 Logo since 2004 | |
 Unilever House in London | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| ISIN | GB00B10RZP78 |
| Industry | Consumer goods |
| Predecessors | |
| Founded | 2 September 1929 |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | Unilever House, London, England , United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | List
|
| Brands | See list of brands |
| Revenue |  €59.604 billion (2023)[1] |
| €9.758 billion (2023)[1] | |
| €7.140 billion (2023)[1] | |
| Total assets | €75.266 billion (2023)[1] |
| Total equity | €20.764 billion (2023)[1] |
Number of employees | 127,000 (2024)[2] |
| Website | unilever |
Unilever PLC is a British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of British soap maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie. It is headquartered in London, England.
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,[3] and its products are available in over 190 countries.[4]
The company is organised into five business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. It has research and development facilities in China, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[5]
In the 1930s, Unilever acquired the United Africa Company. During 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 (1971), Brooke Bond (1984), Pond's (1987), Hellmann's (2000), Ben & Jerry's (2000), SlimFast (2000), Knorr (2000), Alberto-Culver (2010), Dollar Shave Club (2016), and Pukka Herbs (2017). 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.[6]
Unilever has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Euronext Amsterdam, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and the AEX index.
- ^ a b c d e "Annual Results 2023" (PDF). Unilever. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- ^ "At a glance". Unilever. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- ^ "UK aid and Unilever to target a billion people in global handwashing campaign". Gov.uk. British Government. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
- ^ "Our approach to sustainability". Unilever. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ Unilever R&D Locations Archived 9 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Unilever, viewed 19 December 2013
- ^ Boyle, Matthew; Jarvis, Paul (4 December 2014). "Unilever Spreads Split Boosts Chance of Exit as Shares Gain". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2017.