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Our roadmap to manage this crisis was driven by a simple five-pillar model focusing on the workforce (People), protecting supply chain (Supply), adjusting to fluctuating demand (Demand), preserving cash (liquidity in the organisation) and supporting the larger community with our purpose driven brands (Community).

In the last six months, I along with my management team simply followed these 5 pillars putting people as our first priority. Our philosophy has been if we took care of our people, they would take care of the business. And that came true when we see how we managed to weather the storm.

We have worked with the government and other stakeholders to ensure the supply of our products in the market. Consumers needed our brands to be available and we have ensured that. We have closely observed demand signals with the emerging situation and planned our business accordingly.

And we have ensured cash to support our business and ensured on-time payment of all our suppliers and vendors along with duty and tax submissions to government exchequer. Finally, we were one of the first few companies who committed certain investments for the community and help Bangladesh in its fights against Covid-19.

I am happy to share that in the past six months we have worked with so many partners like BRAC, WaterAid, UNICEF, UNDP, UNWOMEN, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, 2030WRG, Bhumijo and have already invested over Tk 350 million to support over 60 million Bangladeshis through different initiatives.

What have you done to utilise consumers’ new habit of buying from digital marketplaces?

In Bangladesh we started to offer Unilever products through our online shop UShop (www.ushopbd.com). We had launched this platform for exclusive use of our employees, but the growing popularity amidst the crisis gave us the confidence to scale it up for general consumers as well.

When the lockdown was getting extended beyond a few weeks, the UShop team realised the need for a reliable and authentic online source for Unilever products. Within just two weeks, UShop unlocked flexible features like home delivery, online payment, and e-commerce ready packaging to service the consumers outside of Unilever.

The UShop team first communicated and on-boarded employees from 46 different corporate houses. Over the last few weeks, this service is now delivering in 10 different districts across Bangladesh, and the team is successfully maintaining close to 90 per cent on-time delivery.

What is your take on government responses to help business overcome the situation?

I have already mentioned that we have received constant support from the government and that helped us continue our operations. This is because Unilever is one of the trusted companies in Bangladesh and we have constantly engaged with the government at every level. I appreciate the initiatives the government has taken in the past 6 months and engaged with businesses to understand their perspective. However, stronger coordination is critical to recovering from the economic shock and putting the country back on the path of sustained growth.

And finally what are the lessons learned?

1. It is a crisis – at human, health and economic level that is forcing all of us to relearn principles of our lives and business continuity.

2. Human resilience is the strongest defense known to mankind. However, the physical, mental and emotional suffering caused by the crisis has impacted each of us. Being caring, accommodative and patient is the need of the hour.

3. Digital transformation across all walks of life, government, business, education and healthcare was accelerated during this crisis. This change is here to stay. We must learn and make use of it to drive efficiency as well effectiveness.

And what the government and businesses should do to take the economy back to normalcy?

1. Support demand creation: through direct benefit transfer, wage(s) for work and supporting industry, agriculture and development projects to prosper.

2. Promote and support entrepreneurship – that would be a great way to unlock the potential of this country and her talented citizens.

3. Simplify, not reduce tax & duty structure – bring more clarity by not leaving scope for different interpretations. Also provide predictability for businesses to invest, plan and reap the rewards of their hard work.