Halving environmental footprint of our products is our target: Unilever COO 

(MENAFN - Arab News) The Kingdom faces severe water scarcity and therefore, the prudent use of this scarce resource is of utmost importance. In line with the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever has entered into a partnership with the National Water Company (NWC) with the objective of driving behavioral change among consumers by educating them on water conservation.

"Our aim is to reach 25 percent of all Saudi households via this campaign," says Harish Manwani, chief operating officer of Unilever, in an exclusive interview with Arab News.

In fact, Saudi Arabia is one of the key markets for Unilever across the MENA region, while Unilever KSA is one of its most successful businesses delivering sustained and profitable growth. "We have a long and successful history in the Saudi market and I would attribute this to our wide and well-balanced portfolio, a steady stream of innovations and more importantly a highly talented and motivated team," Manwani added.

"Our portfolio, which is spread across different price and benefit segments, ensures that we have a product to satisfy every consumer. Additionally we keep innovating on a regular basis by bringing new products to delight the Saudi consumer," said Manwani who has attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He joined Hindustan Lever (HLL) in 1976, becoming a member of the HLL board in 1995 as director responsible for the Personal Products business. As category leader for Personal Products, he also held regional responsibility for the Central Asia and Middle East business group. He was appointed chief operating officer of Unilever on Sept. 1, 2011 and he is based in Singapore.

Excerpts:

Unilever has introduced a new approach to doing business called the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Can you outline the specifics of this program?

Unilever has an ambitious plan. We aim to double our size while reducing our environmental impact. In today's business environment, growth at any cost is no longer viable as the world is consuming natural resources at a rate faster than the planet's capacity to replenish them. We are committed to an "and-and" agenda of growing our business while reducing our environmental impact. Our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan sets out a more sustainable way of doing business by committing to three main ambitions: Halving the environmental footprint of our products, helping more than one billion people take action to improve their health and well-being and sourcing 100 percent of our agricultural raw materials sustainably/in a sustainable manner

Unilever is ambitious to double the size of its business. How will you achieve this without any additional environmental impact?

Our ambition is to decouple our growth from the environmental impact across the lifecycle of our products by developing new ways of doing business. In our own operations we aim to achieve an absolute reduction in greenhouse gases, water use and waste. However, our target to halve the environmental footprint goes much further than our manufacturing operations. It covers the full value chain from sourcing through to consumer use and disposal. We will also achieve our plan by motivating and enabling consumers by providing them with products that are equally effective but require lesser energy or reduce the consumption of scarce resources like water, in their manufacture or use. If you look at the GCC market, we have launched 'Comfort Essence' - a concentrated fabric conditioner. This product has allowed us to significantly reduce the amount of polymer which is used in its packaging which results in a reduction of transportation and storage costs - this makes it good for business and good for sustainability.

Unilever claims that Unilever brands are used two billion times a day globally. How do Unilever's products make a difference to the quality of people's everyday lives?

At the heart of Unilever's vision is our philosophy of working to create a better future for our consumers everyday, by helping people around the world meet their daily needs for nutrition, hygiene and wellbeing. We have a vast portfolio of home care, personal care, food and refreshment brands and we believe in the ability of our products to help people take positive action in improving their health and wellbeing. A great example is Lifebuoy, which as the world's leading health soap provides accessible and affordable hygiene to many.

The brand's social mission aims to bring safety, security and health to billions of people through the active promotion of washing hands with soap. Each year around 3.5 million children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea and acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia, and washing hands with soap has been found to be the single most effective way to prevent these diseases. Across the Middle East and North Africa, in 2010 alone, Lifebuoy's hand hygiene program reached 12.3 million children. Another brand that is bringing about a positive change is Signal, Unilever's leading oral care brand. Working in partnership with government bodies and dental authorities like the FDI, Signal has a long established history of promoting oral health awareness among school children in Saudi Arabia.

Under the USLP you have recently signed an agreement with the National Water Company in Saudi Arabia. Can you please explain what this initiative is and what you seek to achieve?

The Kingdom faces severe water scarcity. Using this scarce resource prudently is therefore a great priority for everyone. In line with the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever has entered into a partnership with the National Water Company (NWC) with the objective of driving behavioral change among consumers by educating them on water conservation. Our aim is to reach 25 percent of all Saudi households via this campaign. Alongside educating children in schools, the program will also educate adults by distributing tips on water conservation and distributing water conservation toolkits during our door-to-door sampling activities. To harness the increased popularity of social media, we are integrating water conservation awareness messages into our digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Our ambition is to also engage our customers to partner with us in delivering this water conservation message to their shoppers and consumers.

How important is Unilever's business in the Middle East and the GCC market specifically?

The MENA region with its large and growing population of 350 million people, of which 50 percent are below the age of 25, presents Unilever with plenty of opportunities. Already, we have a very strong business in this region, with over 70 percent of our turnover coming from number one category positions. The opportunities coupled with the strength of our business make MENA a focus market for Unilever to invest in for growth. Our priority in MENA, however, is not only to grow competitively by increasing market share, but more importantly by helping to grow the overall market - an activity that we refer to as market development. We envisage that 70 percent of our future growth in the region is going to come from market development as the penetration and consumption of the categories in which we operate provide us huge headroom for growth. Deodorants, for instance, provide us with a large growth opportunity that we can harness by generating awareness on personal hygiene.

What about your investment in the GCC region? Do you have any plans in the region?

Considering the importance of the GCC region for Unilever, we continue to invest in modernizing and expanding our manufacturing facilities and logistics infrastructure. More importantly we have been making significant investments in building our brands, expanding our distribution network and in developing the markets. Additionally, we have been investing in developing institutional capabilities and in grooming our local talent. Our focus and commitment to developing local talent is borne by the fact that Yasser Joharji, a Saudi national, is the managing director of our business here. As far as manufacturing facilities go, we have invested substantially in the expansion of our Binzagr Unilever factory located in Jeddah that manufactures Personal Care and Home Care products. Established in 1978, the factory has since undergone rapid expansion and modernization and is today a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.

In the last decade alone it has delivered a 150 percent increase in production volume. Today this factory is a large sourcing hub for the region meeting not only the requirements of all the GCC countries but also exporting to markets like South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, and Iraq among many other countries. With nine manufacturing sites and over 4,000 employees across the Middle East and North Africa we have a long-term commitment to the region and we will continue to invest in line with business requirements.

Did Unilever suffer any impact from the Arab Spring?

Like everyone else, the Arab Spring also impacted our business. But despite the turmoil across the region we have continued to grow. Take the case of Egypt: In the initial stages, our business did get affected, but subsequently we recovered and in 2011 our business continued to grow in double-digits. This, in many ways reflects our inherent strengths, the resilience of our business and the immense amount of consumer loyalty our brands command.

Unilever's portfolio includes some of the world's best-known brands. Which brands are popular in the MENA region?

More than 70 percent of our turnover in the MENA region comes from categories in which we are number one players. Some of the best-known brands in our portfolio include Lipton, Lux, Dove, Comfort, Signal, Clear, Knorr, and Vaseline among many others. We are incredibly proud that almost all Saudi households use one or more of our products.

Tell us a little about Unilever's business in Saudi Arabia.

Within the MENA region, Saudi Arabia is one of our key markets while Unilever KSA is one of our most successful businesses delivering sustained and profitable growth. We have a long and successful history in the Saudi market and I would attribute this to our wide and well-balanced portfolio, a steady stream of innovations and more importantly a highly talented and motivated team. Our portfolio, which is spread across different price and benefit segments, ensures that we have a product to satisfy every consumer and additionally, we keep innovating on a regular basis by bringing new products to delight the Saudi consumers. In the recent past we have successfully introduced Clear shampoo, Pond's Anti-aging cream, Pyramid Teabags, Signal Sensitive, Close Up whitening, Vaseline's men range and more recently the Vaseline 2-in-1 range.


What is the purpose of your visit to Saudi Arabia?

Visits such as these allow me get a first hand glimpse of the local market by meeting our consumers and customers, finding out what they think about us and how we can serve them better. It is also an opportunity for me to review the business with the local leadership team and more importantly meet our young and promising talent in the business. My visits also give me the opportunity to meet with members of the Binzagr family who are our valued partners. With the Binzagrs, we have a great relationship that dates back to the 1930's and has stood the test of time.

Please tell us something about your long journey with Unilever and what made you stay with the company for over three decades?

I have enjoyed working with Unilever for over three decades in many parts of the world. The philosophy of the company is based on 'doing well by doing good' and I have always felt that Unilever's values have matched my own. The company has a true culture of diversity and meritocracy, providing room for employees from across the world to experiment and innovate, and yet be strongly bonded by shared values. I find this very inspiring. It is this powerful combination of performance culture and shared values that have enabled me and thousands of others to build rewarding careers in Unilever.

By KHALIL HANWARE