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Unilever

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Unilever N.V.
Unilever PLC
Company typeNaamloze vennootschap/
Public limited company
AMS: UNA, LSE: ULVR, NYSE: UN and NYSE: UL
ISINGB00B10RZP78 Edit this on Wikidata
IndustryFast moving consumer goods
PredecessorMichael Nairn & Greenwich
United Africa Company Edit this on Wikidata
Founded1930
FounderWilliam Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersUnilever House,
London, United Kingdom
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Michael Treschow
(Chairman)
Paul Polman
(CEO)
ProductsSee brands listing
Revenue€44.262 billion (2010)[1]
€6.339 billion (2010)[1]
€4.598 billion (2010)[1]
Number of employees
163,000 (2010)[2]
Websitehttp://unilever.com

Unilever[3] is a British–Dutch multinational fast-moving consumer goods company. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. It is the world's third-largest consumer goods company measured by revenues (after Procter & Gamble and Nestlé) and the world's largest maker of ice cream.[4][5]

Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever N.V. in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, United Kingdom. Both Unilever companies have the same directors and they operate as a single business. The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Michael Treschow while Paul Polman is Group Chief Executive.

As of December 2011, it was the 18th largest company on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of £27.3 billion.[6]

History

1930 to 2001

Lever House in New York City, which was the U.S. headquarters of Unilever from 1952 to 1997.

Unilever was founded on 1 January 1930 by Antonius Johannes Jurgens, Samuel van den Bergh and William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Leverhulme.

The amalgamation of the operations of British soapmaker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie (a 1927 amalgamation of Anton Jurgens Margarinefabrieken N.V. and Samuel van den Bergh) made sound commercial sense, as palm oil was a major raw material for both margarines, and soaps, and could be imported more efficiently in larger quantities.

The initial harvesting of palm oil was from British West Africa, from where news reports seen back in England showed the workers abroad in favourable conditions.[7] In 1911 the company received a concession for 750,000 hectares of forest in Belgian Congo, mostly south of Bandundu, where a system of forced labour operated.[8] The subsidiary of Lever Brothers was named "Huileries du Congo Belge". During the great depression in the thirties, the Huileries sharply decreased the fee for gathered oil nuts, while the government of Belgian Congo strongly increased taxation. This resulted in social unrest in 1931, which is known as the Revolution of the Pende, in which eventually more than 400 members of the Pende tribe were killed.[9]

In the 1930s the Unilever business grew and new ventures were launched in Africa and Latin America. In 1972 Unilever purchased A&W Restaurants' Canadian division but sold its shares through a management buyout to former A&W Food Services of Canada CEO Jefferson J. Mooney in July 1996.[10] By 1980 soap and edible fats contributed just 40% of profits, compared with an original 90%. In 1984 the company bought the brand Brooke Bond (maker of PG Tips tea).

In 1987 Unilever strengthened its position in the world skin care market by acquiring Chesebrough-Ponds (merged from Chesebrough Manufacturing and Pond's Creams), the maker of Ragú, Pond's, Aqua-Net, Cutex Nail Polish, and Vaseline. In 1989 Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Fabergé, and Elizabeth Arden, but the latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances.[11]

In 1996 Unilever purchased Helene Curtis Industries, giving the company "a powerful new presence in the United States shampoo and deodorant market".[11] The purchase brought Unilever the Suave and Finesse hair-care product brands and Degree deodorant brand.[12]

The company is multinational with operating companies and factories on every continent (except Antarctica) and research laboratories at Colworth and Port Sunlight in England; Vlaardingen in the Netherlands; Trumbull, Connecticut, and Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in the United States; Bangalore in India (see also Hindustan Unilever Limited); and Shanghai in China.

The US division carried the Lever Brothers name until the 1990s, when it adopted that of the parent company. The American unit has headquarters in New Jersey, and no longer maintains a presence at Lever House, the iconic skyscraper on Park Avenue in New York City.

The company is said to promote sustainability[13] and started a sustainable agriculture programme in 1998.[14]

2001 to 2011

Global employment at Unilever 2000–2008
Black represents employment numbers in Europe, light grey represents the Americas and dark grey represents Asia, Africa, and Middle East. Between 2000 and 2008 Unilever reduced global workforce numbers by 41%, from 295,000 to 174,000. Note: Europe figures for 2000–2003 are all Europe; from 2004 figures in black are Western Europe. For 2004–2008 Figures for Asia, Africa and Middle East include Eastern and Central Europe.
Source: Unilever Annual Reports 2004, 2008

In 2000 the company absorbed the American business Best Foods, strengthening its presence in North America and extending its portfolio of foods brands. In April 2000 it bought both Ben & Jerry's and Slim Fast.

In May 2007 it became the first tea company to commit to sourcing all its tea in a sustainable manner,[15] employing the Rainforest Alliance, an international environmental NGO, to certify its tea estates in East Africa, as well as third-party suppliers in Africa and other parts of the world.[16] It declared its aim to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in Western Europe certified by 2010, followed by all Lipton tea bags globally by 2015.[17]

Covalence, an ethical reputation ranking agency, placed Unilever at the top of its ranking based on positive versus negative news coverage for 2007.[18]

In 2007, Unilever's Dove "Evolution" video that ran only online, was named the first ever non-tv spot to win the Grand Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival. And in March, 2008, Unilever was named "Digital Marketer of the Year" by Advertising Age.

In 2008 Unilever was honoured at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Creation and Distribution of Interactive Commercial Advertising Delivered Through Digital Set Top Boxes" for its program Axe: Boost Your ESP.[19]

On 25 September 2009, Unilever decided to acquire the personal care business of Sara Lee Corporation: leading brands such as Radox, Badedas and Duschdas strengthened category leadership in Skin Cleansing and Deodorants.[20]

On 9 August 2010, Unilever signed an asset purchase agreement with the Norwegian dairy group TINE, to acquire the activities of Diplom-Is in Denmark, as of 30 September 2010.[21]

On 24 September 2010, Unilever announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its consumer tomato products business in Brazil to Cargill.[22]

On 27 September 2010, Unilever purchased Alberto-Culver, the maker of personal care and household products such as Simple, VO5, Nexxus, TRESemmé, and Mrs. Dash for $US3.7 billion.[23]

On 28 September 2010, Unilever and EVGA announced that they have signed an agreement under which Unilever will acquire EVGA’s ice cream brands (amongst others, Scandal, Variete and Karabola) and distribution network in Greece, for an undisclosed amount.[24]

2011 to present

On 23 March 2011: Unilever announced that it has entered a binding agreement to sell the global Sanex business to Colgate-Palmolive for €672m. Unilever also announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Colgate-Palmolive’s laundry detergent brands (Fab, Lavomatic and Vel) in Colombia for US$215m.[25]

On 24/08/2011,Unilever announced to sell VO5 in the USA. Unilever to sell the Alberto VO5 brand in the United States and Puerto Rico, and the Rave brand globally to Brynwood Partners VI L.P.

On 14/10/2011, Unilever announced to acquire 82% of leading Russian beauty company Kalina Successful brands enhance presence in attractive emerging market, strengthen Personal Care portfolio and create leading position in skin care in Russia.

Products

File:LiptonRAKericho.jpg
Unilever's Lipton brand
For a full list of products, see List of Unilever brands.

Unilever owns more than 400 brands, although its 25 largest brands account for over 70% of total sales.[26] Unilever focuses resources on 13 "billion-Euro brands", each of which has annual sales in excess of €1 billion. Unilever organises its brands into two main categories: Food and Beverages, and Home and Personal Care.

Unilever's current brands include:

Advertising

A freezer in Queens, NY filled with Strauss ice cream from Israel with the Heartbrand

Unilever is one of the largest media buyers in the world, and invested around €6 billion (US$8 billion) in advertising and promotion in 2010.[30][31]

Unilever has produced many notable advertising campaigns, including:

Corporate governance

Unilever's highest executive body is the Unilever Leadership Executive, which is led by the Group Chief Executive (currently Paul Polman).

The current Unilever corporate logo was introduced in 2004 and was designed by the brand consultancy Wolff Olins. It is composed of 26 icons woven together to create a U shape, with each icon representing one of the company's sub-brands or its corporate values.[33] The brand identity was developed around the idea of "adding vitality to life."[34]

Major competitors

Unilever's largest international competitors are Nestlé and Procter & Gamble. It also faces competition in local markets or specific product ranges from numerous companies, including Beiersdorf, ConAgra, Danone, Henkel, Mars, Inc., Pepsico, Reckitt Benckiser and S. C. Johnson & Son.

Environmental impact

Unilever has declared the goal of decoupling its environmental impact from its growth, by:

  • halving the environmental footprint of its products;
  • helping 1 billion people improve their health and well-being; and
  • sourcing all of its agricultural raw materials sustainably.[35]

Palm oil

Unilever has been criticised by Greenpeace for causing deforestation,[36] Unilever was targeted in 2008 by Greenpeace UK,[37] which criticised the company for buying palm oil from suppliers that are damaging Indonesia's rainforests. Unilever, as a founding member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), responded by publicizing its plan to obtain all of its palm oil from sources that are certified as sustainable by 2015.[38]

In Côte d'Ivoire, one of Unilever's palm oil suppliers was accused of clearing forest for plantations, an activity that threatened a primate species, Miss Waldron's Red Colobus. Unilever intervened to halt the clearances pending the results of an environmental assessment.[39]

On 4 July 2010, Unilever announced that it has secured enough GreenPalm certificates of sustainable palm oil to cover the requirements of its European, Australia, and New Zealand business.[citation needed] GreenPalm is a certificate trading programme, endorsed by the RSPO, which is designed to tackle the environmental and social problems created by the production of palm oil.

Rainforest Alliance

Unilever has committed to purchase all its tea from sustainable, ethical sources.[40] It has asked the international environmental NGO, Rainforest Alliance, to start by certifying tea farms in Africa.

Lipton and PG Tips will be the first brands to contain certified tea. The company aims to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in Western Europe certified by 2010 and all Lipton tea bags sold globally by 2015.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2010" (PDF). Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  2. ^ Unilever: About us[dead link]
  3. ^ /[invalid input: 'icon']ˈjuːn[invalid input: 'ɨ']liːvər/
  4. ^ "Unilever buys some Sara Lee businesses for almost $2B". USA Today. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  5. ^ "An Ice Cream Machine That Measures Smiles". CBS News. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  6. ^ "FTSE All-Share Index Ranking". stockchallenge.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  7. ^ Brtish Pathe News, Wealth of the World, 1950
  8. ^ Jules Marechal, "Travail forcé pour l’huile de palme de Lord Leverhulme L’Histoire du Congo 1910–1945". Part III. Editions Paula Bellings. pp.348–368.
  9. ^ Congo, David van Reybrouck
  10. ^ "Chronolgy of A&W Root Beer Canada". Islandnet.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  11. ^ a b New York Times, 15 February 1996 "Unilever Agrees to Buy Helene Curtis".
  12. ^ Id.
  13. ^ "Ethical Corporation article". Ethicalcorp.com. 6 April 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2011.[dead link]
  14. ^ Unilever's sustainable agriculture programme[dead link]
  15. ^ Nicholson, Marcy (25 May 2007). "San Diego Times". Signonsandiego.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  16. ^ "Unilver: Sustainable Tea". Unilever.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.[dead link]
  17. ^ "Unilever press release". Unilever.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  18. ^ Covalence Ethical Ranking 2007 Press Release, 2 January 2008[dead link]
  19. ^ "59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards" (PDF). Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  20. ^ Unilever buys Sara Lee's personal care division for £1.17bn Daily Telegraph, 25 September 2009
  21. ^ Unilever acquires Diplom-​Is operations in Denmark Food Bev, 11 August 2010
  22. ^ Cargill Acquires Unilever Tomato Business Food Processing, 30 September 2010
  23. ^ Post a Job (27 September 2010). "Unilever to Purchase Alberto Culver for $3.7 Billion". Businessweek. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  24. ^ Unilever buys Greek Ice Cream Manufaturer Food News, 28 September 2010
  25. ^ Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive exchange brands Marketing Week, 23 March 2011
  26. ^ 2008 Annual Report and Accounts pp.2–3.
  27. ^ "Blue Band, Rama".
  28. ^ "Unilever Completes TIGI Acquisition". GCI magazine. 14 April 2009.
  29. ^ "TIGI consumer site".
  30. ^ Rushton, Katherine (13 December 2011). "Unilever to shake up £5.1bn global advertising spend". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  31. ^ "Unilever to review media buying". Reuters. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  32. ^ "Unilever Disrobed: Interview With Dove/Axe Mashup Artist". Shapingyouth.org. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  33. ^ Unilever icons explained
  34. ^ Wolff Olins: Unilever case study
  35. ^ "Sustainable Living Plan". Unilever. 15 November 2010.
  36. ^ "Unilever admits toxic dumping: will clean up but not come clean". Greenpeace. Retrieved 2 August 2007.[dead link]
  37. ^ "Ape protest at Unilever factory". BBC. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
  38. ^ "Unilever has announced its intention to have all of its palm oil certified sustainable by 2015". Retrieved 1 May 2008.[dead link]
  39. ^ "Manifesto for the Conservation of the Tanoé Swamps Forest". Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  40. ^ "Unilever sustainable tea Part 1: Leapfrogging to mainstream". Retrieved 15 March 2011.
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