 "Zubair Ahmed")
China Club is one of Gurgaon's oldest and most popular rendezvous for C-suite denizens and nothing reflects this familiarity better than Zubair Ahmed's mild displeasure at the absence of Coke Zero. "I must tell Atul about this," he murmurs half to himself, referring to Atul Singh, Coca Cola's group president for Asia Pacific. "His company pays a bomb to have it stocked here." Then he collects himself and patiently addresses my bewilderment over his multiple designations.
Ahmed, casually trendy in a white button-down shirt, the inner collar lined with contrasting blue checks, recently joined the growing band of Indian executives in multinationals assigned to prestigious global roles. He is shortly headed to Singapore as head of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa of the ambitious marketing joint venture between GSK Consumer Healthcare Plc and Novartis, the outcome of a complex three-way deal between the two giants.
But his card says he is managing director, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK-CH) Ltd, the listed company that makes Horlicks and other nutritional brands, a post he has held since 2007. He clarifies that this is one of the three designations he holds and will relinquish as soon as a successor is found (the lunch preceded the appointment of Manoj Kumar, who takes charge from June 1). The other is senior vice-president, Indian sub-continent, GSK Asia, which handles the group's non-nutritional brands (Sensodyne, Eno, Crocin and so on). GSK Asia is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the UK major and the Indian company has a sales and marketing agreement with it.
This explanation is so involved that I unmindfully pop a steaming hot water chestnut and shrimp dumpling into my mouth and then manfully try to chew. Ahmed advises me to sip water "although it will spoil the taste". The advice indicates someone who enjoys his food and, true enough, there's no demurring over food restrictions and health concerns when we order - spicy lamb dumplings are the other starter, followed by Basa steamed in soy, prawn in black bean sauce and egg fried rice.
I am awed by the geographical spread of his new remit: Turkey, Russia, India, south-east Asia, China, Japan, Australia, ending in New Zealand. "I'll have to travel a lot," he admits in an understatement, but adds that India will be one of the largest markets. The sheer range of products is dazzling too. Ahmed explains that OTC (over-the-counter) brands will comprise half the portfolio; consumer products the rest. And no, he isn't daunted but excited - first, at the prospect of exploring new markets and, second, because of the opportunities the merger presents.
"Most of Novartis' OTC produces are high-research, pharma-based products sold through chemists. That gives us a stronger entry for some of our products - for example, we have Iodex in the topical pain business; Novartis has Voltarin, the world leader in this category," he says. "Therefore, the joint venture gives us products and brands with critical mass in the category." Then again, the biggest markets for Novartis' Otrivin are Russia and Poland, where GSK-CH does not have a presence. "We will ride on the back of this powerful brand to gain market entry."
As managing director of Gillette's Indian subsidiary, then called Indian Shaving Products, he had the specific task of integrating the acquisition of Wiltech. It was, to put it mildly, a demanding assignment. Wiltech was previously owned by a well-known Kolkata-based family-owned enterprise - "you know how these guys run their companies," Ahmed says ruefully. He ran Gillette India for 13 years and stayed on for two more after the merger with P&G before joining GSK-CH.
Interestingly, Ahmed isn't a home-grown executive. He worked overseas for the first 18 years of his career, starting as a management trainee with Unilever, after dodging his father's attempt to make him a bureaucrat. "My father was the first batch of IAS officers but," he adds with irreverent humour, "he couldn't have done too well to get the Bihar cadre!" (The order of preference for those who topped the exam in those days was Himachal Pradesh, Union Territories and Karnataka). Still, with one brother a doctor, another an IIT engineer, he was expected to emulate his father.
He didn't because of a deep personal belief in never doing anything he doesn't like, he tells me as we are served the fish, so subtly spiced as to be almost tasteless. A three-month attempt to study medicine was followed by a brief stint as a management trainee in Voltas (Vinita Bali was a colleague, he recalls).
Then in 1977, Unilever was looking for people for its expanding West Asian business. "Dubai then was a desert and you couldn't get too many goras to go there, so I had an opportunity." It was a fascinating time to be there, just as oil prices took off. He remembers attending the Majlis every Wednesday organised by Sheikh Rashid, the architect of modern Dubai. After stints in the UK and elsewhere, he left Unilever just before the formation of Unilever Arabia that came to be headed by R Gopalakrishnan, "a friend I've known for yonks".
As a company with middle and lower-middle class consumers that make up the Bharatiya Janata Party's vote bank, I ask how he assesses the market. "I am dissatisfied with the speed of growth," he says, understandable for someone who has tripled revenues since he took charge. He admits that inflation has taken a toll on products like Horlicks, which accounts for the bulk of GSK-CH's sales. In 2013-14, the health food drinks category grew at 12 to 15 per cent, this financial year, growth has been 3 to 5 per cent.
Now, however, the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index suggests that sentiments after Narendra Modi's election are positive. "Normally, the translation of sentiment into purchase takes six to nine months. But in between, something has to happen, manufacturing has to kick in, then we get a hit. What we're not seeing is that sentiment translating into hard data."
He believes the government's intentions are good but progress is taking longer than he would have liked. I protest that he is being politically correct. He shakes his head. "Look, Modi doesn't have the money to do the kind of stuff that needs to be done like building roads and railways. So, he visited Japan, the US, Europe hoping to market India. That has not yet happened. So, he is trying to generate the cash by auctioning spectrum and coal mines and by disinvesting. He should go for some low-hanging fruit, like starting some big highway project, or a factory, not in Gujarat but in different parts of India and people will start talking about it."
What about "Make in India"? He likes the vision but says it amounts to "hallucination" unless it is translated into solid strategy. "I don't think anyone has visibility on that strategy but I'm hoping from the external manifestation that he's got one!"
We are interrupted by offers of dessert. Ahmed strongly recommends the walnut brownie. Naturally, I have to ask: what did he make of the ruling dispensation's record on the social front - ghar wapsi, beef bans, church attacks and so on? His corp com advisor swiftly advises him to keep this off the record, which proves unnecessary since his answer is both considered and unexceptionable.
At this point, the waiter places one plate with a large slice of brownie and a scoop of ice cream between us with three spoons. There is stricken silence; then Ahmed considerately explains that, in fact, we want one each. "We're not that broke," he jokes adding that he just can't understand why people want to share dessert or even avoid it altogether. The decision to have individual portions of the rich, nutty confection is worth it. Ahmed, too, is keen to sign off on a positive note. "I think the good times will start by the third quarter. I am already seeing early signs if I look at my latest numbers, which I can't disclose. The disillusionment is still not there," he says with the innate optimism of the seasoned businessman. And certainly, after that peerless brownie the feel-good factor is high among us.
