‘A very exciting space’: HUL will push innovation ‘aggressively’ to maximise opportunities in beauty – CEO

Rohit Jawa, CEO and managing director of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) highlighted the firm’s enthusiasm for its beauty and personal care business during the firm’s third quarter (Q3) earnings conference held on October 19.

“We feel very excited about this category. This category has a virtuously strong growth rate, higher profit profile, where we have both the technology, R&D and brand assets… This is a very exciting space, and you should see more and more of our effort going in this direction.”​

Jawa highlighted a roster of the company’s “master brands”,​ which included Lakme, Pond’s, Indulekha, Dove and Glow & Lovely, and underscored their potential to stretch across categories and formats.

“We have a high relative market share, so we feel confident. We understand the consumer, we have brands stretching across the price pyramid, and we have extended all our brands now into new growth spaces and into new formats, such as sun care for instance, even new format like serums for argument’s sake.”​

Additionally, the firm has also observed the potential for brands like Simple.

“We have been mapping the market, we also have already seeded and seen some promise in brands such as Simple, which is mainly a face wash brand, but has a full portfolio. So, we are also there for innovating quite aggressively,”​ said Jawa.

HUL is one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India. Aside from beauty and personal care, it produces a wide range of products across various categories, including home care, food, and beverages.

“We have high growth demand spaces, frankly in all categories that we play in because we are in India, which is a great market to be in where this promise of great future because the per capita consumption is so low compared to other markets… But we are particularly excited about new demand spaces in beauty and in food,” ​said Rawa.

Q3 innovation launches

During the quarter, Hindustan Unilever Limited's beauty and personal care brands unveiled a series of exciting innovations across various product categories.

Pond’s, for instance, expanded its moisturiser line to establish a comprehensive hydration regimen, encompassing a cleanser, gel moisturiser, night gel, and serum.

Leveraging its strong Ayurvedic expertise, Indulekha introduced a novel anti-dandruff hair Oil and shampoo.

Vaseline introduced an exquisite range of premium moisturisers designed to provide a luxurious and sensory-rich experience.

To tap into the upcoming festival and wedding season, Lakme launched its Glitterati Collection and also introduced the Eyeconic Probrush liner in a convenient pen format.

Overall, the beauty and personal care business grew by 4% led by skin care and colour cosmetics.

“Skin care and colour cosmetics grew in double-digit with robust performance in Vaseline and Ponds. Our focused interventions in new demand spaces such as hydration, sun protect and in channels of the future including e-commerce is helping us drive growth,”​ said Ritesh Tiwari, CFO and executive director, finance and IT.