The One Who Streamlined Nature's Basket Through Her Vast Experience Under her leadership, the company is witnessing steady positive double-digit growth of 25 per cent.

Having introduced to the idea of a conglomerate with her first job at the Tata Administrative Services (TAS) in the past to currently being on the board of Natures Basket for the past 15 months as Managing Director, Avani Davda truly reflects the persona of leadership delivered under the purview of humanity and humility.

She realizes that taking decisions in a growing organization can be tough but it's all about being human; while at the end of the day, leadership is all about managing people. "The companies I have worked with, whether it was as CEO of Tata-Starbucks or now as MD of Godrej Nature's Basket, I have always realized that leadership is about humanity and humility. And that is how I would define my management style", said Davda.nature

After joining the company, in a bold move Davda closed down eight under performing stores in Delhi NCR. Post that, she introduced several other initiatives for revival of Nature's Basket. With the wealth of experience in retail, business strategy and brand building, Avani is at the core of the organization in devising five-year strategy with GNB Refresh to turn Nature's Basket from an occasional destination to a neighborhood store. "We're looking at setting up a prototype store in Mumbai soon and then expand across the country. The brand is in the process of taking its much-loved products to the next level and the team is excited to roll it out soon. Its vision is to redefine India's freshest and finest food experience," added Avani Davda.

Since having her on board, Godrej Nature's Basket is largely capitalizing on her managerial qualities and vast experience in consumer-facing sectors. The company has crafted a thoughtful expansion plan and has outlined a clear roadmap for the business to become India's freshest and finest neighborhood store and achieve its target of 3x growth by FY20.

Under her leadership, the company is witnessing steady positive double-digit growth of 25 per cent. The company has ended the year with revenues of approximately Rs 350 crore along with pioneering in food trends, innovating through fine food gifting, nurturing own brands to being a truly omni-channel player that enjoys great brand loyalty among customers.

Overall her journey at Nature's Basket has been the process of transformation which she calls it as "Refresh 2020', challenging and exciting. "At Godrej, I have completed 13-14 months and it has been a very fulfilling and exciting journey. It's vibrant and I couldn't have asked for a better environment, or a better challenge from the leadership standpoint", acknowledged Avani Davda.

(This article was first published in the July issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)