Davos 2024 News: #NDTVProfitAtWEF | India has become a favoured place for sourcing and supply chain retailers, says #WelspunLiving's Dipali Goenka.
Watch her in discussion with Niraj Shah at #Davos2024. #WEF2024 #WEF #NDTV
Read: https://bit.ly/3U0CaXs
Watch her in discussion with Niraj Shah at #Davos2024. #WEF2024 #WEF #NDTV
Read: https://bit.ly/3U0CaXs
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TVTranscript
00:00 The lady with us today needs no introduction. She is the CEO and Managing Director of Wellspun
00:04 Living. It's well the largest home textile company is but now doing a lot beyond that
00:10 and Ms. Dipali Goenka, thank you so much for speaking to us on the sidelines of The WEF.
00:14 Thank you.
00:15 So tell us, I wanted to, you gave me a cue just before the interview started
00:21 about what we could talk about a lot more. I was trying to gauge the interest of global
00:26 corporations, global bankers in Indian manufacturing because it seems to be a decade
00:31 of manufacturing as opposed to only services. Tell us a bit about this whole piece and then
00:36 tell us about Wellspun Living in the scheme of things.
00:38 Oh sure. So I think India has become a very important piece of, you know, the whole sourcing
00:44 supply chain matrix of a lot of the retailers globally as well. And I think it's coming,
00:50 coming to life even with the kind of India being a very strategic position right now,
00:57 largest democracy, stable government and looking at the whole opportunity for, you know,
01:04 becoming, you know, kind of other countries are there like China and the others. But I
01:10 think India is becoming a preferred destination for sourcing as well. So I think in the scheme
01:14 of things, India is in a sweet spot. And if I speak about Wellspun Living here and textiles
01:21 here, you know, India is not only the biggest grower of cotton, it's the biggest exporter
01:27 of cotton now. And along with that, for us, it's not just about towel and sheets now.
01:33 We spoke about Wellspun Living, but it's a home solutions that we're talking about.
01:40 The whole interesting thing that we have seen is that, you know, we are becoming not just about
01:46 being the solution for trends, solution for innovation, being a partner to sustainable
01:53 way of doing businesses as well. And I think that's where we all are, you know,
01:57 where Wellspun Living is really taking this forward. So one aspect is supplying to 50
02:03 countries and more than 50 countries across the globe. But India becoming a very critical piece
02:08 for markets of 1.4 billion people here. And the opportunity of the Roti Kapda Makan is really,
02:15 truly kicking in in India. And I think that's where we see a great opportunity,
02:20 you know, from towel sheets, rugs, carpets, and flooring as well.
02:26 Interesting. So I was speaking to the IKEA management yesterday, and they said that they
02:30 want to make more in India for India and for the world. So that's my question to the global
02:34 companies to a large Indian company, my question would be, are people coming in telling you,
02:38 in some fashion, you told this to me, but are people coming in telling you that, hey, you're
02:42 doing x, why don't you do y and z as well? So are you doing you're doing steel? Do you do pots and
02:46 pants and cutlery as well? Is that happening? Yeah, that's on the lighter side? Yes. That's
02:51 something that people are talking about. Because I think people want to source out of India. And I
02:56 mean, we've seen the phones getting outsourced, the Apple, you know, working in India, the chips
03:01 being made in India. I think people want to look at the whole supply chain from India toys, if it
03:08 is toys as well. So yes, that's becoming a very interesting way of looking at India as a country
03:13 and becoming the sourcing destination. You get into toys as well? We are not.
03:16 It's a part of home living. So this is for every house. You need to I mean, if you have a kid,
03:22 you need to have toys. Okay. What's impressed you most thus far about conversations at the WEF
03:28 currently, and I believe you have a slew of meetings today at the Congress Center where
03:32 we are at, which is why we couldn't do outdoors. Yeah, also, it's very cold. But what is it? What
03:37 are the kind of conversations that you've lined up for yourself with your clients with with
03:40 prospective other clients, what have you? You know, the interesting thing that I've seen today,
03:45 so sustainability really is the bedrock of the conversations that's happening. But the important
03:52 and sustainability at that we're talking about the scope three, that's something that's really,
03:56 really interesting conversation that we've seen. The other is the AI and the ML. So I think that's
04:01 a very interesting bit. And I think if I talk about us, and I talk about Wells Fargo living
04:06 here, I think imagine the whole point of sales, you know, what is the kind of predictive analytics
04:11 that the consumer is going to buy? Or after three months, whether, you know, somewhere in North
04:18 India, what is she going to pick up, you know, or whether what is the next interesting product or
04:24 next interesting price that the consumer is going to talk about? I think the whole thing is about
04:28 experiences. And I think AI ML could be interestingly, really looking at a lot of
04:32 things, whether it's the cotton that you know, you can predict the kind of the forecast and what it
04:37 could be like to what the consumer is going to buy or the consumer experience. I think so that's
04:42 that's something that I'm it's going to be very relevant for me. But I think that's that's, I
04:47 think a very important conversation that you know, everybody's talking about, it's found its way into
04:51 your do's and don'ts regularly already. It already has actually for me and for us at Wellspun. I
04:58 think when you talk about the sustainability piece and the scope three, our machines have a way of,
05:04 you know, they're connected to, you know, you know, we measure our indexes of how much steam
05:09 are we going to we are, you know, generating and how we have to control that. And it's all through
05:14 in industry 4.0. And there's a towel counting mechanism that we have, because it also is,
05:20 you know, the industrial fatigue that a blue collar goes through. It's all AI ML generated,
05:24 we got an ASCOM award for that as well. So this is all finding its way inside a manufacturing.
05:31 Apart from that, it also will find its way into the consumer experiences as well.
05:35 Got it. Okay. A couple of issues, if you will, one, because you're such a large exporter,
05:42 and the world growth seems to be kind of faltering. Is that a worry part one for 2024? Part two on the
05:49 cost front as well, the unpredictabilities, while Evergrande was a blockage, Red Sea isn't a
05:54 blockage per se, but is that increasing costs for companies such as yours? And how are you dealing
06:00 with it? So the world is very dynamic, the whole economy that we're talking about globally is a
06:07 little bit of a very interesting space right now. And I have always told you that, you know,
06:12 when I talk about us as well, Span and about the businesses globally, I think America has always
06:17 been United States of America has been a very resilient market. And I've always reinstated that.
06:21 And I think we will. So we and you you would be knowing that the Fed has already been talking
06:28 about cutting down the rates as well. So there could be kind of an upside there. Yes. But there
06:34 are so many elements in this world. And somebody rightly said that, you know, there are 24 countries,
06:40 you know, that are going for elections. And you know, it's going to be a new world order for a
06:45 lot of them. So imagine 40%, you know, part of the world is going to be very, very different in a
06:50 very different space as well. So yeah, those are the important dynamics. There's a world, you know,
06:55 there's a war that's going on. The Red Sea issue is definitely a kind of something that we are
06:59 watching and waiting what it's going to be. But there could be a solution coming in by March.
07:04 However, I think we always believe that taking taking the destiny in your control is very,
07:10 very important. These dynamics are going to continue. Cotton might not be growing that well
07:16 somewhere. But how are we looking at, you know, hedging those risks? How are we looking at
07:21 solutions is going to be the new world order. Believe me, the world has changed by post COVID
07:27 and it's not going to be the same ever. So can I assume that it's difficult to kind of
07:33 nail it down to what's the quantum of impact that disruptions like the geopolitics or Red Sea has
07:40 on on if not a quarterly than a half yearly basis? Is it difficult to pinpoint point it down?
07:44 It is going to be we are going to wait and watch. I'll tell you one thing. And I think let's let's
07:49 keep it there. Because it's a very interesting dynamic that's at play. And I think the whole
07:54 global dynamics there, you know, in the countries, I think let's keep in keep it there.
08:01 What about the consumer, the global consumer, US, Europe, etc? Is that going to be a worry? Or
08:08 are you hopeful? I always feel worry, look at the worry or look at the opportunity. And I think
08:14 that's what I look at, you know, here. And I think for America, United States of America,
08:18 the opportunity is there, where, you know, we at Wellspun are looking at the share of shelf
08:24 and how we, you know, improve that share of shelf across the globe as well. So whether it's not a
08:30 towel or a sheet, but it could be a brand that we've licensed, or our own brand like Christie
08:34 that we have, or, you know, or our brands in India like Species and Wellspun. So I think the whole
08:41 idea here is how do you up the whole share of shelf in the terms of quality, ticket size,
08:46 and also work with influencers like, you know, the AIDs. For us, I think that's a very interesting
08:51 bit of piece that we, you know, we are evaluating and exploring as well right now.
08:56 Okay, one last thing before we wrap up, we are at the start of 2024. What is
09:01 something new that one can expect from you? I mean, the name change was something new for me
09:06 when I first heard about it sometime last year. But what is new to be anticipated of Wellspun
09:14 in 2024? So I think for us at Wellspun Living, the important thing in the core is the consumer,
09:20 consumer globally, and what is she buying or he buying globally and what is she
09:25 looking at is going to be a very important bit and in the terms of the experiences that she's
09:29 looking at, whether it's D to C or B to C across the globe, I think that's going to be a very
09:34 important bit of the flavour that you'll be seeing more and more across the globe. And,
09:38 and the bedrock is going to be sustainability for us. And I think that's where it is going to be.
09:43 And, you know, a key bit for us is going to be about the scope tree that we'll be talking about
09:48 more as well. Okay, we'll talk about it during the end of the quarterly results as well as going
09:52 up. But thank you so much for speaking to us today. Have a great remainder of the Davos.
09:56 Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for tuning in.
10:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]