When Foresight Is Key

In one way or the other, every Indian comes in contact with this more-than-a-century-old brand as they sip their morning tea, unwrap their bathing soaps, switch on their ACs, lock the house or light up the mosquito coil. ‘Godrej’ is indeed an everyday name, with Adi Godrej, the third generation scion of the Godrej family standing tall at the top of this behemoth.

Seventy-year-old Godrej came into the family business nearly five decades ago and diversifying it into consumer products, durables, chemicals, agri products, retailing, real estate, foods and several others, via organic and inorganic routes. Despite

2017 being a mixed bag for various sectors, especially consumer durables, with demonetisation and GST playing black swan for companies, Godrej managed to clock some fine numbers, charting new territories. GCPL remained the largest contributors to the group’s profits, charting 58 per cent growth in its net profit at Rs 1,304 crore in FY17. The home-grown firm had clocked a strong sales of Rs 9,600 crore in India in 2016-17.

Godrej’s 3x3 strategy of building a presence in three emerging markets across three  major categories (home care, personal wash and hair care) cushioned the impact of the cash crunch in India. Godrej’s smart move has yielded strong results as 50 per cent of the revenue today comes from its international business. Over the last few years, the company has successfully incubated new businesses.

After leading the company for 17 years, Adi Godrej, in May 2017, took on the role of Chairman Emeritus and paved the way for the next generation of leadership with his daughter Nisaba becoming Executive Chairman of the company.