Say it with poetry

It is not often that you meet the scion of an old business family who makes business presentations in verse and swims in shark-infested waters.

But then, Nadir Burjorji Godrej, the sixty-two-year-old Managing Director of Godrej Industries, is anything but the stuffy corporate leader. He loves languages, dabbles in higher mathematics and is more passionate about scientific research than marketing.

The diversity of the businesses he oversees would have ‘core competency’ advocates gnashing their teeth in frustration. There is Godrej Industries, which exports oleo-chemicals to over 70 countries.

There is the thriving retail chain — Nature’s Basket — which sells gourmet food at upmarket locations. Then, there is the animal feed giant Godrej Agrovet, of which he is the Chairman.

He is also actively involved in the group’s property and consumer arms.

Speech in verse

Godrej has us chuckling right from the moment we walk into the meeting room in the sylvan Godrej headquarters at Vikhroli, Mumbai.

Intrigued about the poems posted on his personal Web site, we ask him about this unusual pastime. My colleague mentions that he delivers his annual address to the sombre gatherings of the All India Liquid Bulk Importers and Exporters Association in poetry.

Godrej says that he first hit upon this speech-in-poetry idea at an award function in Kolkata, where he was to give the vote of thanks. “The poem started off by saying — vote of thanks, that thankless task,” he says, grinning.

Does he find it easier to express himself in poetry? No, it is tough work, he admits. “I use ballads for advocacy; they get through more easily to the audience.” That’s why Godrej Industries’ vision statement is also in verse.

Godrej also loves linguistics and etymology. So does he worry, like many of us old fogies, that ‘good’ English is dying out? “Yes, it concerns me. ‘Whom’ is almost dead”, he deadpans. But maybe the new terms and spellings of the SMS generation are just a sign that Indian dialect is developing and evolving.

Food and feed

So, is the Godrej empire, once famous for its steel almirahs, also developing and evolving? The rival Tatas, for instance, have prospered by moving from industrial ventures such as steel and trucks to consumer-facing ones such as jewellery and beverages.

He explains that, unusually for an Indian group, Godrej has been consumer-facing from day one. “We weren’t chasing after licences or going after every new business that came up. Our founder’s idea of starting a business was to substitute imports. If you can make it in Britain, why not in India, was his question.”

Pirojsha Godrej, a lawyer, taught himself science and made the first bathing soaps out of vegetable oil.

Nadir Godrej is a chemical engineer from MIT and Stanford. His own passion for science has led him to focus on food research at Godrej Agrovet. The market for animal feed is set to boom, he predicts, with the soaring appetite for eggs and meat as sources of protein.

It was Agrovet’s farm connection that prompted Godrej Industries to get into its lucrative retail venture — Nature’s Basket. This gourmet store, present only in large metros, retails exotic foods ranging from Danish blue cheese to Alaskan pink salmon.

So, is he looking to expand these stores and get in some FDI (foreign direct investment)? “We don’t see very rapid expansion for now,” says the pragmatic businessman. Gourmet stores require high-end consumers and low real estate costs, a combination not easily found in India.

Godrej has an entirely new take on the much-hyped FDI in retail too. “Indian consumers will always prefer fresh produce over preserved food,” he says. “People complain about the 30-40 per cent wastage (of farm produce) in India. But the truth is that, building a supply chain to avoid this may cost more than what we end up saving. Here, fruits and vegetables usually get consumed just before they are spoilt. Haven’t you seen the evening markets? It is not a total loss,” he avers.

He also argues that the Indian kirana store owner is much more efficient than his Western counterpart. “He has unpaid family labour and probably unpaid real estate,” he says, only partly in jest.

Buying back Hit

Godrej Consumer has displayed quite an appetite for foreign brands, snapping up companies in the UK, Indonesia, Africa and Latin America. Why these forays?

He explains that it makes good business sense, because foreign firms are often available at cheaper multiples and yet grow at healthy rates. The group has been able to leverage these buys to cross-sell its products across emerging markets.

He recounts an anecdote where a German entrepreneur visiting India ‘borrowed’ a Godrej brand — Hit — to start his own insecticide business in Indonesia. The brand prospered. When the entrepreneur decided to call it a day, Godrej Consumer actually ended up buying back ‘Hit’ for a hefty sum!

But Godrej is quite sportive about it — “We should have registered it; we didn’t.”

So, how does one oversee so many different businesses? Simple, he says. With the Godrej group professionalising, each business is headed by a separate CEO. The group has a family council, with independent directors, which meets regularly and irons out governance issues.

We’ve already chatted for over an hour and Godrej invites us to continue the conversation over lunch. Walking through the green-canopied campus, we are ushered into the enormous Boardroom, where the Godrej family meets informally for lunch every Thursday.

We begin with fresh watermelon juice and start on the sumptuous salad with crisp lettuce, fresh veggies and feta cheese. We steer the conversation to Godrej’s family. Is he hoping that his sons, aged 20, 18 and 16, will take over the reins of the business?

“I hope they will follow the LOUD philosophy,” smiles Godrej, referring to the group’s HR initiative that helps chosen high-performing employees to Live Out their Dream.

Math magic

For a man who seems to have so much fun working and making business speeches, what does Godrej do as a hobby, we ask curiously. Much of it is spent composing ballads for speaking assignments, he states. His family isn’t happy about it.

He loves swimming and vacationing on islands. Why islands, I ask, tucking into delicate pulao.

“I love swimming from island to island. I once did that in Fiji. After getting there, I had to swim back as there was no way of getting back. Later, people told me the waters were shark-infested,” he says, laughing.

“I love travelling. I have visited 70 countries, but my brother has done 80,” he says, with a hint of sibling rivalry, referring to Adi Godrej, Chairman of the group.

Mathematics too is a pastime. Godrej actually used linear programming to find the best product mix for his animal feed business when he started out.

As we wrap up our meal with big servings of fresh lychee and vanilla ice-cream, we ask him if he has ever had pets. “Never,” says this multi-faceted man who seems to thoroughly enjoy everything he does.

“I enjoyed playing with pets but never enjoyed the responsibility. I am ashamed to say I am a rather irresponsible person,” he laughs. He looks quite unrepentant about it too.

“The Indian kirana store owner is much more efficient than his Western counterpart. He has unpaid family labour and probably unpaid real estate.”

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