Unilever


Unilever PLC is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in 1930 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever Brothers.
The company's products include baby food, beauty products, bottled water, breakfast cereals, cleaning agents, condiments, dairy products, energy drinks, healthcare and hygiene products, ice cream, instant coffee, instant noodles, pet food, pharmaceuticals, soft drinks, tea, and toothpaste. It is the largest producer of soap in the world, and its products are available in over 190 countries.
The company is organised into four main business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, and Nutrition. It has research and development facilities in China, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In the 1930s, Unilever acquired the United Africa Company. In the second half of the 20th century, the company increasingly diversified from being a maker of products made of oils and fats, and expanded its operations worldwide. It has made numerous corporate acquisitions, including Lipton, Brooke Bond, Pond's, Colman's, Hellmann's, Ben & Jerry's, SlimFast, Knorr, Alberto-Culver, Dollar Shave Club, and Pukka Herbs. Unilever divested its speciality chemicals businesses to Imperial Chemical Industries in 1997. In the 2010s, under the leadership of Paul Polman, the company gradually shifted its focus towards health and beauty brands and away from food brands that showed slow growth.
Unilever is listed on the London Stock Exchange with secondary listings on the Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

1930–1940

Unilever was formed by a merger of Dutch Margarine Unie and British soapmaker Lever Brothers in 1930, with the name of Unilever a blend word of the name of both companies.
In the 1930s, the business grew, and new ventures were launched in Africa and Latin America. During this time, Unilever acquired the United Africa Company, created from a merger of the African & Eastern Trade Corporation and the Royal Niger Company, which oversaw British trade interests in present-day Nigeria during the colonial era.
The Nazi occupation of Europe during the Second World War meant that Unilever was unable to reinvest its capital into Europe, so it instead acquired new businesses in the United Kingdom and the United States.
In 1943, it acquired T. J. Lipton, a majority stake in Frosted Foods and Batchelors Peas, one of the largest vegetables canners in the United Kingdom. In 1944, Pepsodent was acquired.
In 1933, Unilever Indonesia was established in December as Lever Zeepfabrieken N.V. and had operations in Cikarang, West Java at Rungkut, East Java and North Sumatra.

1941–1960

After 1945, Unilever's American businesses began to decline. As a result, Unilever began to operate a "hands-off" policy towards the subsidiaries and left American management to its own devices.
Sunsilk was first launched in the United Kingdom in 1954. Dove was first launched in the US in 1957. Unilever took full ownership of Frosted Foods in 1957, which it renamed Birds Eye. The US-based Good Humor ice cream business was acquired in 1961. By the mid-1960s, laundry soap and edible fats still contributed around half of Unilever's corporate profits. However, a stagnant market for yellow fats and increasing competition in detergents and soaps from Procter & Gamble forced Unilever to diversify. In 1971, Unilever acquired the British-based Lipton Ltd from Allied Suppliers. In 1978, National Starch was acquired for $487 million, marking the largest ever foreign-acquisition of a US company at that point.

1961–1980

By the end of the 1970s through acquisitions, Unilever had gained 30 per cent of the Western European ice cream market. In 1982, Unilever management decided to reposition itself from an unwieldy conglomerate to a more concentrated fast-moving consumer goods company.
In 1984, Unilever acquired Brooke Bond for £390 million in the company's first successful takeover. In 1986, Unilever strengthened its position in the world skin care market by acquiring Ponds, the maker of Ragú, Pond's, Aqua-Net, Cutex, and Vaseline in another hostile takeover. In 1989, Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Fabergé, and Elizabeth Arden, but the latter was later sold to FFI Fragrances.

1981–2000

In 1992, Unilever Ghana was established in July following a merger of UAC Ghana Limited and Lever Brothers Ghana Limited.
In 1993, Unilever acquired Breyers from Kraft, which made the company the largest ice cream manufacturer in the United States. In the same year, it acquired the Isaly Klondike Company, makers of Klondike bar, and Popsicle Industries.
In 1996, Unilever merged Elida Gibbs and Lever Brothers in its UK operations. It also purchased Helene Curtis, significantly expanding its presence in the United States shampoo and deodorant market. The purchase brought Unilever the Suave and Finesse hair-care product brands and Degree deodorant brand.
In 1997, Unilever sold its speciality chemicals division, including National Starch & Chemical, Quest, Unichema and Crosfield to Imperial Chemical Industries for £4.9 billion.
In 1998, Unilever established a sustainable agriculture programme.
In 2000, Unilever acquired the boutique mustard retailer Maille, Ben & Jerry's and SlimFast for £1.63 billion, Bestfoods for £13.4 billion. The Bestfoods acquisition increased Unilever's scale in foods in America, and added brands including Knorr, Marmite, Bovril, and Hellmann's to its portfolio. In exchange for European regulatory approval of the deal, Unilever divested itself of Oxo, Lesieur, McDonnells, Bla Band, Royco, and Batchelors.

2001–2010

In 2001, Unilever split into two divisions: one for foods and one for home and personal care. In the UK, it merged its Lever Brothers and Elida Fabergé businesses as Lever Fabergé in January 2001.
In 2003, Unilever announced the sale of the Dalda brand in both India and Pakistan. In 2003, Bunge Limited acquired the Dalda brand from Hindustan Unilever Limited for reportedly under Rs 1 billion. On 30 March 2004, Unilever Pakistan accepted an offer of Rs. 1.33 billion for the sale of its Dalda brand and related business of edible oils and fats to the newly incorporated company Dalda Foods Limited.
In 2002, the company sold its speciality oils and fats division, known as Loders Croklaan, for RM814 million to IOI Corporation, a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia–based oil palm company. As part of the deal, the Loders Croklaan name was maintained. Unilever sold the brands Mazola, Argo & Kingsfords, Karo, Golden Griddle, and Henri's, along with several of its Canadian brands, to ACH Food Companies, an American subsidiary of Associated British Foods.
In 2004, Unilever Bangladesh, established in 1964, changed its former name Lever Brothers Bangladesh Ltd to its present name in December. It is owned 60.4% by Unilever and 39.6% by the Government of Bangladesh.
In 2007, Unilever partnered with Rainforest Alliance to sustainably source all its tea.
In 2009, Unilever agreed to acquire the personal care business of Sara Lee Corporation, including brands such as Radox, Badedas and Duschdas. The Sara Lee acquisition was completed on 6 December 2010.
In 2010, Unilever acquired the Diplom-Is in Denmark, Unilever announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its consumer tomato products business in Brazil to Cargill, purchased Alberto-Culver, a maker of personal care and household products including Simple, VO5, Nexxus, TRESemmé, and Mrs. Dash, for US$3.7 billion. acquired EVGA's ice cream brands, which included Scandal, Variete and Karabola, and its distribution network in Greece, for an undisclosed amount.

2011–2020

In 2012, Unilever announced it would phase out the use of microplastics in the form of microbeads in their personal care products by 2015.
In 2014, Unilever agreed to acquire a majority stake in the China-based water purification company Qinyuan for an undisclosed price, acquired Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto, acquired Camay brand globally and the Zest brand outside of North America and the Caribbean from Procter & Gamble.
In 2015, Unilever acquired British niche skincare brand REN Skincare, This was followed in May 2015 by the acquisition of Kate Somerville Skincare LLC. The company also acquired the Italian premium ice cream maker GROM for an undisclosed amount. Unilever also separated its food spreads business, including its Flora and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! brands, into a standalone entity named Unilever Baking, Cooking and Spreading. The separation was first announced in December 2014 and was made in response to declining worldwide sales in that product category.
Unilever bought the United States–based startup company Dollar Shave Club for a reported $1b to compete in the male grooming market. On 16 August 2016, Unilever acquired Blueair, a Swedish supplier of mobile indoor air purification technologies. In July 2024, Blueair received a warning letter from the Federal Trade Commission concerning warranty restrictions related to use of certain replacement filters. In September 2016, Unilever acquired Seventh Generation Inc. for $700 million. On 16 December 2016, Unilever acquired Living Proof Inc, a hair care products business.
In 2017, significantly smaller Kraft Heinz made a $143 billion bid for Unilever. The deal was declined by Unilever. On 20 April 2017, Unilever acquired Sir Kensington's, a New York–based condiment maker. On 15 May 2017, the company acquired the personal care and home care brands of Quala, a Latin American consumer goods company. In June, the company acquired Hourglass, a colour cosmetics brand. In July, the company then announced that it had acquired the organic herbal tea business, Pukka Herbs. In September 2017, Unilever acquired Weis, an Australian ice cream business. Later that month Unilever acquired Remgro's interest in Unilever South Africa in exchange for the Unilever South Africa spreads business plus cash consideration. Even later that month, Unilever agreed to acquire Carver Korea, with 2.7billion USD, a skincare business brand of AHC in North Asia. In October 2017, Unilever acquired Brazilian natural and organic food business Mãe Terra. In November, Unilever announced an agreement to acquire the Tazo speciality tea brand from Starbucks. Later in November 2017, the company acquired Sundial Brands, a skincare company. In December 2017, Unilever acquired Schmidt's Naturals, a US natural deodorant and soap company. In December 2017, Unilever sold its margarine and spreads division to investment firm KKR for €6.8bn. The sale was completed in July 2018, and the new company was named Upfield. Upfield's notable brands include Flora, Stork, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Rama, Country Crock, Becel, and Blue Band.
Unilever announced that to help tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic, it would contribute over 100m through donations of soap, hand sanitiser, bleach and food.