The essence of our strategy and business model revolves around prioritising our stakeholders. Keeping abreast of their changing needs enables us to make well-informed and strategic decisions. Hence, we have established a robust process for identifying stakeholders and engaging with them to strengthen our partnerships. The six key stakeholder groups critical to our success are consumers, customers (including retailers), suppliers & business partners, planet & society (including citizens, NGOs, governments), shareholders and employees. We conduct regular stakeholder reviews to assess and address the business’s evolving interests, concerns, and expectations. Details of such reviews can be found in the stakeholder engagement section of the Report.

We strive to grow our business while protecting the planet and doing good for the community. To generate superior long-term value, we need to care for all our stakeholders: consumers, customers, employees, shareholders, business partners, and above all, the planet and society. We call it the multi-stakeholder model of sustainable growth. The CoBP and Code Policies guide how we interact with our key stakeholders. All engagements are conducted transparently, with honesty, integrity, and openness.

Our engagement with our broader stakeholder community is undertaken by respective functions in consultation with the leadership team and overseen by the ESG committee. Feedback from different stakeholder groups on environmental, social, or economic topics is shared with the ESG Committee of the Board. We also have a CSR committee to review, monitor, and provide strategic direction to our CSR practices and social initiatives.

Stakeholder consultation is paramount to us, as we live in an uncertain and constantly changing world. To create long-term value, we take steps to understand each stakeholder group’s needs and priorities through several mediums, including direct engagement or via delegated committees and forums.

We conduct a sustainability materiality assessment to identify and prioritise sustainability issues across our value chain so that we can focus on the key issues affecting our stakeholders. A sustainability issue is material to us if it is considered a principal risk or an element of a principal risk that could impact our business or performance or if our key stakeholders deem it essential. In addition, we use stakeholder insights to gauge the relative importance of each issue.

We engage with vulnerable/marginalised stakeholder groups through CSR outreach programmes. The programmes are not just limited to philanthropy but also encompass holistic community development, institutionbuilding, and sustainability-related initiatives while focusing on vulnerable and marginalised groups. The CSR Policy aims to provide a dedicated approach to community development in water conservation, health and hygiene, skill development, livelihood opportunities, social advancement, gender equality, women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability, and rural development.

Some of the key actions to address the concerns of vulnerable/marginalised groups through various initiatives are listed below:

Social Inclusion of Waste Workers (Safai Saathis)
A first-of-its-kind programme by HUL and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that aims to enhance social inclusion and upliftment of those who are often overlooked but are crucial to a sustainable future – the invisible superheroes, ‘Safai Saathis’ (waste workers). The programme facilitates the issuance of National ID cards, including Aadhaar, ration cards, and voter cards, as required, to ensure eligibility for accessing and utilising the benefits of social security programmes. To date, we have enabled access for over 5,000 Safai Saathis in Delhi and Mumbai with at least two government social protection schemes.

Project Shakti
Launched in 2001, Project Shakti is an initiative to financially empower and provide livelihood opportunities to women in rural India. Project Shakti has positively impacted the livelihoods, confidence, and self-esteem of women with enhanced skills and entrepreneurial mindsets. We have over 200,000 Shakti entrepreneurs spread across 22 states.

Water conservation programme
Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) is a not-for-profit company set up in 2010 to support and amplify scalable solutions that can help address India’s water challenges. Since 80% of water is used in agriculture, HUF’s work focuses on helping rural communities, especially those that depend on agriculture for their core livelihood. HUF along with its partners has delivered a cumulative and collective water potential of over 3.2 trillion litres* since its inception over the last decade through improved water supply and demand management, over 2 million tonnes of additional agricultural and biomass production, and over 114 million person-days of employment. To underscore the importance of the water potential created by HUF, 3.2 trillion litres of water is the quantity required to meet the drinking water needs of India’s population for nearly two years.

Asha Daan
Asha Daan is a home for the sick, and destitute people in Mumbai. It is run by the Missionaries of Charities (MoC) which was founded by Mother Teresa. Since the inception of Asha Daan in 1976, the Company has been looking after the maintenance and upkeep of the premises. At any time, there are around 350 inmates at Asha Daan. Currently, Asha Daan’s redevelopment work is underway. The home’s superstructure has been completed with internal civil work in progress. The redevelopment is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The Company has proposed to set up proper drainage and ventilation systems, a water treatment plant, a solar-based lighting system, a courtyard for inmates to walk and develop a play area for children.

Inclusion of person with disabilities (PwDs)
We are committed to including persons with disabilities in our employment ecosystem and workforce.

Prabhat
Prabhat is our community development initiative to create sustainable and inclusive communities. It contributes to a fairer, more socially and environmentally inclusive world while using HUL’s scale for good. In the last ten years, the initiative has positively benefitted nearly 10 million people across 21 States and 2 Union Territories.

Ankur
Ankur was set up in 1993 as a centre for special education for differently-abled children at Doom Dooma in Assam. Ankur has provided free special educational, vocational, and rehabilitative training to over 350 physically and mentally challenged children from underprivileged backgrounds.

Sanjeevani
A free mobile medical service camp called ‘Sanjeevani’ has been set up to cater to the local community near our manufacturing location in Doom Dooma in Assam. There are two mobile vans dedicated to the project. Each vehicle has one male and one female doctor, one nurse, a medical attendant and a driver. The vans are equipped with basic kits such as a diagnostic kit, blood pressure measuring unit, medicines and a mobile stretcher. Over 7,000 camps have been organised in villages so far. More than 3.8 lakh patients have been treated through these service camps since its inception.

Over 3,80,000

Patients treated through Sanjeevani Camps

Suvidha
Suvidha, our urban water, hygiene and sanitation community centre, was first set up in Ghatkopar, Mumbai in 2016. The biggest Suvidha centre is in Dharavi, Mumbai and is one of the largest community toilet blocks in India. This year, the Company built four new Suvidha centres. So far, we have built 16 Suvidha centres in Mumbai in partnership with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, out of which 15 are in partnership with HSBC India. We have also announced a strategic partnership with JSW to build 10 more Suvidha centres.

‘Samavesh’ and ‘Ahilya’
‘Samavesh’ is our project to improve women’s participation in our factory shop floors, and with our ‘Ahilya’ initiative, we are empowering women to become sales professionals. We have over 1,300 women as shopfloor employees across our manufacturing locations and have onboarded over 1,400 women in sales.

1,400+

Women in salesforce