Being associated with Unilever for a period of about two decades, of which he spent the last three years serving the role of Executive Director- Hindustan Unilever and Head of Sales and Customer Development- South Asia, Kedar Lele has now decided to call it quits at the FMCG major.
Announcing the same on LinkedIn, he mentioned, “Goodbye, HUL. Today, for the first time in over 20 years, I am not able to say that I work for Hindustan Unilever. Friday, 30th Aug I walked out of the Mumbai head-office as its employee for the last time. Only to become a life-long admirer of what this organization stands for– Integrity, Respect, Pioneering spirit, and Responsibility.”
“With amazing brands and unmatched quality of people, there couldn’t have been a better combination creating a winning recipe. As I write this last note, I am filled with gratitude and memories of the time I have spent with this organization,” he added.
Furthermore, he also mentioned, “HUL is not a company but an institution. One that builds leaders. One that shapes character and personality, gives confidence and courage, teaches resilience and discipline. It fills its people with a sense of responsibility towards their teams, community, and environment. It also provides all the training, support, and opportunities to help the employees achieve their own potential and become the best version of themselves. So much that one can never repay the debt of this company. Only way is to pay it forward. Everyday.”
Before taking up the role of ED- HUL and Head of Sales and Customer Development- South Asia at Unilever, he served as Chairman and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh from January 2018 to June 2021. And apart from being the Chairman of Unilever Bangladesh, he also served on the board of Unilever Consumer Care (erstwhile GSK Bangladesh) during this time.
Prior to that, for a brief period of about six months, between June 2017 and December 2017, he also worked in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer at the company. As part of the same, he led the business operations, sales and customer development function and oversaw the go-to-market organisation involving marketing, customer and trade management, media, marketing research and activation at Unilever Bangladesh.
From June 2014 to May 2017, Lele was associated with Hindustan Unilever as Vice President and was responsible for leading the FMCG major’s eCommerce, Modern Trade (including Global & National banners across Retail and Cash & Carry business), Government’s Defense (CSD) and Police (CPC) channel as well as overseeing the Sales and Customer Development’s technology and Analytics nerve-center for India.
Previously, from November 2010 to May 2014, he served as General Manager- East, HUL, and as part of the same, was responsible for leading the overall HUL business with a multi-functional, 500+ member team across 12 states of Eastern India and setting the regional agenda, leading sales and customer development strategies and operation management.
Before joining Unilever, he served as Head- Sales and Marketing at Kimberley Clark Lever (a Joint Venture between Kimberley Clark and Hindustan Unilever) from December 2008 to November 2010. Based out of pune, Lele, in this role was responsible for managing the brand team for infant and feminine care businesses with end to end marketing responsibility and played an active role in building functional capability of the marketing resources across the South and East Asian Developing and Emerging Countries (SADEC) in Kimberly Clark network.
He had joined Unilever as Branch Sales Manager- Ice Cream in April 2004 and was elevated to the role of Marketing Manager- Ice Cream in August 2006.
Apart from Unilever, Lele also spent about two years working as Brand Manager (B2B) at Monster.com between 2001 and 2003, a year as Product Manager at bplnet.com from 2000 to 2001 and as Account Supervisor at Mudra Communications from April 1998 to July 2000.
