backward areas of the country. The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates. HUL's distribution network covers 6.3 million retail outlets including direct reach to over 1 million. HUL has traditionally been a company, which incorporates latest technology in all its operations. The Hindustan Lever Research Centre (now Hindustan Unilever Research Centre) was set up in 1958.

Doing Well by Doing Good HUL believes that an organisation’s worth is also in the service it renders to the community. HUL focuses on hygiene, nutrition, enhancement of livelihoods, reduction of greenhouse gases and water footprint.It is also involved in education and rehabilitation of special or underprivileged children, care for the destitute and HIV-positive, and rural development. HUL has also responded in case of national calamities / adversities and contributes through various welfare measures, most recent being the relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by the Tsunami disaster, in India. HUL’s Project Shakti is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 5000 individuals. Through Shakti, HUL is creating micro-enterprise opportunities for rural women, thereby improving their livelihood and the standard of living in rural communities. Shakti also provides health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani programme.The program now covers 15 states in India and has over 45,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold, reaching out to 100,000 villages and directly reaching to over three million rural consumers.

Vision

4

If Hindustan Unilever straddles the Indian corporate world, it is because of being single-minded in identifying itself with Indian aspirations and needs in every walk of life.

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HUL also runs a rural health programme, Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The programme endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among rural Indians and aims to bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched 120 million people in approximately 50, 676 villages across India.

Unilever products touch the lives of over 2 billion people every day – whether that's through feeling great because they've got shiny hair and a brilliant smile, keeping their homes fresh and clean, or by enjoying a great cup of tea, satisfying meal or healthy snack.

A clear direction The four pillars of our vision set out the long term direction for the company – where we want to go and how we are going to get there: • • • •

We work to create a better future every day We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. We will inspire people to take small everyday actions that can add up to a big difference for the world. We will develop new ways of doing business that will allow us to double the size of our company while reducing our environmental impact. We've always believed in the power of our brands to improve the quality of people’s lives and in doing the right thing. As our business grows, so do our responsibilities. We recognise that global challenges such as climate change concern us all. Considering the wider impact of our actions is embedded in our values and is a fundamental part of who we are.

Purpose & Principles Our corporate purpose states that to succeed requires "the highest standards of corporate behaviour towards everyone we work with, the communities we touch, and the environment on which we have an impact."

Always working with integrity

We aim to make a positive impact in many ways: through our brands, our commercial operations and relationships, through voluntary contributions, and through the various other ways in which we engage with society.

Continuous commitment We're also committed to continuously improving the way we manage our environmental impacts and are working towards our longer-term goal of developing a sustainable business.

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Positive impact

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Conducting our operations with integrity and with respect for the many people, organisations and environments our business touches has always been at the heart of our corporate responsibility.

Setting out our aspirations Our corporate purpose sets out our aspirations in running our business. It's underpinned by our code of business Principles which describes the operational standards that everyone at Unilever follows, wherever they are in the world. The code also supports our approach to governance and corporate responsibility.

Working with others We want to work with suppliers who have values similar to our own and work to the same standards we do. Our Business partner code, aligned to our own Code of business principles, comprises ten principles covering business integrity and responsibilities relating to employees, consumers and the environment.

History of HUL In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it, began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an

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In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions.

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Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937.

international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton's links with India were forged in 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972 and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited was incorporated. Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986. Since the very early years, HUL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of economic growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious diversification, always in line with Indian opinions and aspirations. The liberalisation of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in HUL's and the Group's growth curve. Removal of the regulatory framework allowed the company to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity. Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the most visible and talked about events of India's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HUL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1996, HUL and yet another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture, Lakme Unilever Limited, to market Lakme's market-leading cosmetics and other appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold its brands to HUL and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company. HUL formed a 50-50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation in 1994, Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary Pads. HUL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Unilever Nepal Limited (UNL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the Himalayan kingdom. The UNL factory manufactures HUL's products like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to India. The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on the Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Ice-cream business from Cadbury India.

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Finally, BBLIL merged with HUL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond's (India) Limited (PIL) with HUL in 1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products, Speciality Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution system since 1993 for Personal Products. The two also had a common management pool and a technology base. The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group, benefits

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As a measure of backward integration, Tea Estates and Doom Dooma, two plantation companies of Unilever, were merged with Brooke Bond. Then in 1994, Brooke Bond India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL), enabling greater focus and ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. 1994 witnessed BBLIL launching the Wall's range of Frozen Desserts. By the end of the year, the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Kwality Ice-cream Group families and in 1995 the Milk-food 100% Ice-cream marketing and distribution rights too were acquired.

from scale economies both in domestic and export markets and enable it to fund investments required for aggressively building new categories. In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in Modern Foods to HUL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HUL's entry into Bread is a strategic extension of the company's wheat business. In 2002, HUL acquired the government's remaining stake in Modern Foods. In 2003, HUL acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised Crabmeat business of the Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products exports. HUL launched a slew of new business initiatives in the early part of 2000’s. Project Shakti was started in 2001. It is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 5000 individuals. It is a unique win-win initiative that catalyses rural affluence even as it benefits business. Currently, there are over 45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 100,000 villages across 15 states and reaching to over 3 million homes. In 2002, HUL made its foray into Ayurvedic health & beauty centre category with the Ayush product range and Ayush Therapy Centres. Hindustan Unilever Network, Direct to home business was launched in 2003 and this was followed by the launch of ‘Pure-it’ water purifier in 2004. In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited after receiving the approval of share holders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007. Brooke Bond and Surf Excel breached the the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark the same year followed by Wheel which crossed the Rs.2,000 crore sales milestone in 2008. On 17th October 2008, HUL completed 75 years of corporate existence in India.

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HUL means Hindustan Unilever Limited formally it is known as Hindustan Lever Limited (HUL) through a merger of Lever Brothers, Hindustan Vanaspati Mfg. Co. Ltd. and United Traders Ltd. in 1956. The company was renamed in late June 2007 to “Hindustan Unilever Limited”.

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MEANING OF THE NAME & HOW WAS IT NAMED& EVOLUTION OF THE NAME:

EVOLUTION OF THE LOGO:

The previous logo represents the green and healthy scenario of the Indian economy. And the current logo expresses “the vitality at the heart of our brands, our people and our values. Each icon within our logo represents an aspect of our business, showing that we add vitality in everything we do.”

(SUN): Our primary natural resource. All life begins with the sun – the ultimate symbol of vitality. It evokes Unilever's origins in Port Sunlight and can represent a number of our brands. Flora, Slim·Fast and Omo all use radiance to communicate their benefits.

(HAND & FLOWER): Hand is a symbol of sensitivity, care and need. It represents both skins and touch. Flower represents fragrance. When seen with the hand, it represents moisturizers or cream.

(DNA): The double helix, the genetic blueprint of life and a symbol of bioscience. It is the key to a healthy life. The sun is the biggest ingredient of life, and DNA the smallest.

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symbolize both environmental challenges and opportunities.

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(BEE): Represents creation, pollination, hard work and bio-diversity. Bees

(HAIR): A symbol of beauty and looking good. Placed next to the flower it evokes cleanliness and fragrance; placed near the hand it suggests softness.

(PALM TREE): A nurtured resource. It produces palm oil as well as many fruits – coconuts and dates – and also symbolizes paradise.

(SAUCES & SPREADS): Represents mixing or stirring. It suggests blending in flavors and adding taste.

(BOWL): A bowl of delicious-smelling food. It can also represent a ready meal, hot drink or soup.

(SPOON): A symbol of nutrition, tasting and cooking.

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(FISH): Represents food, sea or fresh water.

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(SPICE & FLAVOURS): Represents chilli or fresh ingredients.

(SPARKLE): Clean, healthy and sparkling with energy.

(BIRD): A symbol of freedom. It suggests a relief from daily chores, and getting more out of life.

(TEA): A plant or an extract of a plant, such as tea. Also a symbol of growing and farming.

(LIPS): Represent beauty, looking good and taste.

(ICE CREAM): A treat, pleasure and enjoyment.

(RECYCLE): Part of our commitment to sustainability. Page

(FROZEN): The plant is a symbol of freshness, the snowflake represents freezing. A transformational symbol.

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(PARTICLES): A reference to science, bubbles and fizz.

(CONTAINER): Symbolizes packaging - a pot of cream associated with personal care.

(HEART): A symbol of love, care and health.

(CLOTHES): Represent fresh laundry and looking good.

(WAVE & LIQUID): Wave symbolizes cleanliness, freshness and vigour. Liquid a reference to clean water and purity.

MILESTONES

188 8

Sunlight soap introduced in India.

189 5

Lifebuoy soap launched; Lever Brothers appoints agents in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Karachi.

190 2

Pears soap introduced in India.

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YE AR

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Chronology

190 5

Lux flakes introduced.

191 3

Vim scouring powder introduced.

191 4

Vinolia soap launched in India.

191 8

Vanaspati introduced by Dutch margarine manufacturers like Van den Berghs, Jurgens, Verschure Creameries, and Hartogs.

192 2

Rinso soap powder introduced.

192 4

Gibbs dental preparations launched.

192 5

Lever Brothers gets full control of North West Soap Company.

192 6

Hartogs registers Dalda Trademark.

193 0

Unilever is formed on January 1 through merger of Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie.

193 1

Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company registered on November 27; Sewri factory site bought.

193 2

Vanaspati manufacture starts at Sewri.

193 3

Application made for setting up soap factory next to the Vanaspati factory at Sewri; Lever Brothers India Limited incorporated on October 17.

193 4

Soap manufacture begins at Sewri factory in October; North West Soap Company's Garden Reach Factory, Kolkata rented and expanded to produce Lever brands.

193 5

United Traders incorporated on May 11 to market Personal Products.

193 7

Mr. Prakash Tandon, one of covenanted managers, joins HVM.

193 9

Garden Reach Factory purchased outright; concentration on building up Dalda Vanaspati as a brand.

the

first

Indian

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Brooke Bond Red Label tea launched.

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190 3

194 1

Agencies in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Karachi taken over; company acquires own sales force.

194 2

Unilever takes firm decision to "train Indians to take over junior and senior management positions instead of Europeans".

194 3

Personal Products manufacture begins in India at Garden Reach Factory.

194 4

Reorganisation of the three companies with common management but separate marketing operations.

194 7

Pond's Cold Cream launched.

195 1

Mr. Prakash Tandon becomes first Indian Director. Shamnagar, Tiruchy, and Ghaziabad Vanaspati factories bought.

195 5

65% of managers are Indians.

195 6

Three companies merge to form Hindustan Unilever Limited, with 10% Indian equity participation.

195 7

Unilever Special Committee activity by Hindustan Unilever.

195 8

Research Unit starts functioning at Mumbai Factory.

195 9

Surf launched.

196 1

Mr. Prakash Tandon takes over as the first Indian Chairman; 191 of the 205 managers are Indians.

196 2

Formal Exports Department starts.

196 3

Head Office building Mumbai, opened.

196 4

Etah dairy set up, Anik ghee launched; Animal feeds plant at Ghaziabad; Sunsilk shampoo launched.

196 5

Signal toothpaste increases to 14%.

196 6

Lever's baby food, more new foods introduced; Nickel catalyst production begins; Indian shareholding increases to 15%. Statutory price control on Vanaspati; Taj Mahal tea launched.

196 7

Hindustan Mumbai.

Backbay

Research

Indian

Reclamation,

shareholding

Centre,

opens

in

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launched;

research

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Unilever

at

approves

196 8

Mr. V. G. Rajadhyaksha takes over as Chairman from Mr. Prakash Tandon; Fine Chemicals Unit commissioned at Andheri; informal price control on soap begins.

196 9

Rin bar launched; Fine Chemicals production; Bru coffee launched

197 1

Mr. V. G. Rajadhyaksha presents plan for diversification into chemicals to Unilever Special Committee - plan approved; Clinic shampoo launched.

197 3

Mr. T. Thomas takes over as Chairman from Mr. V. G. Rajadhyaksha.

197 4

Pilot plant for industrial chemicals at Taloja; informal price control on soaps withdrawn; Liril marketed.

197 5

Ten-year modernisation plan for soaps and detergent plants; Jammu project work begins; statutory price control on Vanaspati and baby foods withdrawn; Close-up toothpaste launched.

197 6

Construction work of Haldia chemicals complex begins; Taloja chemicals unit begins functioning.

197 7

Jammu synthetic Detergents plant inaugurated; Indian shareholding increases to 18.57%.

197 8

Indian shareholding increases to 34%; Fair & Lovely skin cream launched.

197 9

Sodium Tripolyphospate commissioned.

198 0

Dr. A. S. Ganguly takes over as Chairman from Mr. T. Thomas; Unilever shareholding in the company comes down to 51%.

198 2

Government allows 51% Unilever shareholding.

198 4

Foods, Animal Feeds businesses transferred to Lipton.

198 6

Agri-products unit at Hyderabad starts functioning first range of hybrid seeds comes out; Khamgaon Soaps unit and Yavatmal Personal Products unit start production.

198 8

Launch of Lipton Taaza tea.

199

Mr. S. M. Datta takes over as Chairman from Dr. A. S.

plant

Unit

at

starts

Haldia

Page

15

0

Ganguly.

199 1

Surf Ultra detergent launched.

199 2

HUL recognised by Government of India as Star Trading House in Exports.

199 4

HUL's largest competitor, Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO), merges with the company, the biggest such in Indian industry till that time. HUL forms Unilever Nepal Limited, HUL and US-based Kimberley-Clark Corporation form 50:50 joint venture - Kimberley-Clark Lever Ltd. - to market Huggies diapers and Kotex feminine care products. Factory set up at Pune in 1995; HUL acquires Kwality and Milkfood 100% brandnames and distribution assets. HUL introduces Wall's.

199 6

Mr. K. B. Dadiseth takes over as Chairman from Mr. S. M. Datta; Merger of Group company, Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited, with HUL, with effect from January 1; HUL introduces branded atta; Surf Excel launched.

199 7

Unilever sets up International Research Laboratory in Bangalore; new Regional Innovation Centres also come up.

199 8

Group company, Pond's India Ltd., merges with HUL with effect from January 1, 1998. HUL acquires Lakme brand, factories and Lakme Ltd.'s 50% equity in Lakme Lever Ltd.

200 0

Mr. M. S. Banga takes over as Chairman from Mr. K. B. Dadiseth, who joins the Unilever Board; HUL acquires 74% stake in Modern Food Industries Ltd., the first public sector company to be disinvested by the Government of India.

200 2

HUL enters Ayurvedic health & beauty centre category with the Ayush range and Ayush Therapy Centres.

200 3

Launch of Hindustan Lever Network; acquisition of the Amalgam Group

200 4

Launch of "Pure-it" water purifiers

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HUL and Indian cosmetics major, Lakme Ltd., form 50:50 joint venture - Lakme Lever Ltd.; HUL enters branded staples business with salt; HUL recognised as Super Star Trading House.

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199 6

200 6

Brookefields food operations moved to Mumbai

200 7

Company name formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited after receiving the approval of share holders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007 Sales of Brooke Bond and Surf Excel each cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark

200 8

HUL completes 75 years on 17th October 2008

Corporate Governance I believe that nothing can be greater than a business, however small it may be, that is governed by conscience; and that nothing can be meaner or pettier than a business, however large, governed without honesty and without brotherhood.” -William Hesketh Lever

To succeed, we believe, requires the highest standards of corporate behaviour towards everyone we work with, the communities we touch, and the environment on which we have an impact. This is our road to sustainable, profitable growth and creating long-term value for our shareholders, our people, and our business partners. The Company's foundation has therefore been rooted to stringent Corporate Governance principles. At Hindustan Unilever, we believe that the principles of

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Our approach to Corporate Governance

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Transparency and accountability are the two basic tenets of Corporate Governance. We, at Hindustan Unilever, feel proud to belong to a Company whose visionary founders had laid the foundation stone for good governance long back and made it an integral principle of the business, demonstrated in the words above.

fairness, transparency and accountability are the cornerstones for good governance. The HUL Code of Business Principles reflects the Company's commitment to these principles. It is the Company's endeavour to continue to achieve highest governance levels. As regards the compliance with the requirements of Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement with the Stock Exchanges, the Company is in full compliance with the norms and disclosures. BOARD OF DIRECTORS The Board of Directors of the Company represents an optimum mix of professionalism, knowledge and experience. The total strength of the Board of Directors of the Company is 10 Directors comprising a Non-Executive Chairman, four Executive Directors and five Non-Executive Independent Directors. COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD Audit Committee The Audit Committee of the Company is entrusted with the responsibility to supervise the Company’s internal control and financial reporting process. The Audit Committee also looks into controls and security of the Company’s critical IT applications,

Remuneration and Compensation Committee The Remuneration Committee is vested with all the necessary powers and authority to ensure appropriate disclosure on the remuneration of whole-time Directors and to deal with all the elements of remuneration package of all such Directors within the limits approved by the members of the Company. The Compensation Committee administers the stock option plan of the Company.

Other Functional Committees Apart from the above statutory committees, the Board of Directors have constituted

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The Committee specifically looks into redressing of investors’ complaints with respect to transfer of shares, non-receipt of shares, non-receipt of declared dividends and ensure expeditious share transfer process. The Committee also monitors and reviews the performance and service standards of the Registrar and Share Transfer Agents of the Company and provides continuous guidance to improve the service levels for investors..

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Shareholder/Investor Grievances Committee

other functional committees such as committee for approving disposal of surplus assets of the Company, committee for allotment of shares under ESOP to raise the level of governance as also to meet the specific business needs.

CSR Activities

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Sales (2007-2008) = Rs.14000 crores (rounded off) Net profit after tax = Rs.2000 crores (rounded off) CSR Budget: Not Available

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Corporate Social Responsibility. (CSR) at HUL.

GREENING BARRIERS: Water Conservation and Harvesting (Linked to product Pure-it) HUL's Water Conservation and Harvesting project has two major objectives: a. to reduce water consumption in its own operations and regenerate sub-soil water tables at its own sites through the principles of 5R - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover and Renew; b. help adjacent villages to implement appropriate models of watershed development.

SHAKTI - Changing Lives in Rural India Shakti is HUL's rural initiative, which targets small villages with population of less than 2000 people or less. It seeks to empower underprivileged rural women by providing income-generating opportunities, health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani programme, and creating access to relevant information through the iShakti community portal. In general, rural women in India are underprivileged and need a sustainable source of income. NGOs, governmental bodies and other institutions have been working to improve the status of rural women. Shakti is a pioneering effort in creating livelihoods for rural women, organised in Self-Help Groups (SHGs), and improving living standards in rural India. Shakti provides critically needed additional income to these women and their families, by equipping and training them to become an extended arm of the company's operation.

HEALTH & HYGIENE EDUCATION Lifebuoy Swastya Chetna (LBSC) is a rural health and hygiene initiative which was started in 2002. LBSC was initiated in media dark villages (in UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Orissa) with the objective of spreading awareness about the importance of washing hands with soap.

The Fair & Lovely Foundation is HUL's initiative which aims at economic empowerment of women across India. It aims to achieve this through providing

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ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

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The need for a program of this nature arose from the fact that diarrhoeal diseases are a major cause of death in the world today. It is estimated that diarrhoea claims the life of a child every 10 seconds and one third of these deaths are in India. According to a study done by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the simple practice of washing hands with soap and water can reduce diarrhoea by as much as 47%. However, ignorance of such basic hygiene practices leads to high mortality rates in rural India.

information, resources, inputs and support in the areas of education, career and enterprise. It specifically targets women from low-income groups in rural as well as urban India. Fair & Lovely, as a brand, stands on the economic empowerment platform and the Foundation is an extension of this promise. The Foundation has renowned Indian women, from various walks of life, as its advisors. Among them are educationists, NGO activists, physicians. The Foundation is implementing its activities in association with state governments.

SPECIAL EDUCATION & REHABILITATION Under the Happy Homes initiative, HUL supports special education and rehabilitation of children with challenges. Asha Daan: The initiative began in 1976, when HUL supported Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity to set up Asha Daan, a home in Mumbai for abandoned, challenged children, and the destitute. Ankur: In 1993, HUL's Doom Dooma Plantation Division set up Ankur, a centre for special education of challenged children. The centre takes care of children with challenges, aged between 5 and 15 years. Ankur provides educational, vocational and recreational activities to over 35 children with a range of challenges, including sight or hearing impairment, polio related disabilities, cerebral palsy and severe learning difficulties. Kappagam: Encouraged by Ankur's success, Kappagam ("shelter"), the second centre for special education of challenged children, was set up in 1998 on HUL Plantations in South India. It has 17 children. The focus of Kappagam is the same as that of Ankur. Anbagam: Yet another day care center, Anbagam ("shelter of love"), has been started in 2003 also in the South India Plantations. It takes care of 11 children. Besides medical care and meals, they too are being taught skills such that they can become self-reliant and elementary studies. Page

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Company Structure Hindustan Unilever Limited is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company. It is present in Home & Personal Care and Foods & Beverages categories. HUL has about 15,000 employees, including over 1400 managers

The fundamental principle determining the organisation structure is to infuse speed and flexibility in decision-making and implementation, with empowered managers across the company’s nationwide operations.

Board of Directors The Board of Directors as repositories of the corporate powers act as a guardian to the Company as also the protectors of shareholder’s interest.

Executive directors The Executive directors are members of the Management Committee as well as the Board of HUL.

HUL

Mr. Nitin Paranjpe - CEO and Managing Director

Mr. Nitin Paranjpe (46), after obtaining a degree in BE (Mechanical) and MBA in Marketing (JBIMS) from Mumbai, joined the Company as a management trainee in 1987.

Mr. R. Sridhar - Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Sridhar Ramamurthy (45) is a Chartered Accountant (Gold Medallist) as well as a Cost Accountant and Company Secretary.

Mr. Gopal Vittal - Executive Director, Home & Personal Care Mr. Gopal Vittal (42), an alumnus of Madras Christian College, completed his MBA from IIM, Kolkata. Mr. Vittal has 18 years experience in Marketing & Sales in FMCG market including Skin Care, Soaps and Laundry. Page

Mr Pradeep Banerjee (51) joined HUL as a Management Trainee in 1980.

Non-executive directors The non-executive directors are the independent directors in the HUL Board Harish Manwani - Chairman

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Mr Pradeep Banerjee - Executive Director, Supply Chain

Mr. Harish Manwani (55), assumed charge as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Company with effect from 1stJuly, 2005.

D. S. Parekh - Independent Director

Mr. D. S. Parekh (64), is a B.Com graduate and holds a FCA degree from England and Wales. Mr. Parekh has held senior positions in Grindlays and Chase Manhattan.

(Late)C. K. Prahalad - Independent Director Prof. C. K. Prahalad (67), is the Paul and Ruth McCracken distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy at the University of Michigan. He received his Doctorate of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

A. Narayan - Independent Director

Mr. A. Narayan (57), joined ICI India as a Management Trainee in 1973 and grew through diverse functions and businesses before being appointed as the Managing Director of ICI India in 1996.

S. Ramadorai - Independent Director

Mr. S. Ramadorai (64), is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services Limited; Chairman of Tata Technologies Limited and Chairman of CMC Limited.

R. A. Mashelkar - Independent Director

The day-to-day management of affairs of the Company is vested with the Management Committee which is subjected to the overall superintendence and control of the Board.

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Management Committee

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Dr. R. A. Mashelkar (66), is presently the President of Global Research Alliance, a network of publicly funded R&D institutes from Asia-Pacific Europe and USA.

The Management Committee is headed by Mr. Nitin Paranjpe and has functional heads as its members representing various functions of the Company

Mr. Nitin Paranjpe - CEO and Managing Director

Mr. Nitin Paranjpe (46), after obtaining a degree in BE (Mechanical) and MBA in Marketing (JBIMS) from Mumbai, joined the Company as a management trainee in 1987.

Mr. R. Sridhar - Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Sridhar Ramamurthy (45) is a Chartered Accountant (Gold Medallist) as well as a Cost Accountant and Company Secretary.

Mr. Shreejit Mishra - Executive Director, Foods

Mr. Shreejit Mishra (44), joined HUL on June 1st 1987. His 20 year experience in the company comprises of stints in General Management, Marketing Innovation and Activation, Brand & Services Development, Sales Management and Project Management.

Mr. Gopal Vittal - Executive Director, Home & Personal Care

Mr. Gopal Vittal (42), an alumnus of Madras Christian College, completed his MBA from IIM, Kolkata. Mr. Vittal has 18 years experience in Marketing & Sales in FMCG market including Skin Care, Soaps and Laundry.

Mr Pradeep Banerjee - Executive Director, Supply Chain

Mr Pradeep Banerjee (51) joined HUL as a Management Trainee in 1980.

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Mr. Hemanth Bakshi (44) joined the Company in June 1989 and has worked in various sales and marketing assignments spanning across Personal Products and Home Care categories.

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Mr. Hemant Bakshi - Executive Director

Mr. Ashok Gupta - Executive Director, Legal

Mr. Ashok Gupta (51), after acquiring Masters Degrees in Commerce & Laws, and having qualified as a Company Secretary and Cost Accountant, joined Unilever India in 1989 as Legal Manager (in Lipton India Ltd.).

Ms. Leena Nair - Executive Director, HR

Ms. Leena (40) is an Electronic Engineer who discovered her passion for people and HR and switched lanes. She is a gold medalist and MBA in HR from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

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Brands for life (Product Line)

From sumptuous soups to sensuous soaps, our products all have one thing in common. They help you get more out of life. Two out of three Indians use Hindustan Unilever products. From feeding your family to keeping your home clean and fresh, our brands are part of everyday life.

Food Brands HUL is one of India’s leading food companies. Our passion for understanding what people want and need from their food - and what they love about it - makes our brands a popular choice

Brooke Bond 3 Roses Playful banter, a little mischief, serious conversation… there’s no time for young couples like the time spent sharing a cup of 3 Roses.

To keep a relationship going, every young couple needs a little time to talk. The perfect colour, strength and aroma of 3 Roses creates that perfect tea moment where couples can spend time talking about the everyday issues that matter to them. Whether it is playful banter, a little mischief or serious conversation, in the final reckoning, it’s these little moments and conversations that make relationships stronger. Key facts

Annapurna Partnering with the mom in nurturing her dreams, Annapurna Atta is aimed at helping her provide wholesome tasty nutrition to her family.

Annapurna Atta is aimed at helping the homemaker provide wholesome, tasty nutrition to her family.

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3 Roses is a 30 year old regional brand and is the market leader in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest FMCG brands in Tamil Nadu across categories. It has a strong presence in both in home and out of home segments. It has two functionally differentiated variants - 3 Roses Natural Care and 3 Roses Mind Sharp. Available in 3 Packs: 3 Roses Regular, 3 Roses Natural Care, 3 Roses Mind Sharp

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Launched nationally in 1998, Annapurna Atta is aimed at helping the homemaker provide wholesome, tasty nutrition to her family. Annapurna was awarded the prestigious ‘Awaaz Consumer Award” for the most preferred brand of atta for two successive years in 2006 and 2007 Key facts •

Awarded the prestigious “Awaaz Consumer Award” for the most preferred brand of atta for 2006 and 2007.

Available in 2 Packs: Annapurna Atta, Anna Pack 3

Red Label

India’s favourite cup of tea, the great taste of Red Label brings people closer together and strengthens relationships.

The brew that bonds. The taste of Red Label brings alive the little moments that bring us closer to people we love. It is the simple act of sharing a cup of Red Label that often adds magic to everyday moments, strengthening the relationships that matter most to us. Life is lived in those moments, one sip at a time. Key facts •

Red Label is a 105 year old brand and has tremendous equity and heritage in the Indian market. • It is the second largest tea brand in the country. • It has both leaf and dust variants, as well as a health and immunity variant Red Label Natural Care. • It is now proven that regular consumption of 3 cups of Red Label Natural Care every day can enhance one's immunity and help one fall ill less often. • Red Label holds the Guinness Record for the worlds largest tea party. Available in 2 packs: Red Label, Red Label Natural Care.

The great refreshment of Taaza inspires women to have an identity beyond their homes and to refresh their lives. Many young women in emerging India live life bound within their roles as a mother, wife and daughter in law. In the process, they lose their own identity. However, a changing India and examples of women achievers as portrayed by media, is leading

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Brooke Bond Taaza lifts me and unshackles my mind, allowing me to see and realize possibilities.

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Brooke Bond Taaza

to an awakening of her desire to carve out an identity for herself. She is however limited by her own inhibitions and a sense of inertia. Key facts • •

Taaza is a 20 year old brand with strong presence in North & West India. It is the 3rd largest tea brand in the country with a portfolio spanning in both leaf and dust segments. • It has a strong presence in the out of home segment in South India. Available in 2 Packs: Taaza, Taaza Thanda

Taj Mahal

Brooke Bond Taj Mahal is an exclusive selection of teas for the discerning consumer.

A taste for the finer things in life. Crafted from carefully selected tender leaves from India’s finest tea gardens, the lingering aroma of Taj Mahal always has an impact. When a cup of Taj is served, compliments follow. Taj Mahal is not just a cup of tea, it is a sensory experience. Key facts • • • • •

Taj Mahal was launched in 1966 by Brooke Bond. Ustad Zakir Hussain, the tabla maestro was the brands ambassador for almost two decades, exemplifying both discernment as well as the pursuit of excellence. Taj Mahal since 2007 has Saif Ali Khan as its ambassador, a relevant choice for today’s Indian Taj Mahal is the most premium brand of tea in the Indian market. It was the first brand to launch tea bags and is the only tea brand in India to be sold in vacuum sealed packs. Available in 3 Packs: Taj Mahal, Taj Mahal Tea Bags, Taj Mahal Flavoured Tea Bags Page

Ek cup Bru aur mood ban jae…

Some moments in life are special and close to the heart. Bru makes these moments with loved ones even more magical…Its India’s largest coffee brand that offers a range of products in Instant coffee, Conventional coffee and premixes....Its rich aroma and unique blend makes every moment come alive…

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Bru

In the year 1962 Brooke Bond India creates the branded roast and ground coffee segment launching Deluxe green label. 1968 gave birth to the first Instant coffee chicory mix under the brand name Bru… Key Facts • • • • •

Number 1 coffee brand in India Unilever’s only coffee brand Enjoys a rich heritage, came into existence in 1962 under the brand name Deluxe green label Consistently offering better and newer products to the consumer through improved packaging solutions and innovative product formats Enjoys a strong presence at various out of home locations. Available in 4 Packs: Bru Roast and Ground- India’s original filter coffee, Bru Instant now with even more aroma, Bru Ice cappuccino, Bru hot cappuccino in 4 exciting flavours.

Kissan

With Kissan, good food is loved not shoved!

Kissan acts as a catalyst, easing stressful moments at the dining table. With Kissan, good food is loved not shoved! Kissan wants to be the brand which will help dissolve tension between mother and the family during informal good food moments. Key facts • •

Kissan is in its 62nd year of its existence in India. Category leaders in Jams with an All India Share of 65%. Variants Available: Kissan Jam, Kissan Juice, Kissan Tomato Ketchup, Kissan Tomato Ketchup, Kissan Jam Squeeze Green Apple, Kissan Jam Squeeze Mango, Kissan Jam Squeeze Pineapple, Kissan Jam Squeeze Strawberry.

Good nutrition is the key for developing children’s’ brains and bodies to their full potential. Kissan Amaze Brainfood helps moms contribute to their kid’s brighter future by helping their mental development. Kissan Amaze Brainfood is a range of nutritious products specifically designed to provide 33% of key brain nutrients children need daily for mental development.

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Kissan Amaze Brainfood is specifically designed for the mental development of kids.

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Kissan Amaze Brainfood

Amaze fits in a healthy diet and has a nutritional composition in line with international recommended dietary intakes for balanced nutrition for school children. The “bad nutrients” like sugars, salt, trans fat and saturated fat are kept as low as possible and adequate quantities of all the key nutrients which support the development of the brain (like Iodine, Zinc and Omega 3 fatty Acids and B Vitamins), in particular are added. Key facts • • • •

Specifically designed for the mental development of children Provides 33% of key brain nutrients. Available in Smart Mix & Brainy Bites. Available in the state of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka. Range Available: Smart Mix in Chocolate & Vanilla Flavours, Brainy Bars in Chocolate Flavour

Knorr Knorr helps families make meal times special, nutritious, tasty and healthy.

Knorr helps families make nutritious, tasty and healthy.

meal

times

special,

It is not wrong to say that the category of soups was launched by Knorr in India. The Knorr range of soups is available in a number of tasty and exciting varieties. There is a flavour to literally suit every taste palate; the Classic range of soups with flavours like Thick Tomato, Mixed Vegetable and Chicken Delite, the Oriental range with flavours like Sweet Corn Vegetable, Sweet Corn Chicken and Hot n Sour and the Snacky range (pasta /noodles in soup) with innovative flavours like Masala Twisty Pasta soup and Thai Curry Noodle soup. This year has also seen the addition of the Indian soup range with lip smacking flavours inspired by Indian cuisine; these include soups like Tomato Chatpata, Corn Mast Masala , Veg Hara Bhara, etc. Key facts • •

Kwality Wall’s A good honest scoop of daily pleasure.

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Tomato Twisty Pasta Soup, Tomato Chatpata Soup, Chinese Manchurian, Paneer Butter Masala, Punjabi Chana Masala

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Knorr in India is generic to soups. Knorr is the largest soup brand in India and has a lion’s share of the soup market in India – 70% All Knorr products have no added preservatives and are a healthy choice option. Range Available: Classic Thick Tomato Soup, Sweet Corn Veg Soup, Hot n Sour Veg soup

Kwality Wall’s, the brand with a big heart, offers a range of delightful frozen desserts that bring smiles to the faces of millions of Indians – kids, teens and adults. We do so with our very popular brands - Cornetto, Feast, Paddle Pop, Selection & our award winning parlour concept, Swirl’s. In a world of stress, denial and restraint, providing moments of daily pleasure to consumers, through our delightfully delicious products, is our passion. We believe in spreading happiness and smiles through every cone, cup, stick and tub we sell. Our biggest satisfaction comes from the look of bliss and happiness of our consumers faces, as they devour our products. Our passion is inspired by our love for simple ingredients like Milk, Fruit and Chocolate, which make our products the best “Pleasure Food” there is. Mention ice cream, and most people in India think of Kwality Wall’s and the big heart. The brand with the big heart logo is behind many much-loved ice cream classics - from indulgent treats like Cornetto & Feast (for teens and young adults), to Moo & Paddle Pop (for kids), to family favourites like our Selection range of Red Tubs, Italian Gelato and Viennetta. Key facts • • • •

Unilever is the world's largest ice cream manufacturer with an annual turnover of more than €5 billion. Heartbrand products are sold in more than 40 countries worldwide Also sold as Algida in Italy & Turkey, Langnese in Germany, Kibon in Brazil, Streets in Australia and Ola in the Netherlands Kwality Wall’s turnover has doubled in the last 3 years. We strive to keep driving the business at growth rates significantly ahead of market, and become the number one frozen dessert/ Ice Cream player in India. Range Available: Cornetto, Feast, Paddle Pop, Selection

Lipton

Lipton has a range of vitality teas that truly encompass the goodness of tea

The range also contains, Lipton Clear Green tea, which combines the goodness of antioxidants and purifying effect of water to help cleanse your body naturally.

Key facts Lipton is the #1 tea brand in the world

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Lipton Yellow Label is a premium, full-bodied tea, made out of the finest teas, perfect for the ‘healthy’ Indian .Lipton Yellow Label has a unique blend that has high levels of natural Theanine, which along with other goodness of tea can help you clear your mind.

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Worlds #1 tea brand

Ranges Available: Lipton Yellow Label, Lipton Clear Green Tea, Lipton Darjeeling Tea

Home Care Brands HUL has a diverse portfolio of brands offering home care solutions for millions of consumers across India.

Active Wheel Active Wheel de "Mehnat se Aazadi" Freedom from painful & tiring laundry.

• • • •

Wheel, biggest laundry brand in India, dominates a complex mass market laundry business in India. Sales Turnover of about 1500 crs in 2007 as per AC Nielson Data. Wheel powder commands the market with 20 shares as per AC Nielson data. Its contribution to HPC business in Value and Volume terms is 17% and 47% respectively. Range Available: Active Wheel Easy Wash (Blue), Active Wheel Easy Wash – Green, Active Wheel – Gold

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Key Facts

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Active Wheel enables consumers to perform laundry chores, giving “Great Clean” within less effort.

Cif Cif- the best cleaner to let you shine. Cif- The World’s leading cream cleaner which gives you the power to deal with the toughest dirt is now in India. You can use Cif on all types of surfaces- Kitchen tiles, gas stove, kitchen platform, floor, mirror, fridge, taps, bath tub and furniture. Key Facts • • • •

Cif is the number 1 cream cleaner in the World. It is the number one cleaner in various countries including France, Germany, Russia. It’s a 500 million Euro Brand. Cif is Sold in 51 countries around the globe. Range Available: Cif Pack Blue, Cif Pack Yellow

Comfort The world’s largest fabric conditioner brand. For most homemakers, ensuring their family's wellbeing is of utmost importance. Every task, whether it’s preparing a meal or washing the clothes, is an expression of her love and affection for the family. The world’s largest fabric conditioner brand. Worldwide sales of over Euro 750 million. (approx. 4,500 crore) Comfort is the No. 1 in 14 of the 23 countries in which it is sold! Range Available: Comfort Lilly Fresh, Comfort Blue

Domex The sheer power of Domex bleach gives you the confidence you need, eradicating all known germs.

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Key facts

The sheer power of Domex bleach gives you the confidence you need, eradicating all known germs. With Domex, you can be absolutely certain that the job is done. Key facts • • • •

Domex is the number 1 or 2 bleach in 9 countries ( Croatia, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, South Africa). Domex is sold in 35 countries globally. There are more than €250 million sales of Domex every year. Domex is also sold as Domestos, Glorix, Klinex. Range Available: Domex Toilet Cleaner – Blue, Domex Toilet Cleaner - Pine Blast, Domex Toilet Cleaner – Lemon Explosion, Domex Toilet Cleaner – Pink Power, Domex Disinfectant Floor Cleaner, Domex Phenolic, Domex Atlantic Toilet Block, Domex Citrus Toilet Block,

Rin Rin provides ‘best in class whiteness’ which is demonstrable. Clothes talk for us. Rin plays an integral part in enabling us to look good by providing demonstrably superior whites, giving us the confidence to realize our ambitions. Sparkling white - clean clothes not only help us form great impressions on the people we meet but also provide us confidence to realize our ambitions. Rin understands this need and strives to deliver best in class whiteness through continuous innovation and product improvements supported by memorable campaigns like “Uski saari, meri saari se safed kaise” in the 90s to “Safedi ka Shehanshah” with Amitabh Bachchan. In 2007, Rin introduced the first ever shade in the laundry category, offering proof of whiteness to consumers with the “Kya Saboot Hai” campaign with Boman Irani. In 2008 Rin has been re launched and now provides “Dugni Safedi, Dugni Chamak” as compared to ordinary powders.

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Rin was launched in India as a bar in 1969 with the iconic lightning mnemonic. Rin powder was launched in 1994 as Rin Power White Rin Matic for washing machines, launched in July 2008 Sold in developing markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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Key Facts

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Rin Matic, a specialist washing machine powder, launched in July 2008, is based on the insight that ordinary powders do not deliver under machine wash conditions, thus requiring intervention. Hence, leading to a situation aptly articulated in the tagline “Machine kare maaze, Biwi ghar pe kapde ghise”. Now with Rin Matic consumers can delegate laundry back to machine, because “Chamkti safedi hai, machine aur Rin Matic ka kaam”.

•

Sold as Brilhante (Brazil), Rin (India) and under other local brand names. Range Available: Rin Bar, Rin Powder, Rin Jasmine Powder, Rin Matic

Sunlight Sunlight is a color care brand A dash of pink, a splash of yellow, a hint of purple and a bit of orange. Colours can liven up any wardrobe and can make you look and feel precious and if there’s one detergent brand that’s committed to colour care, it’s Sunlight. Sunlight keeps your clothes sparkling clean besides keeping the colours bright for long and preventing any colour loss. That’s why its patrons haveelevated it to the status of the No. 1 brand in the states it is present in, Bengal and Kerala Key Facts • •

First Brand of unilever in India No 1 brand in Kerala and West Bengal Range Available: Sunlight 1kg, Sunlight Sachet

Surf Excel Giving your kids the freedom to get dirty and experience life, safe in the knowledge that Surf Excel will remove those stains.

Key Facts Surf Excel was introduced in 1959 Range Available: Surf Excel Quick Wash Detergent Powder, Surf Excel Blue Detergent Powder, Surf Excel Detergent Bar, Surf Excel Gentle Wash, Surf Excel Matic Top Load, Surf Excel Quick Wash Detergent Powder

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Surf Excel quick wash is powered with a path-breaking technology- it reduces water consumption and time taken for rinsing by 50%. It is a significant benefit, given the acute water scarcity in most of India.

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When children go out to play and get dirty, they don't just collect stains. They experience life, make friends, share with each other and learn from each other. This helps them get stronger and get ready for the world outside.

Vim Created in 1885, the Vim brand is still innovating and using the magic of natural ingredients to create unbeatable results over a hundred years later. Created in 1885, the Vim brand is still innovating and using the magic of natural ingredients to create unbeatable results over a hundred years later. Key Facts • • •

Vim was the original hand dishwashing brand: so we invented the whole category! Vim is sold in four continents, is the leading hand dishwashing brand in twenty countries, and is available to more than 2 billion people around the world. Vim began life as a soap (both in England, and in Thailand, where King Rama V asked Unilever to supply his household with soap), but is now available as a complete range of hand dishwashing – including bars, powders and liquids. Range Available: Vim Plastic Coated Bar, Vim Anti-Bactria Bar with Plastic Coat, Vim Ultra Powder, Vim Popular, Vim Drop Active Gel Lemon, Vim Drop Active Gel Lime, Vim Drop Active Gel Orange, Vim Drop Active Gel Pouch.

Personal Care Brands Our personal care brands, including Axe, Dove, Lux, Pond's, Rexona and Sunsilk, are recognised and love by consumers across India. They help consumers to look good and feel good – and in turn get more out of life. Page

The Aviance promise Aviance believes that no two women are alike. A truly beautiful woman is constantly searching for ways to express and celebrate her own individuality. Aviance was created to empower this woman. Encourage her. And help her become all she can be.

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Aviance Aviance enables women actualize their unique potential through expert customized beauty solutions.

Total beauty solutions Aviance is an exquisite range of high technology, high performance expert beauty solutions for today’s progressive woman. The Aviance range of beauty solutions includes customized skincare, haircare and a wide range of cosmetics that are developed using Unilever’s advanced technology to deliver results you can see. What truly sets Aviance apart from other beauty products is the fact that Aviance products are brought to women with professional beauty advise from trained Aviance Consultants.

Axe

Axe with Best Quality Fragrance

AXE is a cool, iconic, youth brand available in more than 60 countries. In India, Axe, which has been launched in 1999, is the largest selling Male Deodorant. AXE is a cool, iconic, youth brand available in more than 60 countries around the world. It was launched in India in 1999 and has already become the largest selling Male Deodorant in India. Apart from the deos, Axe also provides a grooming range for the young Indian male, viz. Shaving Gel, Foam, After-Shave lotion, and Cologne Talc. Key facts • •

Number 1 male deodorant brand in India. Available in over 60 countries first. Range Available: Axe Instinct - Deodorant & After shaving lotion, Axe DarkTemptation - Deodorant & After shaving lotion, Axe Pulse - Deodorant & After shaving lotion, Axe Denim – Deodorant & After shaving lotion, Axe Click – Deodorant, Axe Touch – Deodorant, Axe Dimension – Deodorant Limited Edition, Axe Summer – Deodorant Limited Edition

Rapid urbanization, booming economy, new job opportunities and high disposable incomes in India have paved way for an affluent lifestyle. But they also put you at the risk of lifestyle diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart diseases etc. Through Ayush, this new generation of Indians can rediscover everyday health and vitality through customized Ayurvedic solutions.

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LEVER Ayush aims to help a new generation of Indians rediscover everyday health and vitality through customized Ayurvedic solutions.

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LEVER Ayush Therapy

Ayush Therapy range is endorsed by Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, one of India’s most reputed houses of Ayurveda and created by Hindustan Unilever Ltd., India’s leading FMCG company. Key Facts • • • •

LEVER Ayush has five categories across health care and personal care range LEVER Ayush is a unique combination of the Truth of Ayurveda with the Proof of Science. It is also endorsed by Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Coimbatore Free from harmful levels of heavy metals like Arsenic, Mercury and Lead; Pesticides and Bacterial contamination.

Breeze

Breeze, with the goodness of glycerine gives soft, fragrant and smooth skin.

Breeze makes use of a new revolutionary global technology which enhances the impact of world class perfumes in a much larger way, apart from bringing out the goodness of glycerine. New Breeze is filled with the goodness of glycerine, which makes your skin soft and smooth. Key facts • •

Launched in 1988 as a family beauty soap with the promise of a fresh feeling of nature Comes in 5 attractive variants Lemon Twist, Rose Mallika, Sandal Sparsh, Rajni gandha & Morning Muskaan

New Clear. Zero dandruff, Just fabulous hair The Clinic All Clear brand was launched in 1980 in India. It was known as Clinic Special then and its name was later changed to Clinic All Clear in 1996.The brand is also present as Clear in 14 other countries worldwide. To align itself to the international quality standards this year Clinic All Clear has been relaunched this year as Clear. Clear is available in 5 variants, each catering to a specific scalp/hair need. •

Clear Active Care

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New Clear with Essential Oils, guarantees Zero dandruff and leaves your hair feeling fabulous.

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Clear

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Clear Ice Cool Clear Hairfall Defense Clear Soft Gloss Clear Radiant Black Key facts

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Presence in countries like Indonesia, thailand, phillipines, vietnam, arabia, russia, turkey etc Clinic is Clear is the only brand that offers specially formulated Anti dandruff shampoo for men Clinic All Clear also has Anti Dandruff Hair Oil that Fights dandruff gently and effectively, giving you dandruff free hair. Strengthens hair from scalp to give you hair full of health.

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Clinic Plus

Clinic Plus is India’s largest selling shampoo and has won the trust the millions of families across India.

Clinic Plus understands that healthy hair is an important asset which helps your family progress in life and empowers you. For over 20 years, for most Indians, a shampoo means Clinic Plus. Over this period of time the brand has constantly evolved to meet the hair care needs of millions. Clinic Plus appeals the most to mothers and daughters who are most concerned about the health of their hair. Clinic plus offers 3 types of shampoos: Clinic Plus Clean and Thick Shampoo Clinic Plus Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Clinic Plus Naturals Shampoo

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Largest selling shampoo in India. Largest distributed shampoo in India Its known as ‘Lifebuoy’ in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam and in Philippines its known as ‘Vaseline’ It’s a huge $200mn brand across the 6 countries where it is present.

Closeup

Freshness that brings you Closer

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Key facts

Closeup is synonymous with ‘Freshness’ confidence to be close to someone.

that

gives

you

the

Closeup, since its launch, has been synonymous with ‘Freshness’ that gives you the confidence to have close physical proximity with someone. Key facts • • • •

First HUL offering in the oral care category First gel toothpaste in India – launched in 1980 Market leader in the gel-segment for almost 3 decades Making stars out of models (Present-day stars like John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Salman Khan, etc. are some of many who have been models of Closeup in the early days of their careers).

Dove

Dove stands for real beauty. All around the world, Dove is making real women feel more beautiful!

Since 1993, Indian women have relied on Dove for beautiful skin. Dove is known to be a keeper of promises and has given real products to women world over. To help you enjoy your own brand of beauty, Dove provides a wide range of personal care, hair care, skin care and deodorants. So choose a new way of pampering your skin, everyday, with Dove. Dove Bar and Skin Cleansing Dove Hair care range Dove Anti-perspirant Deodorants Dove Lotions and Creams Key facts

Fair & Lovely

More than 30 years ago, a unique brand was born. Wrapped within a humble lavender tube, it went on to become the World’s No.1 Fairness cream.

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Launched first in the US in 1957; is one of the leading brands of Unilever globally. Dove has its footprint in 80 countries worldwide with a range of superior products from bar, lotions, body washes, face care and creams. It is the leading bar brand in UK, US and Canada. Fastest growing hair category brand in India

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World’s No.1 fairness cream, HUL’s largest skin-brand. How Fair & Lovely is that! Enabling a billion women in Asia/AMET to carve out their destinies that transforms their lives. Fair & Lovely’s skin-lightening technology is known to be the best in the world! However, this hasn’t stopped the brand from innovating further to pioneer the development of cutting-edge fairness solutions. Key facts Know Fair & Lovely even better! • • • •

Developed in 1975, Fair & Lovely is the world’s first fairness cream. It contains no bleach or harmful ingredients. Instead, it provides visible fairness in a safe and reversible process. In 2003, it was rated as the Twelfth Most Trusted Brand in India by ACNielsen ORGMARG. In 2004, it was identified as a Super Brand.

Hamam

Holistic skin care experiences perfected over the ages to deliver healthy, beautiful skin.

Hamam brings alive the wisdom behind time-less skincare rituals in convenient and contemporary formats Launched in 1931 as a ‘mild, family soap’, Hamam soon drew a large naturalfollowing long before it was trendy or fashionable. Perhaps the only Indian-made natural soap at the time, Hamam was embraced by mothers and doctors alike, for its purity and safety on skin. Key facts • •

Only 400 crore Herbal soap brand in the personal care segment 21.36% market share in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu Page

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Lakme

Lakme is an ally to the Indian Woman and inspires her to express her unique beauty and sensuality. Thus, enabling her to realize the potency of her beauty.

“Lakme is the Indian woman’s Beauty Sutra” inspiring expression of her unique beauty and sensuality”

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Key facts •

Lakme was the first major beauty brand in India and takes pride in being the expert on Indian Beauty for over 50 years.

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It is complete beauty brand spanning colour cosmetics, skin care & hair styling products and extending to beauty services through the network of Lakme Beauty Salons. Its bond with beauty and fashion is manifested through the Lakme Fashion Week, which is now the largest fashion event of its kind in the country. Lakme has a foot print of over 1200 assisted sales outlets, which is the largest span of outlets with “Beauty Advisors” in the country.

Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy is available in multiple variants in soaps and specialist formats such as liquid handwash, catering to the entire family.

Lifebuoy, an undisputed market leader for 112 years, has a compelling vision “to make 5 billion people across the world, feel safe and secure by meeting their personal care hygiene & health needs” Lifebouy has a strong social mission, promoted through its rural hygiene programme, Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna, which propogates the practice of hand washing with soap to reduce diarrheal deaths. • • • • • • •

Key facts Undisputed Leader in the soaps market of India, with 18.4% share. Turnover of €350 million a year globally, € 200 million in India. Has a consumer base of 140 Million households in India The iconic jingle of Lifebuoy – “tandrusti ki raksha…..” is almost like the health anthem of India and Indians Recent Awards:Voted in the top 10 most trusted brands in India in the “Brand Equity Survey” (came in at No. 9 in 2008 as well)Marketing excellence awards for its recent innovations and activations: “Gold” at the Emvies 2008 for best use of media innovation ASIA Pacific CSR Award 2007, for Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna

Over time, Liril has come to be synonymous with the freshness of limes, active energy and freedom of expression by its symbolic display of the uninhibited female form. • •

Key facts Liril was launched in 1977. Its 30 years old! Liril has been a trendsetter over times. The soap & its advertising have been considered to be revolutionary!

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Awaken, and enliven your senses with a Liril bath.

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Liril

•

The first TV ad dates back to 1985. The Liril expressions, associations & the Liril ads are recalled even till now!

Lux

Lux believes in passion for beauty. It continues to be a favorite with generations of users for a sensuous experience of luxury.

Lux stands for the promise of beauty and glamour as one of India's most trusted personal care brands. Key facts • •

Lux stands amongst India’s top 10 most trusted brands Recent Awards: Lux PR campaign(India): Diva Temptation awarded Gold at AME Awards , Hong Kong, ’09, Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand ‘08, Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands ‘08, Awards CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards ‘07, 4Ps Power Brand Awards ‘07

Pears

Pears – the purest and most gentle way to skincare!

Pears launched in India in 1902, exuberates a long heritage of purity. It is so pure that you can actually see through it! Pears launched in India in 1902, exuberates a long heritage of purity and has a pristine quality. Pears is available in three variants - the traditional Pure & Gentle variant, a green variant for oil control and a blue variant for germ protection. Key facts •

Pepsodent India is committed to improve the overall Oral health of Indians.

Pepsodent is a 15 year old brand that offers various oral care solutions to specific need based solutions.

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Pepsodent

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•

The story of this popular soap was first created in 1789 by a young man called Andrew Pears. This is from whom it derived its name! The most famous Pears 'face' is 'Bubbles', from an original painting by Sir John Everett Millais in 1866. The painting later came to be the very first advertising on the brand!

Pepsodent was launched in 1993 in India and since then the brand has raised the benchmark on Oral Care solutions in India. Key facts • • •

Endorsed by FDI ( the largest dental association globally) Among the most trusted brands in India (Brand Equity, Economic Times, India) Also sold as Mentadent, Zhonghua, PS and Signal in other countries

Pond’s Get the expert to look after your skin

Pond’s, has been listening to women’s needs and desires for 150 years and this has enabled us to deliver new products customised to their needs. Pond’s accompanies them on their journey to enhance the beauty of their skin.

Rexona Rexona gives you 24 hr protection from sweat and body odour and therefore the confidence to handle whatever the day has in store.

Rexona is the world's leading anti-perspirant brand. It was the first anti-perspirant deodorant to be launched in India. Rexona is the world's leading anti-perspirant brand and is number one in more than 40 countries out of the 90 countries it’s present in. It was the first Anti-Perspirant Deodorant to be launched in India, way back in 1995. Targeted at both men & women, this anti-perspirant deodorant was the first to talk about body odour as a problem. Key facts World’s leading Deodorant Brand Number one Deodorant brand in more than 40 countries. First Deodorant Brand to be launched in India, launched in 1995

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• • •

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Sunsilk Sunsilk encourages young women in India to live for today. Sunsilk helps you transform the beauty of your hair instantly because LIFE CAN'T WAIT!!

For 20-something single girls, hair is often an emotional rollercoaster. Sunsilk understands and has designed its wash, care

and styling collections to enable her to express herself, through her hair. Sunsilk brand was launched in 1964 and is a global brand with its presence across 80 countries. The new Sunsilk range comprises of the following variants to suit your hair type: Sunsilk Thick & long shampoo & conditioner Sunsilk soft and smooth shampoo & conditioner. Sunsilk hairfall solution shampoo & conditioner Sunsilk damage repair shampoo, conditioner and leave-on. Blackshine shampoo & leave-on Anti-dandruff shampoo & scalp lotion Sunsilk Straight n sleek shampoo, conditioner and anti-frizz lotion: Sunsilk Curls & waves bounce shampoo, conditioner & mousse: Sunsilk layers & texture definition shampoo, conditioner & wax: Key facts • • • • • •

Number 1 in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East Sales of more than €1 billion a year. Selling in 80 countries. Also sold as Elidor, Hazeline, Seda and Sedal. Recent Awards: Holds the Guinness World Record for the most heads of hair washed and styled in one day. Created the largest community for Indian girls which is – www.sunsilkgangofgirls.com

Vaseline Your skin is amazing. It deserves to be treated as such.

Nobody knows skin –and how to keep it at its healthy best –better than Vaseline. Page

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Your skin is amazing. It's your waterproof barrier. It's how you sense and adjust to your surroundings. Constantly growing and replacing itself. It's easy to take skin and all of its properties for granted, but we never did. For years we've marveled at skin and have developed products to help keep it amazing.

Water

Pure-it is the world’s most advanced in-home water purifier. Pure-it, a breakthrough offering of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), provides complete protection from all water-borne diseases, unmatched convenience and affordability.

Pure-it runs with a unique ‘Germkill Battery Kit’™ that typically lasts for 1500 litres* of water. The ‘Germkill Battery Kit’™is priced at Rs.365. This means consumers will get 4 litres of water that is ‘as safe as boiled water’ ™ for just one rupee, which works out to an extremely affordable 24 paise per litre.

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This patented technological breakthrough has been developed by HUL. This state-of –the-art engineering developed by a team of over 100 Indian and international experts from HUL and Unilever Research Centres has made Pure-it possible at the consumer price of just Rs. 2000

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Pure-it’s unique Germkill Battery technology kills all harmful viruses and bacteria and removes parasites and pesticide impurities, giving you water that is "as safe as boiled water". It assures your family 100% protection from all water-borne diseases like jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. What’s more, it doesn’t need gas, electricity or continuous tap water supply. Pure-it not only renders water micro-biologically safe, but also makes the water clear, odourless and good-tasting. Pure-it does not leave any residual chlorine in the output water. The output water from Pure-it meets stringent criteria for microbiologically safe drinking water, from one of the toughest regulatory agencies in the USA, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). The performance of Pure-it has also been tested by leading scientific and medical institutions in India and abroad.

Pure-it in-home purification system uses a 4 stage purification process to deliver “as safe as boiled water” without the use of electricity and pressurized tap water. Pureit purifies the input drinking water in four stages, namely; 1. Micro-fiber MeshTM - Removes visible dirt 2. Compact Carbon TrapTM - removes remaining dirt, harmful parasites & pesticide impurities 3. Germkill ProcessorTM – uses 'programmed chlorine release chlorine technology' and its stored germkill process targets and kills harmful virus and bacteria 4. PolisherTM – removes residual chlorine and all disinfectant by-products, giving clear odourless and great tasting water 5. Battery Life Indicator - Ensures total safety because when the germkill power is exhausted, the indicator turns red, warning you to replace the battery Advanced Auto-Switch off - In case, the battery is not changed when it turns fully red, as an additional assurance of safety, the advanced Auto-Switch off will automatically switch-off the flow of water. Protect your loved ones with a Pure-it today!

Market Share of Hindustan Unilever Limited

In the above pie chart we see the position of various FMCG companies doing business in India. We can see that HUL is enjoying the position of market leader and is followed by ITC as close second in the market share of FMCG products.

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THE COMPARATIVE DATA OF % MARKET SHARE OF HUL AND ITS COMPETITOR IN QUARTER ENDED JUN’08

(Above graph showing %age Market share of HUL and its competitor in different categories of FMCG products) As mentioned in the above graph, HUL is enjoying the leader position in the market and is having highest market shares which are followed by the market challengers like Dabur India Ltd, Nestle India Ltd, and ITC LTD, ETC…..In different categories of FMCG products like shampoo, skincare , deo, jams, coffee, etc.

In some category these market challengers are giving high level competition in different product lines such as ketchup and toothpaste (As shown in the graph below)

(Above graph showing the two category of products in which HUL percentage market share is less than its competitor in Quarter ended JUN’08) So we can see that in overall FMCG business HUL is distantly ahead of rest of the companies as far as market share of different products are concerned.

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PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS Hindustan Unilever Ltd is one of the leading FMCG company in India which having the following past financial records we have taken for the analysis as follows:

Table showing past 10 years financial data 1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Sales

102152 4

109176 9

113921 4

117813 0

109516 1

110960 2

108883 8

119755 3

130350 6

147574 2

Other Incom e

24474

31898

34507

38179

38454

45983

31883

30479

35451

46268

Interes t

(2928)

(2239)

(1315)

(774)

(6676)

(6676)

(12998 )

(1919)

(1073)

(2550)

PAT

113044

138794

166509

194337

224495

224495

150532

160447

186168

218453

PBT

83744

106994

131009

154095

180434

180434

119928

135451

153967

176906

Rs. Lakhs P&L a/c

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DATA ANALYSIS: We have the sales and profit figures of HUL from the year 1998 to 2007 in the 10year past data from Yr1998-2007, after plotting two graph one of sales & other of profit as shown in here we can see that both profit and sales of the company rose

from the year 1998 till 2001, but in the year 2002 we see that the sales fell but there was actually rise in the profit of the company. In the year 2004 we see that there was a steep fall in the profit of the company and from the year 2005 onwards there was a slow but steady rise in the profit of the company, but a rapid rise in the sales of the company in the given years.

Reason for the steep fall in the profit of the company in the year 2004:•

The FMCG market in Urban India was attaining the saturation level and so companies had to expand its market in rural India. This resulted in the downfall in the profit of HUL. There was very aggressive advertising campaign by ITC in that year to set itself in the market this affected HUL who was enjoying the position of market leader and resulted in the fall in the profit of the company.

In the following graph we can see the percentage growth in FMCG sales of HUL from March quarter ’07 to March quarter ’08.

(Graph showing the FMCG trend through last quarters)

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SWOT Analysis STRENGTH HUL enjoys a formidable distribution network covering over 3400 distributors and 16 million outlets. This helps them maintain heavy volumes, and hence, fill the shelves of most outlets. The new sales organization named 'One HUL' brings "Household and Personal Care" and foods distribution networks together, thereby aligning all the units towards the common goal of achieving success. HUL has been continuously able to grow at a rate more than growth rate for FMCG Sector, thereby reaffirming its future stronghold in Indian market.

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Project Shakti (Discussed later in Detail)- Rural India is spread across 627,000 villages and possesses a serious distribution challenge for FMCG Cos. HUL has come up with a unique and successful initiative wherein the women from the rural sector market HUL products, and hence, are able to reach the same wavelength as of the common man in village. Apart from product reach, the initiative also creates brand awareness amongst the lower strata of society. This has brought about phenomenal results.

Weaknesses HUL's market dominance, originating from its extensive reach and strong brand presence, allowed it to raise the prices even as raw materials were getting cheaper. Hence, though the volumes decreased, the margins grew, and company was able to earn more profits. But higher margins attracted competition in areas of operations. HUL's strategy remained focused on creating power brands and earning higher margins. It was not left with any other option but to try cutting down the costs in order to protect volumes, if not increase it.

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As shown in above figure, the key differentiators for an FMCG player are ability to call shots and pricing power, and HUL has shown weakness over both these factors. HUL's weakness was its inability to transform its strategies at the right time. They continued with the same old strategy which helped them gain profits but were not genuine in this changed environment. HUL's risk aversion and market myopia led to stagnation of business, and ferocity of competition forced it into a defensive mode. Lack of pricing power in core business and absence of growth drivers have put HUL on a deflationary mode.

Opportunities India is one of the world's largest producer of FMCG goods but its exports are miniscule as compared to production. Though Indian Cos. have been going global, their focus is more towards Asian countries because of the similar preferences. HUL is one of the top companies exporting FMCG goods from India. An expansion of horizons towards more and more countries would help HUL grow its consumer base and henceforth the revenues. Opportunity in Food Sector - The advent of modern trade has opened up greater opportunities for HUL to diversify its brand and strength its food division. It could look at introducing products from its parents stable like margarines and could also look at expanding its Knorr range of products.

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53 Well-placed to take advantage of future FMCG Growth - HUL reach out 80% of 207 million households in the country through various brands. It has a very well-defined product portfolio spread across many product categories.

Penetration levels for some major categories like skin-cream (22%), shampoo (38%), toothpaste (48%) and processed foods, continue to remain low offerings but great growth opportunities products.

Threats ITC has reduced its dependence on the cigarettes business - Contribution of the core business in revenues has come down from 87% in FY99 to 70% in FY’05. Over a period of five years, ITC has extended its presence into areas like foods, retailing, hotels, greetings, agriculture, paper, etc. These are businesses that can give it growth impetus in the long run. With ITC gaining momentum in each of these businesses, it is turning into a consumer monolith, and hence, the greatest threat to HUL's Business. SSKI India has gone on to say, "We maintain Out performer on ITC with a price target of Rs. 2200, while our Under performer call on HUL remains unaltered (price target of Rs. 160)."

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Economic Times, December 28, 2004 The battle lines are drawn between HUL and ITC for supremacy in the war for market capitalisation among FMCG companies. Riding high on better valuations, ITC has overtaken HUL's market capitalisation of Rs 31,600 crore by around Rs 1,000 crore (at Rs 32,695 crore) as of Tuesday. Earlier too, the company had overtaken HUL's capitalisation by around 5% in Aug-Sep '04. Analysts say ITC continues to command pricing power in its core business, unlike HUL that is facing tremendous pricing pressure. ITC derives 95% of its profitability from cigarettes and has been investing heavily in its new businesses like foods and hotels. On the other hand, HUL has been preoccupied with protecting its turf from competition. ITC's increase in market capitalisation reflects the rise in its share price, which is up 40% to Rs 1,318 on Tuesday, compared to end June '04, while HUL's share price has risen by about 13% to Rs 143 in the same period.

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Market Strategy:

As we have seen earlier that HUL's weakness was its inability to transform its strategies at the right time. They continued with the same old strategy which helped them gain profits but were not genuine in this changed environment. HUL's risk aversion and market myopia led to stagnation of business, and ferocity of competition forced it into a defensive mode. Lack of pricing power in core business and absence of growth drivers have put HUL on a deflationary mode.

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Recommendations

So according to us, HUL needs to foresee the market in a more efficient way that it is following till yet. Since the market situations has changed, the company (HUL) which was once the market leader and had aggressive market policies is now defending itself among the competitors like ITC, Dabur, Marico, Cadbury etc. The competitors cover all the product line of HUL, so the market strategy has to be efficient to regain the market strength. Plus point with HUL here is, it has long faith of consumers in India since it is the oldest among the contenders. In case of risk taking ability, HUL has been a risk averter. Been such a big organisation, with such good experts in its management, it can formulate new policies and start facing risks rather than averting it. Yes, the competition is furious but risk aversion is not the way which will lead to be the market leader. Pricing policy can be done accordingly to ensure profit margin. At HUL, the investment in advertisements have increased which is said to be showing positive changes in the turnover of the company.

Future Prospects:

India is a fast developing country with a huge population whose per capita income is growing rapidly and there is huge opportunity for FMCG companies. The opportunities are as follows: • • •

Increasing per capita income is driving FMCG growth in India India’s consuming class is growing rapidly Changing consumption pattern: Per capita income of Indian customer is increasing and FMCG products are relatively elastic in nature hence the expected sale should increase.

By the following three graphs(data collected from a research made by govt. of INDIA) we can very well assimilate the increase in future demand of FMCG products, the graphs showing the increasing per capita income, per capita disposable income and population of India respectively are as follows:

(Graph below showing increased per capita disposable income from Yr2002-2007)

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As shown in the above graph the per capita income of an INDIAN increased throughout years, and if this trend will continue in future the people can purchase more FMCG products.

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(Above graph showing per capita income of INDIANS through out Yr2000-2008)

(Above graph shows the past population and expected future population rise, data are collected from the research made by govt. of INDIA)

CATEGORY WISE SALE GROWTH OF FMCG SECTOR OF HUL IN INDIA CATEGORY

%AGE GROWTH

Soaps & Detergents

19.3

Personal Products

22.4

Ice Cream

15.7

Processed Foods

13.7

Beverages

13.6

Others

19.4

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57 (Above graph shows the data of MAR’08 Quarter %growth of different products of HUL)

With the help of the graphs given above, we can analyse these facts: ✔ The Indian middle class is prospering with around 70 million households earning anywhere between Rs80,000 and Rs 18 lakh per annum. These comprise 34 per cent of the slightly over 200 million middle class households. ✔ Indian Consumer is no longer Price Obsessed, with the rise in Per-capita Income; a consumer is ready to pay higher prices for the better quality products. ✔ Indian consumer goods market is expected to reach $400 billion by 2010 ✔ Higher disposable incomes, there is money left over for daily products even after spending on durables. As per the future plans of HUL: ✔ HUL has drawn up a comprehensive plan to expand its portfolio in the area of Health Care and Contraceptives. ✔ Chemicals business (encompassing Flavours, Fragrances and other Specialty Chemicals), as well as several non-FMCG export businesses such as Thermometers and Mushrooms. ✔ HUL has been pepping up its rural distribution systems and has launched low unit price variants of its popular brands to draw in new users in the rural areas.

Project Shakti

The recruitment of a Shakti Entrepreneur or Shakti Amma (SA) begins with the executives of HUL identifying the uncovered village. The representative of the company meets the panchayat and the village head and identify the woman who

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Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) to tap this market conceived of Project Shakti. This project was started in 2001 with the aim of increasing the company’s rural distribution reach as well as providing rural women with income-generating opportunities. This is a case where the social goals are helping achieve business goals.

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With the urban market saturated, FMCG companies are now targeting the rural markets. In spite of the income imbalance between urban and rural India, rural holds great potential since 70% of India’s population lives there. Due to the recent government measures like waiver of loans, national rural employment guarantee scheme and increasing minimum support price, disposable income in rural India has been rapidly increasing. However, rural markets present their own sets of problems. These include poor infrastructure, dispersed settlements, lack of education and a virtually nonexistent medium for communication. Furthermore, retailers cannot be present in all the centres as many of them are so small that it makes them economically unfeasible.

they believe will be suitable as a SA. After training she is asked to put up Rs 20,000 as investment which is used to buy products for selling. The products are then sold door-to-door or through petty shops at home. On an average a Shakti Amma makes a 10% margin on the products she sells. An initiative which helps support Project Shakti is the Shakti Vani programme. Under this programme, trained communicators visit schools and village congregations to drive messages on sanitation, good hygiene practices and women empowerment. This serves as a rural communication vehicle and helps the SA in their sales. The main advantage of the Shakti programme for HUL is having more feet on the ground. Shakti Ammas are able to reach far flung areas, which were economically unviable for the company to tap on its own, besides being a brand ambassador for the company. Moreover, the company has ready consumers in the SAs who become users of the products besides selling them. Although the company has been successful in the initiative and has been scaling up, it faces problems from time to time for which it comes up with innovative solutions. For example, a problem faced by HUL was that the SAs were more inclined to stay at home and sell rather than going from door to door since there is a stigma attached to direct selling. Moreover, men were not liable to go to a woman’s house and buy products. The company countered this problem by hosting Shakti Days. Here an artificial market place was created with music and promotion and the ladies were able to sell their products in a few hours without encountering any stigma or bias. This model has been the growth driver for HUL and presently about half of HUL’s FMCG sales come from rural markets. The Shakti network at the end of 2008 was 45,000 Ammas covering 100,000+ villages across 15 states reaching 3 m homes. The long term aim of the company is to have 100,000 Ammas covering 500,000 villages and reaching 600 m people. We feel that with this initiative, HUL has been successful in maintaining its distribution reach advantage over its competitors. This programme will help provide HUL with a growing customer base which will benefit the company for years to come.

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CONCLUSION

Hindustan Unilever ltd. Is a leading FMCG company in India and from last three consecutive years has shown accelerated growth in FMCG portfolio. Customers in India are also spending more in FMCG as their standard of living is growing. HUL has placed itself successfully in the position of market leader in FMCG products. Though there was some downfall in sales and profit of the company in the beginning of this decade but after that HUL has shown considerable rise in both sales and profit. The future of the company is also looking bright as FMCG market in India is still expanding and so we can safely conclude that HUL will be able to secure its number one position in FMCG product.

HUL has also started project SHAKTI that has provided it direct reach to rural market. This may be considered a revolutionary step since the urban market is reaching its saturation level and there is a huge scope exploring rural market. This will also be helpful not only increasing its market share but also fight competition.

Hindustan Unilever Limited Official website: www.hul.co.in/investor/annual_report_2007.asp Annual Report '07-'08 pg 21/ 25 HUL’s Global Compact Communication of Progress for 2008 (11 pages) is at http://www.hul.co.in/citizen_lever/Communication_of_progress_08.pdf Full details at: http://www.hul.co.in/citizen_lever/happy_homes.asp http://www.hul.co.in/citizen_lever/fair_lovely.asp

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Websites Referred:

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.hul.co.in/citizen_lever/lifebuoy_chetna.asp www.hul.co.in/citizen_lever/project_shakti.asp http://www.hul.co.in/citizen_lever/greening.asp Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan_Unilever Coolavenues, http://www.coolavenues.com Authorstream, http://www.authorstream.com

Books referred: Kothari, C.R., “Research Methodology,” 2nd Rev. Ed., New Delhi, New Age International Publishers, 2004 Kotler, Philip., Kelly. Koshy & Jha., “Marketing Management”, 13th Edition. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley, 2009

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