introduction too hul

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Introduction to HUL Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. The company’s Turnover is Rs. 20, 239 crores (for the 15 month period – January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009). HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with annual sales of €40.5 billion in 2008. Unilever has about 52% shareholding in HUL. Hindustan Unilever was recently rated among the top four companies globally in the list of “Global Top Companies for Leaders” by a study sponsored by Hewitt Associates, in partnership with Fortune magazine and the RBL Group. The company was ranked number one in the Asia-Pacific region and in India. The mission that inspires HUL's more than 15,000 employees, including over 1,400 managers, is to “add vitality to life". The company meets everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care, with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company, Unilever, which holds about 52 % of the equity. Heritage HUL’s heritage dates back to 1888, when the first Unilever product, Sunlight, was introduced in India. Local manufacturing began in the 1930s with the establishment of subsidiary companies. They merged in 1956 to form Hindustan Lever Limited (The company was renamed Hindustan Unilever Limited on June 25, 2007). The company created history when

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Page 1: Introduction too HUL

Introduction to HUL

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. The company’s Turnover is Rs. 20, 239 crores (for the 15 month period – January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009).

HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with annual sales of €40.5 billion in 2008. Unilever has about 52% shareholding in HUL.

Hindustan Unilever was recently rated among the top four companies globally in the list of “Global Top Companies for Leaders” by a study sponsored by Hewitt Associates, in partnership with Fortune magazine and the RBL Group. The company was ranked number one in the Asia-Pacific region and in India.

The mission that inspires HUL's more than 15,000 employees, including over 1,400 managers, is to “add vitality to life". The company meets everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care, with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company, Unilever, which holds about 52 % of the equity.

Heritage

HUL’s heritage dates back to 1888, when the first Unilever product, Sunlight, was introduced in India. Local manufacturing began in the 1930s with the establishment of subsidiary companies. They merged in 1956 to form Hindustan Lever Limited (The company was renamed Hindustan Unilever Limited on June 25, 2007). The company created history when it offered equity to Indian shareholders, becoming the first foreign subsidiary company to do so. Today, the company has more than three lakh resident shareholders.

HUL’s brands -- like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Sunsilk, Clinic, Close-up, Pepsodent, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr, Annapurna, Kwality-Walls - are household names across the country and span many categories - soaps, detergents, personal products, tea, coffee, branded staples, ice cream and culinary products. They are manufactured in over 35 factories, several of them in backward areas of the country. The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates.HUL's distribution network covers 6.3 million retail outlets including direct reach to over 1 million.

HUL has traditionally been a company, which incorporates latest technology in all its operations. The Hindustan Lever Research Centre (now Hindustan Unilever Research Centre) was set up in 1958.

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Doing Well by Doing Good

HUL believes that an organisation’s worth is also in the service it renders to the community. HUL focuses on hygiene, nutrition, enhancement of livelihoods, reduction of greenhouse gases and water footprint.It is also involved in education and rehabilitation of special or underprivileged children, care for the destitute and HIV-positive, and rural development. HUL has also responded in case of national calamities / adversities and contributes through various welfare measures, most recent being the relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by the Tsunami disaster, in India.

HUL’s Project Shakti is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 5000 individuals. Through Shakti, HUL is creating micro-enterprise opportunities for rural women, thereby improving their livelihood and the standard of living in rural communities. Shakti also provides health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani programme.The program now covers 15 states in India and has over 45,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold, reaching out to 100,000 villages and directly reaching to over three million rural consumers.

HUL also runs a rural health programme, Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The programme endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among rural Indians and aims to bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched 120 million people in approximately 50, 676 villages across India.

If Hindustan Unilever straddles the Indian corporate world, it is because of being single-minded in identifying itself with Indian aspirations and needs in every walk of life.

Foods

From yummy ice creams to scrumptious sauces, our food brands can satisfy even the most discerning palates. 

Home care

Whether you want fresh, soft clothes or sparklingly clean bathrooms, our home care brands can help

Personal care

In need of hair care heroics? Wanting to relax with a luxurious bath? Our personal care brands have answers to all these questions and more.

We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.

HUL at a glance

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Our mission

Vitality is at the heart of everything we do. It's in our brands, our people and our approach to businessOur mission

Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.

Enthused with Vitality

Vitality is at the heart of everything we do. It's in our brands, our people and our values.

Vitality means different things to different people. Some see it as energy, others view it more broadly as a healthy state of body and mind – of feeling alive.

Whatever their personal definition, millions of people around the world use our products daily to add Vitality to their lives - whether that's through feeling great because they've got shiny hair and a brilliant smile, keeping their homes fresh and clean, or by enjoying a great cup of tea, satisfying meal or healthy snack.

Ever since the 19th Century when William Hesketh Lever stated that the company's mission was "to make cleanliness commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness, that life may be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use our products," Vitality has been at the heart of our business.

Vitality defines what we stand for: our values, what makes us different, and how we contribute to society. It's the common thread that links our brands and it’s central to the unique way we operate around the world.

Health & nutrition

Our Vitality mission commits us to growing our business by addressing health and nutrition issues. We focus on priorities including children and family nutrition, cardiovascular health and weight management.

Inside & out

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Our culture also embodies Vitality. Adding Vitality of life requires the highest standards of behaviour towards everyone we work with, the communities we touch and the environments on which we have an impact.

The growing demand for more Vitality in life provides us with a huge opportunity for growth. The way we work and the products we develop are shaped by consumer trends, along with the need to help raise health and hygiene standards in both the developing and industrialised regions of the world.

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Read our mission statement

About us

Introduction to HUL Our mission

Page 5: Introduction too HUL

Purpose & principles Our history

Company structure

HUL at a glance

Incorporation

 

Incorporated in 1933

Turnover

 

Rs.20239 Cr Audited results for January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009

People

 

More than 15000 direct employees including more than 1400 managers

Parentage

 

HUL is a part of the €40.5 billion Unilever Group

Reach

 

Reaches over 6.3 million retail outlets including direct reach to over 1 million

R&D

 

Two R&D centres in India in Mumbai and Bangalore

A

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nnual Report

Check our Annual Report for more about our performance, people, operations and brands.

View

Our brands

Food brands Home care brands

Personal care brands Water

Nutrition Health, hygiene & beauty

Our history

In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it, began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

 Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937.

In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do

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so. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions.

The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton's links with India were forged in 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972, and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited was incorporated.

Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986.

Since the very early years, HUL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of economic growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious diversification, always in line with Indian opinions and aspirations.

The liberalisation of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in HUL's and the Group's growth curve. Removal of the regulatory framework allowed the company to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity.

Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the most visible and talked about events of India's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HUL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1996, HUL and yet another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture, Lakme Unilever Limited, to market Lakme's market-leading cosmetics and other appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold its brands to HUL and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company.

HUL formed a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation in 1994, Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary Pads. HUL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Unilever Nepal Limited (UNL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the Himalayan kingdom. The UNL factory manufactures HUL's products like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to India.

The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on the Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Icecream business from Cadbury India.

As a measure of backward integration, Tea Estates and Doom Dooma, two plantation companies of Unilever, were merged with Brooke Bond. Then in 1994, Brooke Bond India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL), enabling greater focus and ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. 1994

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witnessed BBLIL launching the Wall's range of Frozen Desserts. By the end of the year, the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Kwality Icecream Group families and in 1995 the Milkfood 100% Icecream marketing and distribution rights too were acquired.

Finally, BBLIL merged with HUL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond's (India) Limited (PIL) with HUL in 1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products, Speciality Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution system since 1993 for Personal Products. The two also had a common management pool and a technology base. The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group, benefits from scale economies both in domestic and export markets and enable it to fund investments required for aggressively building new categories.

In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in Modern Foods to HUL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HUL's entry into Bread is a strategic extension of the company's wheat business. In 2002, HUL acquired the government's remaining stake in Modern Foods.

In 2003, HUL acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised Crabmeat business of the Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products exports.

HUL launched a slew of new business initiatives in the early part of 2000’s. Project Shakti was started in 2001. It is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 5000 individuals. It is a unique win-win initiative that catalyses rural affluence even as it benefits business. Currently, there are over 45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 100,000 villages across 15 states and reaching to over 3 million homes.

In 2002, HUL made its foray into Ayurvedic health & beauty centre category with the Ayush product range and Ayush Therapy Centres. Hindustan Unilever Network, Direct to home business was launched in 2003 and this was followed by the launch of ‘Pureit’ water purifier in 2004.

In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited after receiving the approval of share holders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007. Brooke Bond and Surf Excel breached the the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark the same year followed by Wheel which crossed the Rs.2,000 crore sales milestone in 2008.

On 17th October 2008 , HUL completed 75 years of corporate existence in India.

Related Links HUL 75 years Special Issue – Doing Well by Doing Good   (4.4 MB)

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Brands for life Food brands Personal care brands Home care brands

From sumptuous soups to sensuous soaps, our products all have one thing in common. They help you get more out of life.

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Personal care brands Water Nutrition Health, hygiene & beauty

o Food brandso Home care brands o Personal care brands o Water o Nutrition o Health, hygiene & beauty

Food brands

HUL is one of India’s leading food companies. Our passion for understanding what people want and need from their food - and what they love about it - makes our brands a popular choice

Brooke Bond 3 Roses

Playful banter, a little mischief, serious conversation… there’s no time for young couples like the time spent sharing a cup of 3 Roses.

Annapurna

Partnering with the mom in nurturing her dreams, Annapurna Atta is aimed at helping her provide wholesome tasty nutrition to her family. 

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Red Label

India’s favourite cup of tea, the great taste of Red Label brings people closer together and strengthens relationships.

Brooke Bond Taaza

Brooke Bond Taaza lifts me and unshackles my mind, allowing me to see and realize possibilities.

Taj Mahal

Brooke Bond Taj Mahal is an exclusive selection of teas for the discerning consumer.

Bru

Ek cup Bru aur mood ban jae…

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Kissan

With Kissan, good food is loved not shoved!

Kissan Amaze Brainfood

Kissan Amaze Brainfood is specifically designed for the mental development of kids.

Knorr

Knorr helps families make meal times special, nutritious, tasty and healthy.

Kwality Wall’s

A good honest scoop of daily pleasure.

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Lipton

Lipton has a range of vitality teas that truly encompass the goodness of tea.

Home care brands

HUL has a diverse portfolio of brands offering home care solutions for millions of consumers across India.

Active Wheel

Active Wheel de "Mehnat se Aazadi" Freedom from painful & tiring laundry

Cif

Cif- the best cleaner to let you shine.

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Surf Excel

Giving your kids the freedom to get dirty and experience life, safe in the knowledge that Surf Excel will remove those stains

Vim

Created in 1885, the Vim brand is still innovating and using the magic of natural ingredients to create unbeatable results over a hundred years later.

Personal care brands

Our personal care brands, including Axe, Dove, Lux, Pond's, Rexona and Sunsilk, are recognised and love by consumers across India. They help consumers to look good and feel good – and in turn get more out of life.

Aviance

Aviance enables women actualize their unique potential through expert customized beauty solutions.

Axe

Axe with Best Quality Fragrance

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LEVER Ayush Therapy

LEVER Ayush aims to help a new generation of Indians rediscover everyday health and vitality through customized Ayurvedic solutions.

Breeze

Breeze, with the goodness of glycerine gives soft, fragrant and smooth skin.

Clear

New Clear with Essential Oils, guarantees Zero dandruff and leaves your hair feeling fabulous.

Clinic Plus

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Clinic Plus is India’s largest selling shampoo and has won the trust the millions of families across India.

Closeup

Freshness that brings you Closer

Dove

Dove stands for real beauty. All around the world, Dove is making real women feel more beautiful!

Fair & Lovely

More than 30 years ago, a unique brand was born. Wrapped within a humble lavender tube, it went on to become the World’s No.1 Fairness cream.

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Hamam

Holistic skin care experiences perfected over the ages to deliver healthy, beautiful skin

Lakme

Lakme is an ally to the Indian Woman and inspires her to express her unique beauty and sensuality. Thus, enabling her to realize the potency of her beauty.

Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy is available in multiple variants in soaps and specialist formats such as liquid handwash, catering to the entire family.

Liril

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Awaken, and enliven your senses with a Liril bath.

Lux

Lux believes in passion for beauty. It continues to be a favorite with generations of users for a sensuous experience of luxury.

Pears

Pears – the purest and most gentle way to skincare!

Pepsodent

Pepsodent India is committed to improve the overall Oral health of Indians.

Pond’s

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Get the expert to look after your skin

Rexona

Rexona gives you 24 hr protection from sweat and body odour and therefore the confidence to handle whatever the day has in store.

Sunsilk

Sunsilk encourages young women in India to live for today. Sunsilk helps you transform the beauty of your hair instantly because LIFE CAN'T WAIT!!

Vaseline

Your skin is amazing. It deserves to be treated as such.

Water

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Pureit is the  world’s most advanced in-home water purifier. Pureit, a breakthrough offering of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), provides complete protection from all water-borne diseases, unmatched convenience and affordability.

Pureit’s unique Germkill Battery technology kills all harmful viruses and bacteria and removes parasites and pesticide impurities, giving you water that is "as safe as boiled water". It assures your family 100% protection from all water-borne diseases like jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. What’s more, it doesn’t need gas, electricity or continuous tap water supply.

Pureit not only renders water micro-biologically safe, but also makes the water clear, odourless and good-tasting. Pureit does not leave any residual chlorine in the output water.

The output water from Pureit meets stringent criteria for microbiologically safe drinking water, from one of the toughest regulatory agencies in the USA, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

The performance of Pureit has also been tested by leading scientific and medical institutions in India and abroad.

This patented technological breakthrough has been developed by HUL. This state-of –the-art engineering developed by a team of over 100 Indian and international experts from HUL and Unilever Research Centres has made Pureit possible at the consumer price of just Rs. 2000

Pureit runs with a unique ‘Germkill Battery Kit’™ that typically lasts for 1500 litres* of water. The ‘Germkill Battery Kit’™is priced at Rs.365. This means consumers will get 4 litres of water that is ‘as safe as boiled water’ ™ for just one rupee, which works out to an extremely affordable 24 paise per litre.

Pureit in-home purification system uses a 4 stage purification process to deliver “as safe as boiled water” without the use of electricity and pressurized tap water. Pureit purifies the input drinking water in four stages, namely;

1. Micro-fiber MeshTM - Removes visible dirt

2. Compact Carbon TrapTM - removes remaining dirt, harmful parasites & pesticide impurities

3. Germkill ProcessorTM – uses 'programmed chlorine release chlorine technology'  and its stored germkill process targets and kills harmful virus and bacteria

4. PolisherTM – removes residual chlorine and all disinfectant by-products, giving clear odourless and great tasting water

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5. Battery Life Indicator - Ensures total safety because when the germkill power is exhausted, the indicator turns red, warning you to replace the battery

Advanced Auto-Switch off - In case, the battery is not changed when it turns fully red, as an additional assurance of safety, the advanced Auto-Switch off will automatically switch-off the flow of water.

Protect your loved ones with a Pureit today!

You can ask for a free home demonstration of Pureit. A trained Pureit Water Expert will visit your home and give you a detailed demonstration of how Pureit works.

For a free home demo, queries, or to purchase

Call Pureit Helpline : 09223 200 200

Download Pureit brochure

*at a water temperature of 25° Celsius, in moderate humidity conditions

Pureit-Blue

Nutrition

We've created policies and guidelines to ensure we always act responsibly when it comes to health and nutrition.

Acting responsibly

Millions of people around the world enjoy the foods and drinks we create. So the ingredients we use, the formulations, and the way we advertise and market our brands can potentially make a big impact on global health.

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We aim to act responsibly and have a strong nutrition policy. We've also developed a carefully considered approach to health and nutrition which includes:

encouraging a balanced diet with the right amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals

developing a growing range of low fat, low sugar, low calorie alternatives, plus more 'active health' products

marketing responsibility our foods and beverages and helping to reduce over-consumption

helping people understand the nutritional benefits of our products creating products that reflect the fact that people will only eat foods that they

enjoy having sound specific evidence underpinning all our claims making significant contributions to researching the relationship on nutrition and

health, such as the effects of good fats (unsalted fats), fruits & vegetables and vitamins and minerals

Clear communication

We've also developed a set of marketing principles to ensure we're always 'honest, decent and truthful' in our communication – which include special principles on advertising to children.

As well as excluding anything that appears to condone over-consumption in our marketing, we also prohibit anything that undermines the promotion of healthy, balanced diets and lifestyles, or misrepresents snacks as meals. We will also make sure that any claims made in our marketing about any of our products are supported by scientific evidence.

Under our principles for marketing to children, we ensure our advertisements don't convey misleading messages, don't undermine parental influence, don't encourage pester power, don't suggest time or price pressure, don't encourage unhealthy dietary habits, and don't blur the boundary between promotion and content.

In addition, as well as supporting the development of international self-regulatory codes for all marketing and advertising, we recently agreed to voluntarily restrict all paid marketing communications (with the exception of packaging) directed primarily at children under the age of six years.

We believe that by putting these principles in place, we're not only doing the right thing, but we're being proactive through voluntary self-regulation – instead of simply reacting to external pressures.

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Cooking & eating

Whether you're sitting down for a family meal, enjoying a barbecue with friends or eating on the go, choosing food that's natural, fresh and tasty is key. Let our culinary experts help you.

Tips to snip out calories

Losing weight doesn’t have to mean feeling constantly hungry and deprived.

Food for thought - child nutrition & learning

Can your children's diet really have an impact on their powers of learning and memory? Absolutely. Scientists agree that nutrition has an important contribution to make in helping children reach their full cognitive potential.

Is tea the perfect drink?

What's the secret of tea's success? There are many reasons why this versatile drink is the first choice for so many people around the world.

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Why we love tea

After water, tea is the world’s favourite drink. So how does it manage to revitalise us so thoroughly with each and every sip?

Foods

From yummy ice creams to scrumptious sauces, our food brands can satisfy even the most discerning palates. 

Making our food healthier

We care about health, which is why we're overhauling our entire food and drink portfolio. We're cutting down levels of salt, sugar and trans fats and improving labelling to help you eat better, feel better and stay healthy.

Making our food healthier

Pureit-Maroon

Product innovations

We use our knowledge and imagination to translate science into products that meet a range of consumer needs. In this section you can find examples of this work.

Clean clothes, less water

Rinsing clothes is the most water- and time-consuming part of hand washing. How are we helping?

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Smoother, straighter hair

There’s a good reason why Sunsilk is the number one hair care brand in Asia, Latin American and the Middle East, and the fastest-growing in Europe - tip-targeting technology.

Intelligent deodorant

Our Rexona deodorant uses body-responsive micro-capsule technology that kicks in when it’s needed most, giving people the confidence to face the day's more stressful situations.

Cool ice cream innovations

Unilever has found a way to make ice cream healthier as well as really tasty. It has all been possible thanks to a new ice cream ingredient discovered by Unilever's ice cream scientists.

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Knorr: a revolution in stock

Knorr helps home-cooks provide natural and nutritious meals for their families in a convenient way. This story describes the transformation of one of Knorr’s iconic products: the bouillon cube.

Pioneering technology for Magnum Temptation

Since its launch in Europe in the early 90s, Magnum has grown to be one of Unilever’s biggest brands, bringing real chocolate indulgence to the adult ice cream market.

Innovation in Unilever

Innovation is the engine of Unilever’s growth; the lifeblood of our business. Our future depends on our ability to bring bigger & better innovations to market more quickly than our competitors.

Our R&D leadership

Professor Geneviève Berger, Chief Research & Development Officer and Vindi Banga, President Foods, Home & Personal Care outline how our R&D teams create unique products with proven benefits for consumers around the world.

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Research & development in Unilever

Research & development plays a key role in delivering proprietary breakthrough innovations. At Unilever, R&D is treated as an investment aligned closely with our overall business strategy.

The science behind success

The common thread running through all our R&D activities is a direct connection between science, technology and consumer needs.

Areas of innovation

Unilever is recognised as a world leader in R&D, both in terms of innovation (new products and mixes) and renovation (refreshing existing products).

How we work

We employ more than 6000 R&D professionals in six global research centres, 13 global product development centres and regional development & country implementation centres.

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Responsible innovation

We believe our products make a real contribution to an individual’s wellbeing and that of their community, while having the least possible adverse effect on the environment at every stage in the product lifecycle.

Our R&D centres and people

We apply our scientific capabilities and consumer insights to contribute to advances in nutrition, health and well-being.

On the map

Our R&D centres located around the world help us respond fast to changing needs, tastes and trends. 

Unilever Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre

At the Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), our job is to provide Unilever with the skills, advice and guidance needed to reduce, manage and control any safety risks for consumers, employees and the environment.

People profiles

Some of our employees give you an insight into the opportunities in R&D in Unilever

Innovation Innovation in Unilever Our R&D centres and people Building the future Product innovations

Building the future o Reducing salt in food o The science of touch o Food structuring o Unilever at the International Congress of Nutrition

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o The science behind ice cream's magic o The naked microscope o Beautiful skin – an age-old problem o The power of more o An unusual source of calcium?

Building the future

Research & development in Unilever covers a very broad spectrum of activities.

Scientific foundations

At one end of the scale, we look at emerging technologies, exploring possible applications and collaborating with external experts in the field. At the other, in projects that last around six to nine months, we adapt products for local markets. Both are equally important for the future of our business. Sandwiched in-between is the day-to-day development of innovations.

Delivering ground-breaking advancements

Ground-breaking research is the foundation on which Unilever's R&D programme is built. This research takes a number of forms - for example research focussed on a single product category or longer-term projects that will benefit a broader range of Unilever's brands.  A third area of research is concerned with the five key scientific platforms that encompass the range of disciplines necessary for successful product innovation.

The platforms are ‘Advanced Measurement and Data Modelling’, ‘Bioscience’, ‘Nutrition and Health’, ‘Sensation, Perception and Behaviour’, ‘Structured Materials and Process Science’. Their role is to establish partnerships with leading academics and specialist companies in areas that have the potential to deliver market-disrupting innovation. In essence, the platforms provide new horizons for Unilever’s products and brands.

Focal point for Unilever scientists worldwide

They also provide a focal point for approximately 1300 scientists spread across our six R&D sites in the US, UK, Netherlands, India and China. By bringing together these diverse locations into one scientific organisation, we can leverage the power of collective minds to maximum effect. Everybody works in multi-disciplinary project teams, individuals from different platforms will join forces to tackle a particular scientific issue.

Platforms are the lens through which we look at the world of science and technology, both internally and externally. They are at the centre of our most exploratory and challenging research.

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Related Links Our R&D centres and people

RAHUL TEGTA