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Unilever NV
Unilever PLC
Public
(Euronext: UNA)
Type
(LSE: ULVR)
(NYSE: UN) (Unilever N.V.)
(NYSE: UL) (Unilever PLC)
Founded
Headquarters
Area served
1930
Rotterdam, Netherlands; London, United
Kingdom
Worldwide
Michael Treschow
(Chairman)
Key people
Paul Polman
(CEO)
Industry
Conglomerate
Products
Revenue
Employees
174,000 (2008)
Website
www.unilever.com
Unilever employed 174,000 people and had a worldwide revenue of 40.5 billion in
2008.[1]
Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever NV in Rotterdam, The
Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, United Kingdom. This arrangement is similar
to those of Reed Elsevier and Royal Dutch Shell prior to their unified structures. Both
Unilever companies have the same directors and effectively 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.
Unilever's main competitors include Procter & Gamble, Nestl, Danone, Kraft Foods,
S.C. Johnson & Son, Reckitt Benckiser and Henkel.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Operations
o 2.1 Brands
2.1.1 Heartbrand
3 Advertising
4 Corporate governance
5 Criticism
o 5.1 Deforestation
o 5.2 India
5.2.1 Involvement in race issues
5.2.2 Dumping of mercury at Kodaikanal
o 5.3 Sexism
o 5.4 Trade unions
o 5.5 Popular media
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit] History
Unilever was created in 1930 by the amalgamation of the operations of British soapmaker
Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie, a merger as palm oil was
a major raw material for both margarines and soaps and could be imported more
efficiently in larger quantities.
In the 1930s the business of Unilever grew and new ventures were launched in 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
Jeffrey Mooney in July 1996.[2] 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, the maker of Rag, Pond's, Aqua-Net, Cutex Nail Polish, and
Vaseline. In 1989 Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Faberg, and Elizabeth
Arden, but the latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances.[3]
In 1996 Unilever purchased Helene Curtis Industries, giving the company "a powerful
new presence in the United States shampoo and deodorant market".[3] The purchase
brought Unilever the Suave and Finesse hair-care product brands and Degree deodorant
brand.[4]
The US division continued to carry the Lever Brothers name until the 1990s, when it
adopted the parent company's moniker. The American unit now has headquarters in New
Jersey, and no longer maintains a presence at Lever House, the iconic skyscraper on Park
Avenue in New York City.
[edit] Operations
Unilever owns more than 400 brands as a result of acquisitions, however, the company
focuses on what are called the "billion-dollar brands", 13 brands which each achieve
annual sales in excess of 1 billion. Unilever's top 25 brands account for more than 70%
of sales.[12] The brands fall almost entirely into two categories: Food and Beverages, and
Home and Personal Care.
[edit] Brands
Further information: List of Unilever brands
[edit] Heartbrand
A freezer in Queens, NY filled with Strauss ice cream from Israel with the Heartbrand
Prior to the heart logo, each country could choose its own logo, although the most
common one consisted of a blue circle with the local brand's name over a background of
red and white stripes; second most common old logo, used by Wall's in the UK and other
countries, was a yellow logo with Wall's in blue text.
Unilever generally manufactures the same ice-cream with the same names, with rare
occasions of regional availability, under different brands. Some of these ice-creams
include Carte D'Or, Cornetto, Magnum, Solero and Viennetta.
[edit] Advertising
Unilever has produced many advertising campaigns, including:
Americas)
[edit] Criticism
Unilever has attracted a variety of criticisms from political, environmental and human
rights activists.[14] For example, it has been criticised by Greenpeace for causing
deforestation,[15] for testing products on animals by People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals, and for making use of child labour,[16] among others.
[edit] Deforestation
Unilever was targeted in 2008 by Greenpeace UK,[17] 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, responded by publicizing
its plan to obtain its palm oil from sources that are certified as sustainable.[18]
In Cte d'Ivoire, one of Unilever's palm oil suppliers was accused of clearing forest for
plantations, an activity that threatens a primate species, Miss Waldron's Red Colobus.
Unilever intervened to halt the clearances pending the results of an environmental
assessment.[19]
[edit] India
Unilever has been criticised by international commentators such as Corpwatch for failing
to live up to the environmental standards it proclaims especially when operating in
developing countries such as India.[20] In India Unilever operates through its subsidiary
Hindustan Unilever.
[edit] Involvement in race issues
According to The Daily Telegraph, Hindustan Unilever, an Indian company that is
majority owned by Unilever, was forced to withdraw television advertisements for its
women's skin-lightening cream, Fair and Lovely. Advertisements depicted depressed,
dark-skinned women, who had been ignored by employers and men, suddenly finding
new boyfriends and glamorous careers after the cream had lightened their skin.[21]
According to the Austrian Newspaper Der Standard[22] and the Austrian Broadcasting
Company[23], the Austrian branch of Unilever (Eskimo) is producing and marketing an
ice-cream under the name Mohr im Hemd[24]. "Mohr" (moor), as a colonial German word
for African or black people, has a heavily colonialist and racist connotation. "Mohr im
Hemd" (moor in the shirt) is a traditional Austrian chocolate speciality which refers to
naked, "wild" Africans. Unilever refutes any racist intentions and claims that it has tested
the name in broad market studies in Austria without any critical feedback.
[edit] Dumping of mercury at Kodaikanal
Unilever was accused by Greenpeace of double standards and negligence for allowing its
Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Lever, to dump several tonnes of highly toxic mercury waste
in the tourist resort of Kodaikanal and the surrounding protected nature reserve of
Pambar Shola, in Tamilnadu, Southern India.
Greenpeace activists and concerned residents cordoned off a contaminated dump site in
the centre of Kodaikanal to protect people from the mercury wastes that had been
discarded in open or torn sacks by Hindustan Lever which manufactures mercury
thermometers for export, mainly to the United States. According to Hindustan Lever,
from there, the thermometers are sold to Germany, UK, Spain, USA, Australia and
Canada. The factory, set up in 1977, imported from the United States, after the US factory
was shut down for unknown reasons.[20]
[edit] Sexism
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood criticized Unilever for the 2007 Axe
marketing campaign, which they considered sexist.[25] Unilever's response is that the Axe
campaign is intended as a spoof and "not meant to be taken literally".[26] Critics noted
that, to the contrary, Unilever had launched the contradicting Dove "Real Beauty"
marketing campaign, which encouraged women to reject the underfed and hypersexualized images of modern advertising around the same time, contradicting and debunking previous claims of sexism.[27]
Axe
Dove
Lifebuoy
Lux
Pond's
Rexona
Signal, Close Up
Sunsilk
Vaseline
Cif
Comfort
Domestos
Omo
Radiant
Sunlight
Surf
Food brands
Becel, Flora
Bertolli
Blue Band, Rama
Heartbrand
Hellmann's, Amora
Knorr
Lipton
SlimFast
Billion-Euro brands
Brands with annual sales in excess of 1 billion.[1]
Axe/Lynx
Blue Band
Dove
Flora/Becel
Heartbrand
Hellman's
Knorr
Lipton
Lux (soap)
Omo
Rexona/Sure
Sunsilk
Surf (detergent)
Ades or Adez
soya-based drinks
Alsa desserts and
syrups
Amora French
mayonnaise and
dressings
Amino - dehydrated
soup (Poland)
Annapurna salt
and wheat flour
(India)
Becel also known
as Flora/Promise;
health-aware:
margarine, spreads,
cooking oil, milk,
fermented milk
Ben & Jerry's ice
cream
Best Foods
mayonnaise,
sandwich spreads,
peanut butter and
salad dressings
Bertolli pasta
sauces
(ambient/chilled &
frozen) and margarine
BiFi - sausage-based
snacks (Germany)
Blue Band familyaware: margarine,
bread, cream
alternatives
Bovril beef extract
Breyers ice cream
Brooke Bond tea
Bru instant coffee
(India)
Brummel & Brown
margarine
Bushells tea
(Australia, New
Fruco ketchup,
mayonnaise and
condiments
Fudgsicle
Gallo olive oil
Heartbrand ice
cream (umbrella logo)
Hellmann's
mayonnaise
I Can't Believe It's
Not Butter
margarine spread
Imperial Margarine
margarine
Jif Lemon & Lime
Juice
Kasia - margarine
(Poland)
Kecap Bango soya
sauce in Indonesia
Kissan Ketchups
Squashes and Jams
(India and Pakistan)
Klondike Ice
cream sandwiches
Knorr (Knorr-Suiza in
Argentina) sauces,
stock cubes, readymeals, meal kits,
ready-soups, frozen
food range
Lady's Choice
mayonnaise, peanut
butter and sandwich
spreads (Philippines)
Lan-Choo tea
(Australia/New
Zealand)
Lao Cai Seasoning
Lipton tea
Lipton Ice Tea
ready-to-drink tea
(partnership with
Peperami Sausage
snacks
PG Tips tea (UK)
Phase cooking oil
Planta margarine
Popsicle Frozen
treats
Pot Noodle cup
noodles
Promise
Becel/Flora
Rag pasta sauces
Rama margarine
Royal pastas
(Philippines)
Rinso - detergent
(only in Indonesia)
Royco stock cubes,
non-MSG stock (only
in Indonesia)
Red Rose Tea tea
(Canada)
Sana Margarine
(Turkey)
Saga tea (Poland)
Sariwangi tea
(Indonesia)
Scottish Blend tea
Skippy peanut
butter
SlimFast diet
products
Sunlight Soap
(Africa)
Surf (Ireland, UK,
Indonesia)
Stork margarine
Streets (ice cream)
(Australia/New
Zealand)
Tortex - ketchup
(Poland)
Turun sinappi
Zealand)
Calv sauces,
ketchup, mustard,
mayonnaise, peanut
butter
Captain Findus
children's frozen food
Conimex Asian
spices (Netherlands)
Colman's mustard
Continental side
dishes
Country Crock
margarine
Delma margarine
(Poland)
Du Darfst (Germany)
Elmlea Pourable
artificial cream
available in different
varieties (UK)
Fanacoa
Mayonnaise, mustard,
ketchup (Argentina)
Findus frozen
foods (Italy, UK,
Scandinavia)
PepsiCo)
Lizano Sauce (Salsa
Lizano) - Costa Rican
condiment
Lyons' - tea (Ireland)
Maille French
mustard
Maizena corn
starch
Marmite yeast
extract spread (except
in Australia and New
Zealand)
McCollins tea
(Peru)
Mrs. Filbert's
margarine (USA)
Paddle pop Ice
cream (Australia,
Indonesia
[incorporated with
Wall's])
mustard
(Finland/Sweden)
Unilever
Foodsolutions
professional markets
(food service)
Unox soups,
smoked sausages
Vaqueiro cooking
margarine, cooking
oil
Wall's ice cream
Wish-Bone salad
dressing
Pfanni Bavarian
potato mixes
Flora margarine,
light butter, jams
Key Facts
Persil (IE/UK/FR/NZ)