Seratin

In a year characterized by a continuing global economic downturn and lower levels of consumer confidence and spending power, there were nonetheless a number of encouraging signs.

Many people’s behavior has changed in light of the crisis, with a greater emphasis on entertaining, relaxing and personal care in the home rather than outside it. In addition, there is an ongoing focus on personal health and well-being; more and more people are becoming aware that they have to actively address this issue in order to improve the quality of their lives. And consumers are limited far less than before by traditional boundaries between products and categories. They don’t think in terms of ‘boxes’ but instead, go looking for value and an enhanced experience.

In everything we do, we aim to Understanding consumers and improve the quality of people’s lives through the timely delivery of meaningful innovations delivered with the promise of “healthy and natural”. At Consumer Lifestyle the starting point for this is developing a complete understanding of people’s health and well-being needs, beliefs and attitudes. This year we carried out a number of activities and investments to develop an even deeper understanding of what consumers are looking for.

We apply a rigorous product development process when creating new value propositions. At the heart of this process are validated consumer insights, which show that the propositions meet a latent market need or needs. The combination of insight, innovation helps differentiate us from the competition and create a platform for sustainable business success.

In order to harness the available opportunities we have identified three key platforms, each with drivers for innovation and growth:

Healthy Life 
Taking a holistic approach to enhancing consumers’ wellbeing (both mental and physical).

Personal Care
Addressing people’s desire to look good and feel their best so they can approach life with a greater feeling of confidence. Our businesses focused on value creation through category development, and its function concentrating on value delivery through operational excellence.

Home Living
Making the home a more comforting, inviting and exciting place to be, reflecting people’s personal identity and preferences.

2016 was a very challenging, but also a very encouraging year. We got our hands around our cost structure, we drove good cash flow, and, more than ever; the customer was at the center of our activities.

I hope we can count on your continuous support and encouragement in the future.

Thank you.