"I look for opportunities in a challenge"
Taking over businesses in challenging circumstances and turning them around is nothing new for Hindustan Unilever Chairman & MD Sanjiv Mehta. In a conversation with Prosenjit Datta and Ajita Shashidhar, Mehta talks about how he turned the slow growing Indian operations into India's highest valued FMCG major. Edited excerpts:
You took over when growth dipped significantly. What was the mandate given to you?
A: I completed 25 years with Unilever last October. I started in Dubai when Unilever had come onshore in the Middle East. We were operating like a start up, launching several new brands. Then, an opportunity came to go to Bangladesh, where our business was in dire straits. We were losing market share to a competitor who was propagating 'Halal' products. We turned around the business and in two years I went on
