Steering Towards Highest Standards
Ever since Geetu Verma, 50, joined Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in November 2011, she has been at the helm of the company, crafting its food business.
Verma describes her career in a public forum as one that is defined by creativity. She also says that her proudest ‘achievements are those that have been created from scratch’.
Verma is currently the vice president of Foods for Unilever, South Asia. Over the last three decades, she has worked across leading FMCG firms such as P&G, Seagram, PepsiCo in India and Europe and handled diverse roles such as marketing and innovation.
Verma brings with her a deep understanding and expertise in foods. At HUL, she has successfully led the foods and refreshments business, giving it a new lease of life in terms of growth and market leadership. It is under her leadership that Kissan launched a new range of ‘khattameetha’ jams in Berry, Strawberry and Orange flavours. Knorr, too, expanded its international range with the launch of Italian Mushroom soup, among other flavours.
Verma, who holds an MBA degree from the Faculty of Management Studies, started out as a brand manager in HUL in 1988.
In HUL’s Annual Report 2016-17, the company has talked about improving health and well-being. “By 2020, Unilever will help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being,” the company stated. In terms of its nutrition target, Unilever plans to double the proportion of its portfolio across the globe that meets the highest nutritional standards, based on globally recognised dietary guidelines. This, the company says, will help hundreds of millions of people to achieve a healthier diet.
Now, a brief look at its performance. As much as 46 per cent of HUL’s Foods and Refreshments portfolio met the highest nutritional standards in 2016, based on globally recognised dietary guidelines.
“Our Foods business continued its focus on strong market building initiatives,” said Harish Manwani, chairman at HUL in the latest annual report.
