Riteesh Padhi, Chief Procurement & Supply Officer at Elida Beauty, tells us all about the company’s independence from Unilever, and how this has given 23 neglected brands the revival they needed
It’s a rare gift to be able to shape a business’s procurement function from its very beginnings. Elida Beauty started life as an offshoot of Unilever, gathering together 23 brands formerly under the Unilever umbrella, and giving them a new lease on life. Three senior leaders at Unilever were tasked with figuring out how to bring together a set of geographically spread brands across multiple sub-categories, and turn them into a single, unified business.
As Elida Beauty has gradually extricated itself from Unilever – now a fully independent company owned by Boston-based PE firm Yellow Wood Partners – those previously neglected brands are beginning to thrive once more.
One of the first to join the new team was Riteesh Padhi, Chief Procurement & Supply Officer at Elida Beauty. He was formerly the Global Supply Chain Transformation Director at Unilever, and jumped at the opportunity to tackle the challenge Elida presented.
Padhi is at the helm of the company’s strategic vision and the operational delivery of a fully outsourced, cost-competitive, agile supply network. Elida Beauty is composed of 23 well-known beauty and healthcare brands, across Skin Cleansing, Skin Care, Deodorants, Hair Care & Styling, and Baby & Cotton, and operating in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Padhi takes care of each of them, and that’s a challenge – but one he’s more than equipped for.
Building a sourcing network
The exciting thing for Padhi, at the beginning of this journey, was being able to build a supply chain from scratch. It’s rare that any procurement professional is able to do something so daring, and it made the role extremely appealing for him. His first task was building a team that fully believed in the opportunity Elida Beauty represents. They had to understand the risks, and be willing to leave the relative security of a large multinational in favour of a fast-paced, ongoing transformation journey.