How HUL Became India’s No 1 FMCG Brand Hindustan Unilever Business Case Study

Do Lux, Surf Excel, or Pond’s Cold Cream remind you of home? For decades, Hindustan Unilever Limited — or HUL — has been firmly rooted in Indian households. But how has it managed to stay on top amid inflation, digital disruption, and evolving consumer tastes?
Hi, I am Criti and Welcome to Corporate Lens! Today let’s explore the story of how HUL adapted to changing markets and maintained its leadership in India’s consumer landscape.
HUL's Foundation & Legacy
At the helm of HUL is Chairman & MD Rohit Jawa, who took over in 2023. His focus? Digitization, sustainability, and strengthening consumer trust.
The company’s strategic vision is further powered by CFO Ritesh Tiwari, ensuring solid financial discipline and growth.
HUL began its journey in the 1930s, establishing its first soap factory in Mumbai. In 1956, three companies merged to form Hindustan Lever Limited. By 2007, it was renamed Hindustan Unilever Limited.
Today, HUL is India’s largest FMCG company with over 50 brands, a market cap exceeding ₹6 lakh crore, and a reach into 9 out of 10 Indian households. This isn’t just business success — it’s brand integration at the deepest level.
HUL’s journey also includes some of India’s biggest mergers: Tata Oil Mills in 1994, Brooke Bond and Lipton in 1996, and most recently, the merger with GSK Consumer Healthcare in 2020, bringing Horlicks and Boost under its umbrella.
A Look at India’s FMCG Landscape
India’s FMCG market is the fourth largest globally – worth over $220 billion by 2025. Urban areas drive 65% of consumption, but rural demand is catching up fast.
The growth is being shaped by:
• Rapid urbanization
• Rising middle class incomes
• E-commerce and digital payments
• Smaller nuclear families
And HUL has used each of these trends to its advantage.
HUL Navigating Market Shifts
India’s FMCG market has evolved drastically. With 780 million internet users and increasing urbanization, the demand is shifting fast. Here’s how HUL adapted:
• Direct-to-Consumer Play: With the launch of UShop, HUL started selling Lakmé, Dove, Horlicks, and Surf Excel directly online, gaining consumer insights and improving retention.
• Digital Transformation: Its Shikhar app digitized B2B transactions for over 2 lakh retailers, while supporting kiranas through ONDC integration.
• Premiumization: Consumers are opting for better lifestyle products. HUL moved beyond detergent bars to liquids and conditioners like Comfort Intense. In Beauty, Lakmé launched the Invisible Sunstick, and premium skincare categories grew rapidly.
• Sustainability: The company conserved 3.2 trillion litres of water, reduced plastic packaging, and tested near-zero emission soda ash production.
• Social Impact: Project Shakti enabled rural women as micro-entrepreneurs. Project Suvidha brought hygiene to over 4 lakh people in urban informal settlements. Project Prabhat positively impacted 10 million people through livelihood and health initiatives.
Product & Segment Innovation
• Home Care: Vim liquids improved in formulation and packaging, seeing its highest volume growth in a decade. Surf Excel launched ‘first-wash stain removal’ in liquid form.
• Nutrition: Horlicks campaigns focused on ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’ for kids and awareness campaigns on diabetes and women’s health.
• Beauty & Wellness: Dove, TRESemmé, Lakmé, and Clinic Plus led innovations across hair and skin care, with Lakmé’s new lines driving growth.
• Segment Expansion: HUL restructured into Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care segments to offer focused growth strategies.
Financial Snapshot FY24–25
Let’s look at HUL’s financial journey through FY25:
• In Q1FY24, there were early signs of recovery in rural demand, driven by price cuts and strong performance in the home care segment. Revenue was slightly lower than the following quarters, but profit remained healthy, indicating cost efficiency and effective pricing.
• In Q2FY24, Revenue saw a decent jump—partly seasonal, partly reflecting stability in urban demand. Profit growth remained steady. The interim dividend signals confidence in performance.
• In Q3FY24, although revenue dropped, but profit jumped sharply. This suggests higher margins, possibly due to premiumization and better cost control. Strategic focus on sustainability and localized innovation likely helped HUL optimize operational efficiency.
• InQ4FY24, both revenue and profit dipped slightly. The decline in profit points to rising expenses—perhaps from marketing, innovation, or supply chain costs. However, total income still increased year-on-year, indicating the business remains fundamentally strong.
• In Q4FY25, Year-on-year comparisons show resilience despite slight quarter-on-quarter declines, profit grew 3.7% YoY and revenue by 2.4%. HUL maintained margin stability even in a high-cost environment—exhibiting discipline in operations and pricing strategy.
• Earnings Per Share (EPS) went up from ₹43.74 in FY24 to ₹45.32 in FY25.
• Total dividend for FY25 is ₹53 per share, up from ₹24 per share in FY24.
While revenue remained mostly flat across quarters (₹15,200–₹15,800 crore), profit fluctuated due to cost control, innovation strategy, and market demand shifts. Q3 FY24 stands out as the most profitable quarter, while Q4 FY25 shows year-on-year improvement, proving long-term sustainability. Each quarter, HUL adapted and delivered, proving resilience in changing environments.
Strategic Lessons
So what can we learn from HUL?
1. Be Adaptive: Whether it’s e-commerce, premiumization, or D2C — HUL moves with the market and has quickly changed with the times. For example, they launched 17 hand sanitizer variants in 100 days during COVID.
2. Stay Close to the Consumer: HUL’s ‘Winning in Many Indias’ (WIMI) strategy divides India into 15 consumer clusters or groups based on how people live and what they need. This helps them offer the right products to the right people and localize the offerings.
3. Purpose Fuels Performance: From Surf Excel’s “Dirt is Good” to water conservation efforts — HUL connects its ads and actions to real-life values.
4. Innovate Constantly: Whether launching new SKUs (stock keeping unit), modifying packaging, or entering health foods — HUL never stops evolving. They keep coming up with new products, update old ones, and even change packaging to stay fresh and useful for people.
From soaps to sanitizers, HUL’s story is one of evolution, trust, and a deep understanding of India. As markets shift and consumers evolve, one thing’s certain — HUL will keep reinventing itself to stay one step ahead.
If you enjoyed this video, hit Like, Subscribe, and share with someone curious about business and let us know which HUL product has been a part of your journey! See you in the next one. Thanks for watching!

top amid inflation, digital disruption, and evolving consumer tastes?
Hi, I am Criti and Welcome to Corporate Lens!

Today let’s explore the story of how HUL adapted to changing markets and maintained its leadership in India’s consumer landscape.

HUL's Foundation & Legacy. At the helm of HUL is Chairman & MD Rohit Jawa, who took over in 2023. His focus? Digitization, sustainability, and strengthening consumer trust.

The company’s strategic vision is further powered by CFO Ritesh Tiwari, ensuring solid financial discipline and growth.

HUL began its journey in the 1930s, establishing its first soap factory in Mumbai. In 1956, three companies merged to form Hindustan Lever Limited.

By 2007, it was renamed Hindustan Unilever Limited.

Today, HUL is India’s largest FMCG company with over 50 brands, a market cap exceeding ₹6 lakh crore, and a reach into 9 out of 10 Indian households

This isn’t just business success — it’s brand integration at the deepest level.

HUL’s journey also includes some of India’s biggest mergers: Tata Oil Mills in 1994, Brooke Bond and Lipton in 1996,

and most recently, the merger with GSK Consumer Healthcare in 2020, bringing Horlicks and Boost under its umbrella.

A Look at India’s FMCG Landscape, India’s FMCG market is the fourth largest globally – worth over $220 billion by 2025. Urban areas drive 65% of consumption, but rural demand is catching up fast.

The growth is being shaped by: Rapid urbanization, • Rising middle class incomes, • E-commerce and digital payments, • Smaller nuclear families.

And HUL has used each of these trends to its advantage.

HUL Navigating Market Shifts - India’s FMCG market has evolved drastically. With 780 million internet users and increasing urbanization, the demand is shifting fast

Here’s how HUL adapted:

• Direct-to-Consumer Play: With the launch of UShop, HUL started selling Lakmé, Dove, Horlicks, and Surf Excel directly online, gaining consumer insights and improving retention.

• Digital Transformation: Its Shikhar app digitized B2B transactions for over 2 lakh retailers, while supporting kiranas through ONDC integration.

• Premiumization: Consumers are opting for better lifestyle products. HUL moved beyond detergent bars to liquids and conditioners like Comfort Intense.

In Beauty, Lakmé launched the Invisible Sunstick, and premium skincare categories grew rapidly.

• Sustainability: The company conserved 3.2 trillion litres of water, reduced plastic packaging, and tested near-zero emission soda ash production.

• Social Impact: Project Shakti enabled rural women as micro-entrepreneurs. Project Suvidha brought hygiene to over 4 lakh people in urban informal settlements.

Project Prabhat positively impacted 10 million people through livelihood and health initiatives.

Product & Segment Innovation - Home Care: Vim liquids improved in formulation and packaging, seeing its highest volume growth in a decade. Surf Excel launched ‘first-wash stain removal’ in liquid form.

• Nutrition: Horlicks campaigns focused on ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’ for kids and awareness campaigns on diabetes and women’s health

• Beauty & Wellness: Dove, TRESemmé, Lakmé, and Clinic Plus led innovations across hair and skin care, with Lakmé’s new lines driving growth.

• Segment Expansion: HUL restructured into Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care segments to offer focused growth strategies.

Let’s look at HUL’s financial journey through FY25:

• In Q1FY24, there were early signs of recovery in rural demand, driven by price cuts and strong performance in the home care segment

Revenue was slightly lower than the following quarters, but profit remained healthy, indicating cost efficiency and effective pricing.

• In Q2FY24, Revenue saw a decent jump—partly seasonal, partly reflecting stability in urban demand. Profit growth remained steady

The interim dividend signals confidence in performance.

• In Q3FY24, although revenue dropped, but profit jumped sharply. This suggests higher margins, possibly due to premiumization and better cost control

Strategic focus on sustainability and localized innovation likely helped HUL optimize operational efficiency

• InQ4FY24, both revenue and profit dipped slightly. The decline in profit points to rising expenses—perhaps from marketing, innovation, or supply chain costs.

However, total income still increased year-on-year, indicating the business remains fundamentally strong.

• In Q4FY25, Year-on-year comparisons show resilience despite slight quarter-on-quarter declines, profit grew 3.7% YoY and revenue by 2.4%.

HUL maintained margin stability even in a high-cost environment—exhibiting discipline in operations and pricing strategy

• Earnings Per Share (EPS) went up from ₹43.74 in FY24 to ₹45.32 in FY25.
• Total dividend for FY25 is ₹53 per share, up from ₹24 per share in FY24

While revenue remained mostly flat across quarters (₹15,200–₹15,800 crore), profit fluctuated due to cost control, innovation strategy, and market demand shifts

Q3 FY24 stands out as the most profitable quarter, while Q4 FY25 shows year-on-year improvement, proving long-term sustainability.

Each quarter, HUL adapted and delivered, proving resilience in changing environments.

So what can we learn from HUL?

1. Be Adaptive: Whether it’s e-commerce, premiumization, or D2C — HUL moves with the market and has quickly changed with the times.

For example, they launched 17 hand sanitizer variants in 100 days during COVID.

2. Stay Close to the Consumer: HUL’s ‘Winning in Many Indias’ (WIMI) strategy divides India into 15 consumer clusters or groups based on how people live and what they need

This helps them offer the right products to the right people and localize the offerings.

3. Purpose Fuels Performance: From Surf Excel’s “Dirt is Good” to water conservation efforts — HUL connects its ads and actions to real-life values.

4. Innovate Constantly: Whether launching new SKUs (stock keeping unit), modifying packaging, or entering health foods — HUL never stops evolving.

They keep coming up with new products, update old ones, and even change packaging to stay fresh and useful for people.

From soaps to sanitizers, HUL’s story is one of evolution, trust, and a deep understanding of India.

. As markets shift and consumers evolve, one thing’s certain — HUL will keep reinventing itself to stay one step ahead.

If you enjoyed this video, hit Like, Subscribe, and share with someone curious about business and let us know which HUL product has been a part of your journey!

See you in the next one. Thanks for watching!