He's passionate about Irish rugby, ''plays poor golf and runs slowly,'' and is one of Manchester United's biggest buffs. Last fortnight, when Niall FitzGerald, the 55-year-old Irish Chairman & CEO of Unilever, visited the Mumbai headquarters of the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant's local subsidiary, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), there appeared to be good news on the Indian front-good enough perhaps to take his mind off Man United's sudden slump in fortunes in the English Premier League. ''I am very encouraged by the speed and commitment with which HLL is implementing the path-to-growth exercise,'' FitzGerald, who is also a non-executive director at Merck and Ericsson, told Business Today's Sanjoy Narayan and Brian Carvalho in an exclusive interview, in which he also talked about the possibilities of new brand launches from the Unilever stable in India, HLL's foods business, and the current status of the path-to-growth program. Excerpts:

Q. How often do you visit different Unilever markets?

A. Since taking over in 1996, this would be my fourth visit to India. I spend half my time travelling-that's a part of my job profile. When it comes to India, I try to be here every 12-15 months. China would be the same. It is intensive work. It always is. These guys (pointing to HLL Chairman Vindi Banga) make me work. They want their money's worth. It's great fun.

You have spent much of the day reviewing the Indian operations. What is the sense you get from what you've seen so far?

It's been very positive. I am very encouraged by what I've seen. Like at Unilever, the focus at Hindustan Lever too is on value-creation, on building a focused brand portfolio, and strengthening and simplifying businesses. I am very encouraged by the speed and commitment of the exercise (at HLL). They're laying the foundations for the next stage of growth. That's what it's about. It's all about growth. The role of any business is to grow. Besides being an indicator of whether consumers are buying more of what we are doing-our services or our brands-growth is society's comment on whether we are relevant.

Unilever has subsidiary companies spread over 80 countries, ranging from Latin America to Asia. How would you compare the growth in these different markets?

It's very difficult to make direct face-to-face comparisons because every business is at a relatively different stage. They are all at different stages, but working within the same framework, towards the same path to growth.

How is the economic slowdown, which is virtually a global phenomenon now, impacting the operations of Unilever?

Obviously, no business can completely escape what is happening in the general economy, but our business is not the most sensitive. Our business is about feeding, cleaning, and grooming. The fundamentals of our business are about numbers of people who are on the rising curve of disposable income. Those fundamentals are fine. We will see a little slowdown in some parts of the business, but there will be others that will push forward. So whilst we, of course, have to be mindful of what's happening in the general economy, it's not something that affects us hugely.

In the third quarter of this year, Unilever's profits were down 44 per cent. How much of a hand did the economic slowdown have to play in this drop in profits?

It wouldn't be right to say that our profits were down last quarter. The drop you are referring to is primarily due to the costs of the $21.3-billion acquisition of International Bestfoods made last October. In fact, if you exclude our acquisitions, the sales growth of our leading brands is 5.4 per cent for the last 12 months, and 5.3 per cent for the third quarter.

How will the Bestfoods brands like Hellmann's and Knorr fit into the Unilever foods portfolio?

Our current priority is integration, and the integration of our existing brands with the recent acquisitions (other than Bestfoods, there's also Slim-Fast, Amora Maille and Ben & Jerry's) is proceeding to plan. The merger of the salesforce of Bestfoods is close to completion, and the delivery of the cost synergy from the integration is well on track.

A part of the path-to-growth strategy is the formation of two categories: the Global Brands and the Local Jewels. How does this concept of Local Jewels apply to India, and on which of the Indian brands would you confer this status?

The global brands are those that have the same brand name in all the markets they are sold in. Examples of these are Knorr and Dove. The global brands also include those with international brand positions, which means that they have a similar marketing mix but different brand names, mainly for local reasons. Local Jewels are brands or businesses that are significant in that country, or are market leaders in their sectors, and sometimes with unique positions in particular countries or regions. In India, brands like Dalda, Kissan, Wheel, Lakme, and Fair & Lovely will qualify as Local Jewels. Fair & Lovely is outside India, but its core is in India. All these are brands that are market leaders in their local markets but are not global brands. Examples of Local Jewels in other markets include Andrelon (haircare) in the Netherlands, Marmite (spread) in the UK, Suave (haircare), and Wishbone (dressings) in the US.

Most of Unilever's top brands-Knorr, Lipton, Surf, Lux-are present in India, although there would be a few like Hellmann's and Slim Fast that haven't yet been launched in the country. Do you see scope for more launches in India, or do you think you have the Indian market pretty much covered?

Whether we decide to launch more brands from our international stable in India depends on the way they are positioned on the consumption curve with respect to disposable incomes. Dove, which is a huge brand for Unilever, has a small presence in India, but I would expect that to increase significantly in the next five years. Then there's something like Slim Fast, a weight-control product, which could be targeted at high-end urban consumers. You have to look at the consumption patterns and see what products appeal to people and how they evolve into more sophisticated products. And even in the same country, you could have a very significantly different profile in terms of consumption in different parts.

Foods is Unilever's biggest business, but in India the going hasn't been easy. Do the unique challenges posed by the Indian foods market make it a difficult one to break into?

I have a two-sided answer to this question. I would always like to see things move quicker. But after sitting with Vindi and his team, I am satisfied with what I've seen-what they've done and are planning to do, and the pace at which they're moving. Yes, India is a very unique and different market, but then so is China, and so is Indonesia-but there are the same underlying trends that drive all these markets. Consumers all over for instance want choice, more products in a short time. Some markets like the US put a very high premium on convenience, but what we've all learnt in the foods business is that in the pursuit of convenience we cannot be prepared to sacrifice either quality or taste.

Some of the buzzwords that one continuously hears at Unilever today are Shrinkage, Convergence, and Migration. How are they relevant to the company's path-to-growth programme?

Unilever's leading brands that are driving the path-to-growth strategy and operating margin improvement contribute almost 85 per cent to total sales. The shrinkage will occur only in 10 per cent of the business. But even here, there will be a significant part of the businesses that has been converged or migrated into the leading brands. I will give you an example of the migration strategy from the UK, where we had three detergent brands, two of which we converged into Surf. By the end of the exercise, Surf had an 8 per cent marketshare, which is more than the sum of the share of the two brands that were migrated. It's a complex exercise and the whole process of converging involves a lot of consumer communication.

How much has Unilever's total brand portfolio been reduced by since the path-to-growth program was launched, and what will it look like three years from now?

In 1999 (just before Unilever embarked on the path-to-growth exercise), Unilever had a portfolio of 1,600 brands. After the recent acquisitions and disposals, the total number of brands stood at 970 by June-end. By 2004, the leading portfolio should have between 380 and 400 brands. But on the basis of international brand positions, there will be just under 200 brands, of which 40 will be global and the rest Local Jewels. These leading brands (plus DiverseyLever) will represent 95 per cent of Unilever's business by 2004.

A focus on innovation has been singled out as one of the key drivers for value growth. What progress has Unilever made in its quest for innovation?

In the first nine months of 2001, some of our key innovations have been put to market. In fact, 75 per cent of our big-hit innovations are now in the market. These include Cornetto Soft Ice vending machines, 21,000 of which have been placed in Europe; extensions of the Dove range; and the launch of quality convenient frozen meals.

How would you summarise the progress made by Unilever in its path to growth?

We have made significant progress in the first seven quarters of our 20-quarter path-to-growth plan. Our leading brands have shown momentum, and by increasing the investment on them we have been able to improve operating margins. Underperforming businesses have been disposed of at good prices, Bestfoods' brand portfolio has been recalibrated and the synergy being delivered is in line with our expectations.

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