Hindustan Unilever’s chief executive said he believes India, the consumer group’s biggest market by volume, will overtake the US to become the largest market by value.
“I clearly see a day when HUL will become the largest Unilever business,” said Sanjiv Mehta, adding that he could not give a timeframe. The Indian subsidiary currently accounts for about 10.7 per cent of Unilever group sales, according to company data, and is one of the group’s best-performing units.
Unilever’s portfolio is tilted towards emerging markets with only the US exceeding the Indian market as a percentage of sales revenue. Together with China, the US and India have been earmarked by Unilever as key markets for further growth.