Introduction to Unilever Essay

Unilever is a BritishDutch multinational consumer goods federation. Its products let in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and person-to-person c are products. It is the military personnels third-largest consumer goods comp each(prenominal) measured by 2011 revenues (after Procter & adenine attempt and Nestle) and the worlds largest master of water ice cream. Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever N. V. in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, f completely in Kingdom. Both Unilever companies have the like directors and they operate as a single(a) business.The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N. V. and PLC is Michael Treschow while capital of Minnesota Polman is Group Chief Executive. Unilever owns over four hundred brands, amongst the largest dealing of which are Aviance, Axe/Lynx, Ben & ampere Jerrys, Dove, Flora/Becel, Heartbrand, Hellmanns, Knorr, Lipton, Lux/Radox, Omo/Surf, Rexona/Sure, Sunsilk, Toni & Guy, TRESemme, VO5 and Wish-B oneness. Unilever PLC had a market capitalisation of ? 27. 3 jillion as of 23 December 2011, the 18th-largest of any company with a primary lean on the London Stock Exchange. 1930 to 2001 front more how to start a dividepry House in overbold York City, which was the linked States headquarters of Unilever from 1952 to 1997 Unilever was founded on 1 January 1930 by Antonius Johannes Jurgens, Samuel van den Bergh and William Hulme prise, second Viscount jimmyhulme. The amalgamation of the operations of British soap churchman Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer glycerol trimargarate Unie (a 1927 amalgamation of Anton Jurgens Margarinefabrieken N. V. and Samuel van den Bergh) make sound commercial sense, as manage anele was a major stark(a) material for both margarines, and soaps, and could be merchandise more efficiently in bigger quantities.The initial harvesting of palm oil was from British West Africa, from where news reports seen stick out in England show ed the workers abroad in approbatory conditions. In 1911 the company received a concession for 750,000 hectares of forest in Belgian Congo, mostly south of Bandundu, where a scheme of forced labour operated. The subsidiary of Lever Brothers was named Huileries du Congo Belge. During the great depression in the thirties, the Huileries sharply decreased the fee for collected oil nuts, while the government of Belgian Congo strongly increased taxation.This resulted in social unrest in 1931, which is cognise as the Revolution of the Pende, in which lastly more than 400 members of the Pende tribe were killed. In the 1930s the Unilever business grew and new ventures were launched in Africa and Latin America. In 1972 Unilever secured A&W Restaurants Canadian division save exchange its shares through a focussing buyout to former A&W Food Services of Canada CEO Jefferson J. Mooney in July 1996. By 1980 soap and edible fats contri moreovered only when 40% of profits, compared wi th an original 90%.In 1984 the company bought the brand Brooke Bond (maker of PG Tips afternoon afternoon tea). In 1987 Unilever strengthened its position in the world skin sell market by acquiring Chesebrough-Ponds (merged from Chesebrough Manufacturing and Ponds Creams), the maker of Ragu, Ponds, Aqua-Net, Cutex Nail Polish, and Vaseline. In 1989 Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Faberge, and Elizabeth Arden, but the latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances. In 1996 Unilever purchased Helene Curtis Industries, giving the company a correctly new front end in the United States shampoo and deodorant market.The purchase brought Unilever the Suave and Finesse hair-care product brands and distributor point deodorant brand. In 1997 Unilever sold the peculiarity chemicals businesses National Starch & Chemical, Quest, Unichema and Crosfield to ICI for US$8 billion.. The US division carried the Lever Brothers name until the 1990s, when it adopted that of the paren t company. The American unit has headquarters in current jersey, and no longer maintains a presence at Lever House, the iconic skyscraper on Park Avenue in advanced York City.Unilever established a sustainable tillage chopineme in 1998. 2001 to 2011 Global concern at Unilever 20002008 Black re symbolises employment numbers pool in Europe, light grey represents the Americas and baleful grey represents Asia, Africa, and Middle East. Between 2000 and 2008 Unilever decrease global workforce numbers by 41%, from 295,000 to 174,000. Notes Europe figures for 20002003 are all Europe from 2004 figures in black are Western Europe. For 20042008 figures for Asia, Africa and Middle East include Eastern and Central Europe.Source Unilever yearbook Reports 2004, 2008 In 2000 the company absorbed the American business Best Foods, strengthening its presence in North America and extending its portfolio of foods brands. In April 2000 it bought both Ben & Jerrys and cut back Fast. In May 2 007 Unilever became the first large-scale company to commit to sourcing all its tea in a sustainable manner, employing the rainforest Alliance, an international environmental NGO, to certify its tea estates in East Africa, as sound as third-party suppliers in Africa and other move of the world.It declared its aim to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in Western Europe testify by 2010, followed by all Lipton tea bags globally by 2015. Covalence, an ethical study ranking agency, placed Unilever at the vizor of its ranking based on overconfident versus negative news coverage for 2007. In 2007, Unilevers Dove Evolution telly that ran only online, was named the first ever non-TV sleep with to win the Grand Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival. And in March, 2008, Unilever was named Digital marketer of the Year by Advertising Age.In 2008 Unilever was honoured at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Creation and dispersion of Interactive Commercial Advertising Delivered through and through Digital Set transgress Boxes for its program Axe Boost Your ESP. On 25 September 2009, Unilever agree to hire the in the flesh(predicate) care business of Sara Lee Corporation, including brands such as Radox, Badedas and Duschdas, strengthening its category leaders in skin cleansing and deodorants.On 9 August 2010, Unilever signed an asset purchase agreement with the Norwegian dairy farm group TINE, to read the activities of Diplom-Is in Denmark. On 24 September 2010, Unilever proclaimed that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its consumer love apple products business in Brazil to Cargill. On 27 September 2010, Unilever purchased Alberto-Culver, a maker of personal care and household products including Simpledisambiguation needed, VO5, Nexxus, TRESemme, and Mrs. Dash, for $US3. 7 billion.On 28 September 2010, Unilever and EVGA proclaimed that the y had signed an agreement under which Unilever would acquire EVGAs ice cream brands (amongst others, Scandal, Variete and Karabola) and dispersal network in Greece, for an undisclosed amount. 2011 to present On 23 March 2011 it was announced that Unilever had entered into a binding agreement to sell the Sanex brand to Colgate-Palmolive for 672 million, and that Unilever would acquire Colgate-Palmolives airstream detergent brands in Colombia (Fab, Lavomatic and Vel) for US$215 million.On 24 August 2011, it was announced that Unilever had agreed to sell the Alberto VO5 brand in the United States and Puerto Rico, and the Rave brand globally, to Brynwood Partners VI L. P. On 14 October 2011, it was announced that Unilever had agreed to acquire 82% of the Russia-based beauty company Kalina. On 22 May 2012, it was announced that Unilever achieved top-ten stipulation in the 2012 Gartner Supply Chain Top 25, resulting in the companys best-ever exertion in the index and establishing Unil ever as one of the worlds top render chains.Operations The Unilever R&D Centre in Bangalore, India Unilever is multinational with operational companies and factories on every continent (except Antarctica) and interrogation laboratories at Colworth and Port Sunlight in England Vlaardingen in the Netherlands Trumbull, Connecticut and Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in the United States Bangalore in India (see too Hindustan Unilever Limited) and Shanghai in China. edit Products For a proficient list of Unilever brands, see List of Unilever brands.Unilevers products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. The company owns more than 400 brands, although its 25 largest brands account for over 70% of meat sales. 29 Unilever focuses resources on 13 billion-Euro brands, each of which has one-year sales in excess of 1 billion. Unilever organises its brands into four categories Homecare, Personal Care, Foods and Refreshment (which includes tea, ice-cream an d beverages).