Highlights
Consists of two parent companies—Unilever NV and Unilever plc—which are structured to act as one in terms of share price and financial reporting. Markets 400 brands in 14 categories of home, personal care, and food products.
Operates in some 100 countries. Half of revenue comes from the following 12 brands: Knorr, Flora/Becel, Hellmann's, Lipton, Omo, Surf, Lux, Dove, Iglo/Birds Eye/Findus, Blue Band/Rama, Sunsilk, and Heart ice cream.
Owned by Unilever NV, based in the Netherlands, and Unilever plc, based in London, Unilever is the second-largest packaged goods company in the world, after Nestlé. The company's global operating units are split between food and nonfood items, each unit contributing one half of revenues. Every day, up to 150 million people consume or use Unilever products. The company has 337 manufacturing plants around the world, and has invested about €1 billion in R&D in 2005. Like many other packaged goods companies, Unilever's recent strategy has been to focus on core brands and pare away noncore brands. The company has reduced its number of brands from 1,200 to 400 in recent years, completing the sale of its frozen foods division in March 2006. In 2007, Unilever committed to purchasing all its tea from sustainable sources. Unilever asks the international environmental NGO Rainforest Alliance to certify tea farms in Africa.