Godrej - over 125 years young.
Our story began as part of
India's Swadeshi movement -
the original 'Make in India'
movement.
Ardeshir Godrej, after a few failed
ventures, sets up a lock company.
For him, the key to success turns out
to be locks.
We launch Chavi, the first soap in the world
to be made without animal fat.
We score for Swadeshi and ahimsa.
Soon after, we launch another soap,
Godrej No.2. Why the name? To borrow
Ardeshir Godrej's explanation, "If people
find No.2 so good, they'll believe No.1 to
be even better!"
Ardeshir Godrej, an ardent nationalist,
donates 3 lakh rupees to the Tilak Swaraj
Fund, the largest single contribution
back then.
One of our most treasured moments:
Mahatma Gandhi, in a letter to a favour-seeking
competitor, says: “I hold my brother Godrej in
such high regard that if your enterprise is likely
to harm him in any way, I regret very much that I
cannot give you my blessings.”
Godrej No.1 is born into swadeshi fervour
and is fondly endorsed by many, including
Rabindranath Tagore, Annie Besant and
C. Rajagopalachari. Today, it is one of India's
biggest soap brands.
Public Provident Fund is introduced at Godrej,
14 years before the Government of India
mandates it.
The then Government of Bombay auctions
Vikhroli village to Pirojsha Godrej. Over the
years, Vikhroli transforms into a green,
industrial township that cares for its people
and the environment.
We go green way before it is cool to do so
and decide to let mangroves be mangroves.
You will find a dense cover of mangroves,
nearly 3x the size of New York's Central Park,
owned and cared for by us,
in the heart of our estate in Mumbai.
A devastating explosion at the Bombay
docks leaves terrible carnage in its wake.
Among the few things to survive the blast
are Godrej safes.
We were thrilled to make 1.7 million ballot boxes
for India's first steps as a democracy. K. R.
Thanewalla remembers, "I know that our best
was around 22,000 ballot boxes per day!
We would be at the plant from quarter to
seven onwards and rarely left before midnight."
Cinthol is launched on India's Independence Day.
Together with Godrej No.1, Cinthol makes us
the second largest soap player in India.
One of our oldest businesses, our
Chemicals division is a leading oleo-
chemicals, surfactants, derivates
manufacturer in India.
Our first hair colour product, a liquid hair dye,
is a runaway success. We introduce a series of
innovative hair care products through the years,
becoming a leading player in Asia,
Africa and Latin America.
Total Quality Management is formally
introduced at Godrej, grounding our
commitment to create amazing quality,
world-class products.
Godrej Properties is established,
bringing the Group's philosophy of
innovation and excellence to the real
estate industry in India.
Godrej Agrovet is incorporated.
A diversified, Research & Development
backed agri-business company, it is
dedicated to addressing India's key
agricultural crises.
We acquire Translektra. With leading brands
such as Goodknight and HIT, we protect
against vector borne diseases and are
the number one player in household
insecticides in India and Indonesia.
We celebrate our 100th birthday
and remind ourselves that we are
only as good as what we do next.
Godrej Soaps is demerged into a
Chemicals business, Godrej Chemicals,
and a focused FMCG business,
Godrej Consumer Products.
We start our global journey with our first
acquisition outside India - Keyline Brands,
a personal care player in the UK. In 2018, we
divested our stake in the business, sharpening our
strategic focus on emerging markets.
We make our first African acquisitions –
Rapidol and Kinky – opening up the
fascinating world of hair extensions and hair
care for women of African origin.
We enter the Indonesian market by
acquiring P.T. Megasari Makmur,
a leading home and personal care player.
We enter the Argentinian market by
acquiring the leading hair colour players,
Issue and Argencos.
Building on our legacy of sustainability
and making a commitment to build a
more employable and greener world.
We significantly ramp up our presence in
Africa and step into 14 new countries by
acquiring the Darling Group, a leader in
hair extensions.
The Godrej India Culture Lab ran as a successful
10 year experiment that, through events, fellowships,
and public resources such as white papers and
websites, created a new exploratory cultural space
located within the Godrej headquarters in Vikhroli,
Mumbai. It subsequently evolved into the Godrej
DEI Lab.
We introduce the Godrej Capability Factors
of ‘Leading Self’, ‘Leading Others’ and
‘Leading Business’, to define and measure
leadership capability at Godrej. All our
people processes are based on this.
Our next stop – Chile – where we acquire
Cosmetica Nacional, a leading hair colour
and colour cosmetics company, to grow
our presence in Latin America.
Passionate people make for passionate
Godrejites! Godrej LOUD (Live Out Ur
Dream), our radically different take on
recruitment, launches in India,
kickstarting the hunt for people with
powerful personal dreams. Now we host
it in Africa and Indonesia too.
Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group,
is awarded the Padma Bhushan,
the third-highest civilian award in India,
for "distinguished service of a high order".
Godrej Properties and Pelli Clarke Pelli
Architects create Godrej One, our new
global headquarters at Vikhroli in Mumbai.
Our employee value proposition and
efforts to build an inspiring place to work
are anchored in the 3 pillars of ‘Your
Canvas’, ‘Tough Love’ and ‘Whole Self’.
Creating our first investment platform
targeting residential real estate by
bringing together a group of
overseas institutional investors.
We introduce The Godrej Way, our refreshed
purpose and values. It talks about why we
exist and how we add value together; how
we bring meaning to what we do, what will
guide our decisions.
We partner with the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights and launch an unprecedented set
of global corporate standards to support
the business community in tackling
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi,
trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, at our
headquarters in Vikhroli, Mumbai.
We launch a ‘Manifesto for Trans Inclusion
in the Indian Workplace’ to highlight the
circumstances of trans people in India,
and how corporate India can take action
to improve them.
The financial services arm of the Godrej
Industries Group, Godrej Capital leverages
a customer-centric approach to home
loans, loans against property and
business loans.
We set up the Godrej Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lab to empower inclusion ecosystems through strategic guidance, building DEI ecosystems in corporate India, partnerships with universities, think tanks and industry bodies, and much more.
We announce an ownership realignment of the Godrej family shareholdings to maximise strategic direction, focus, agility, and create long-term value for shareholders and all other stakeholders. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) will include the listed companies, Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet and Astec Lifesciences.
