Our strategy and business model are centered around prioritising our stakeholders. By staying informed about their evolving needs, we can make strategic and well-informed 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.

We conduct and regularly update 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 it has an impact on our stakeholders.

Stakeholder consultation is paramount to us, as we live in an uncertain and constantly changing world. We constantly engage with our numerous stakeholders – be it consumers, customers, suppliers, and communities through both direct engagement (for example – in home consumer visits and also through forums). For example, our regenerative agriculture program in tea & coffee has been set up in close consultation with small holder farmers keeping in mind their challenges. During this process, we also recognised the need for a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for tea production in India which has been carried out with the Tea Research Association (TRA).

We engage with the vulnerable/marginalised stakeholder groups in our local communities through different CSR programs with the aim to address issues, challenges faced by these various stakeholder. The programs encompass holistic community development, institution-building, and sustainability-related initiatives.

Few instances to address the concerns of vulnerable/ marginalised groups through various initiatives are listed below:

Suvidha: Access to clean water and sanitation is one of the most pressing issues of our time. With the onset of the pandemic, it has become more critical than ever to provide hygiene and sanitation solutions to low-income urban households, especially to communities residing in congested arrangements. HUL‘s Suvidha centres provide best in class, affordable access to sanitation with clean toilets, purified drinking water, showers, laundry services to in informal settlements in Mumbai. Inclusive by design, the centres provide safe, private, hygienic, and odourfree toilet facilities for women, men, children and people with disabilities. Designed to be safe for women and girls, the centres include features such as 24x7 security, CCTV cameras, adequate lighting and a panic button connected to the main alarm. Moreover, the centres are run by staff hired from the community. The Company has built 20 Suvidha centres as of today, through a public-private partnership with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

SAFAL: To enhance India’s employability ecosystem to educate youth lacking necessary skills. Additionally, the female labour force participation rate was just 32.8% in 2022, much lower than that of men. While the India Skills Report 2024 notes an improvement in employability to 51.25%, disparities persist across states and demographics. Addressing this gap requires a multifaceted approach. HUL took this on priority and started working of livelihood enhancement of the women and youth of the country. Currently, our livelihood centers are present in 21 states and 2 union territories covering 78 aspirational districts. Initiatives like SAFAL (Skills Academy for Advancement of Livelihoods) are vital, as they engage with communities and provide tailored support to improve livelihoods. SAFAL helps build India’s more skilled and resilient workforce by focusing on marginalised groups and promoting inclusive growth.