I have had a love hate relationship with the company the details of which I am not dwelving into but yes I have had the opportunity to observe closely this juggernaut of a company in India and I must say that there is something which makes this organisation stand out head and shoulders above the rest.
To begin with this huge company has managed to continue to show amazing bottomline growth notwithstanding the relatively slower growth in topline which today is huge and when the base is huge it is evident that one cannot continue to post such huge rates of growth.
Food is something people will always need and they will need brands which will inspire trust and so levers will have food as a thrust area for the future with personal products showing signs of slowing down having reached good penetration levels in urban areas .
But then what really separates them from the P&G and the Nestlé is their efficient supply chain management which will ensure that cost efficiencies in distribution are still maintained plus their clout with the trade as they straddle brands across diverse categories their clout will only strengthen .
Their new initiatives such as Aviance and laundry business is something about which I am scpetical and also their ice creams business needs to get its act together.
Finally the issue of their wonderful pool of managerial talent is ensures that even in the days of banking /consulting attracting the best of talent from B -Schools they still get some real good brains to drive their initiative and the company on their part has tried to maintain the sheen on the job by offering considerable pay hikes and foreign exposures to the recruits.
I have observed first hand how professional the managers are and this pays off and they are no nonsense and treat their jobs with great discipline . This makes them CEO material as they are entrusted with responsibilities of handling a full SBU from an early stage .
What could threaten the company could be the hugeness of the operations which means that in also the well entrenched businesses the scope and creative thought processes could well be seen to be taking a back seat and conventional method dominating.
The acquisitions will ensure that they are in new businesses (Modern foods) (International Best Foods )to name the recent ones.
This company for years to come will continue to be an epitome of excellence and will also be in financial terms a positive EVA company year after year creating wealth for shareholders .
Keep up the good work and as for me I shall nurture hopes of being a part of this organisation some day.