Vindi Banga

Mumbai, March 18: Manvinder Singh (Vindi) Banga, who was in the race for the top job at Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever just over a year ago, has decided to leave the company by the end of May.

Banga, 55, is a high-profile Indian executive credited with driving change at Hindustan Lever which he headed between 2000 and 2004 and then leading the process of transformation at Unilever where he was a president overseeing the consumer goods giant’s three biggest areas of operation.

“Vindi Banga, currently president, global foods, home and personal care and member of the Unilever Executive leadership team has decided to leave at the end of May after a distinguished career of 33 years,” Unilever announced today.

Banga will be replaced by Unilever president, Americas, Michael B. Polk.

Polk will in turn be succeeded by Dave Lewis, currently executive vice-president of Unilever, UK & Ireland. Lewis will also be inducted into the prestigious Unilever Executive.

Banga’s departure has come as a surprise. The old Unilever hand — who steered Hindustan Unilever as chairman through one of its most challenging phases — has refrained from disclosing what he plans to do next.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my time at Unilever especially the last few years during which we have transformed the company. Our global category organisation is a real powerhouse that combines global brand and technology scale with local knowledge and execution,” he said.

Banga told television channels that he was considered for the CEO’s job but the current Unilever CEO Paul Polman was a good choice. Polman, brought in from Nestle, was picked to succeed Patrick Cescau in September 2008 just when the global recession started to bite. He eventually took over the reins of the company in January 2009.

Banga’s parting advice to his colleagues at Hindustan Unilever was to “be aggressive on every front,” agencies reported from London.

Hindustan Unilever has come under pressure from rivals like Procter and Gamble and Henkel with a fierce price war erupting in the marketplace, especially for detergents.

A release by Unilever said: “Vindi Banga led the creation of One Unilever global foods, home and personal care global category organisation which is now responsible for innovation and marketing mix for all Unilever brands.”

One Unilever is a programme aimed at streamlining business and outsourcing parts of information technology, human resources and finance functions.

Commenting on Banga’s decision, Unilever CEO Paul Polman said: “Vindi is a great leader and has had a very successful career with Unilever. He was responsible for a significant improvement in our innovation results, delivering bigger ideas with global scale, and he will leave a lasting impact on the company.”

The senior Unilever executive joined the India subsidiary as a management trainee, soon after graduating from IIM Ahmedabad. He worked his way up the ranks to succeed as chairman and managing director of Hindustan Unilever, the country’s largest FMCG company at a time when it was facing the heat from rivals.

During his tenure, Banga implemented the power-brand strategy — that originated from headquarters — under which Hindustan Unilever trimmed a portfolio of 110 brands to just 30 in order to focus on those that would yield the best returns in a tough marketplace.

He also kickstarted several initiatives, including Project Shakti, that helped women in rural India set up small businesses as direct-to-consumer retailers and as a result created a new distribution channel for Unilever products.

In 2004, Banga was appointed president, home and personal care, Asia, based in Singapore and responsible for China, South East Asia, Australasia and South Asia, including India.

The Padma Bhushan award winner (in 2010) joined the Unilever Executive board as president, foods, in 2005. This was followed by an additional responsibility of managing the home and personal care categories in 2008.

Thereafter, he spearheaded the creation of One Unilever global foods, home and personal care global category organisation.