It's important to reinvent yourself every decade: Marico founder Mariwala

Mariwala talks to Viveat Susan Pinto and Niraj Bhatt about relinquishing day-to-day management to professionals, mentoring entrepreneurs and the activities of Marico Innovation Foundation.

The eighth floor office of Harsh Mariwala in the suburb of Santacruz, Mumbai, has little indication of his role as founder of Marico. A small “M” at the rear of the entrance and a nameplate of Marico Innovation Foundation among many other signages are the only giveaways that you are on the right floor. Not the typical Indian promoter, he relinquished his position of managing director when he was 63, handing over the reins of the company to a professional management team, and became non-executive chairman. Five years since, Mariwala says, “It is important to keep reinventing yourself every decade.” This need for reinvention has pushed Mariwala to explore new avenues.

Mariwala comes out of his office at the end of a long corridor, and takes us to the dining hall, a few steps from the entrance. He suggests we sit facing the window, which has a clear view of the Mumbai skyline. Coming back to his idea of reinvention, Mariwala says he was conscious that he didn’t want to be like “some other promoters” who are not able to let go of control even after giving up running the show. “I didn’t want that to happen; it’s a recipe for disaster,” he adds.

Mariwala and Saugata Gupta, a Marico veteran who was appointed MD and CEO in 2014, drew up a list of what each of them would do and not do in their new roles. Mariwala has abided by the rules that govern the promoter-professional CEO relationship. “I have a clear understanding with Saugata that I will not get involved in the daily running of the business,” he says. This wall demarcates media interviews as well. Mariwala shares his views “always” on the macro environment or industry issues, while Gupta speaks about Marico. “I am hands off, but my mind remains on," he says.

Carrot, orange and ginger soup comes first. Mariwala, 69, admits he loves keeping his meals simple, thanks to his passion for health and fitness. The fitness enthusiast tells us he loves hitting the gym every evening after work. Weekends are more relaxed with an hour-and-a-half of stretching exercises in the morning, reading, playing golf, and spending time with his grandchildren.

In the early 1970s, after graduating from Mumbai’s Sydenham College, Mariwala joined the family business, which was into trading in oil and spices. Bombay Oil Industries was amongst the largest players in its space and the young Mariwala was quick to pick up the ropes. But he knew the company would have to go beyond its trading roots into branded products. The future was there.

Under him, both coconut oil Parachute and edible oil Saffola, part of the consumer products division he started at Bombay Oil, were given an aggressive distribution push. This went on through the 1970s and 1980s, when Mariwala introduced a number of innovations, such as packaging “loose” products and brand building. By the 1990s, Mariwala decided to carve out Marico from Bombay Oil. A new office, an initial public offering (in 1996) and a team of top managers were all there to nurture the founder’s dream of becoming a leading home-grown consumer goods company.

In the last three decades, Marico has evolved from a two-product company into a diversified consumer goods player, touching the lives of one in three Indians. The Rs 7,334-crore company today has a presence in Asia and Africa and operates in categories such as hair care, skin care, edible oils, healthy foods, male grooming and fabric care.

In 2002, he founded Kaya, a chain of skin clinics that has made dermatological services accessible to a large base of middle-class consumers, under Marico. It is amongst the most popular in its space, with a loyal customer base, having clinics in India and West Asia. Kaya was demerged from Marico in 2013 and listed a year later. Mariwala remains on the board of Kaya.

Relinquishing day-to-day responsibility has allowed Mariwala to devote time to some of his other interests — mentoring entrepreneurs through his not-for-profit foundation Ascent, speaking at industry fora and championing the cause of innovation under the Marico Innovation Foundation. He is also an investor in start-ups through his family office Sharrp Ventures, managed by his son Rishabh, who is also on the board of Marico. His daughter Rajvi runs the Mariwala Health Initiative, a funding agency for mental health initiatives and works with the Marico Innovation Foundation.

The Foundation’s flagship biennial event —Marico Innovation Awards — is a show tightly knit and curated, Mariwala explains. “Winners are not only selected after a rigorous exercise, but trained to present their innovations in an engaging style, almost like TED events.”

“Work on the awards begins months in advance. A lot of effort goes to put up a good show, so there is some takeaway for the audience at the end it,” he says as the table is cleared for vegetable salad with feta dressing.

Brendan, the butler, is on cue. The vegetable club sandwiches follow even as we dig into our salads. Mariwala is a quick eater in contrast.

The “hands-off, mind on” approach at Marico does see Mariwala cover a lot of ground though. As company chairman, he undertakes monthly performance reviews, provides inputs on strategic direction to the top management, interacts with new managers during induction programmes and guides the team during mergers, acquisitions and key investment decisions.

“The whole objective here is to add value and not control,” he says. “Not only have the chairman’s and MD’s roles been bifurcated clearly at Marico, there is a drop-dead successor to me as well. In the event I cannot execute my role as chairman, I have nominated a member of the board to take over my position. The objective is to ensure that the organisation continues to function no matter what,” he says. A stickler for good corporate governance, Mariwala says Marico has an “evolved” board.

At a time when India Inc is littered with examples of promoter conflicts and boardroom battles, Mariwala’s effort to keep things simple stands out. “Too often when there is a conflict I find the warring sides go public with details. Conflicts happen when there are two or more personalities involved. But there has to be a mechanism for conflict resolution. Going public helps no one,” he says.

Abiding by the promoter-professional CEO rule book has meant the number of family members involved in the business are limited. Apart from Mariwala and son Rishabh, cousin Rajen are part of Marico's board. “It is meaningless if you have too many family members crowding out the board. That is not how a professionally-managed company should be run. Central to my role at Marico is ensuring that the board is effective and this is possible when you have great minds who can add value,” he says.

Brendan is on his toes again. His boss has finished his meal. Mariwala asks us if we wish to have ice-cream. Still eating our sandwiches, we politely decline. He quips: “I won’t have ice-cream, if you don’t.” He then offers us tea and coffee, with options of regular and green, to which we say yes. In comes a range of green teas and coffees, launched under the Saffola Fittify umbrella. The marketer in Mariwala goes for it. “We have just rolled these out. The flavours are interesting. Why tea? Even coffee is now green,” he says. We listen as we try out and appreciate our Moroccan mint green tea and the classic strong green coffee.

Innovation is something that Mariwala takes seriously. The research and development team at Marico, for instance, is constantly working on prototypes of new products, prompting Mariwala to undertake reviews three times in a year. “I love it,” he says. “The work they do gives me hope that we are on the right track.”