Overview

Unilever is a personal care, household and food products marketer with headquarters in London.

Business segments and operations

Unilever operates through five business groups:

• Beauty & Wellbeing
• Personal Care
• Home Care
• Nutrition
• Ice Cream
 
Unilever in March 2024 announced plans to divest its ice cream business, which markets brands such as Ben & Jerry’s.
 
See more: Unilever’s business and brands

Worldwide ad spending:
Total worldwide advertising spending figures shown in the Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers report are Unilever’s stated worldwide “brand and marketing investment” costs converted to U.S. dollars at average exchange rates by Ad Age Datacenter.
 
Unilever’s brand and marketing investment costs totaled $9.247 billion in 2023, up 12.1% from $8.246 billion in 2022.

Unilever’s annual filing for the year ended December 2023 said: “Brand and marketing investment include costs related to creating and maintaining brand equity and brand awareness. This includes media, advertising production, promotional materials and engagement with consumers.”
 
U.S. ad spending:
Total U.S. advertising spending shown in the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers report is an Ad Age Datacenter estimate of the company’s marketing spending.

Ad Age Datacenter’s U.S. estimate for Unilever captures marketing spending beyond the scope of Unilever’s “brand and marketing investment” bucket.

In congressional testimony in July 2024, Herrish Patel, president of Unilever USA, said:

“Unilever spends about $850 million on brand and marketing investment each year in the United States. About 75% of that advertising is directed toward women, generally between eighteen and forty-nine years old, as they are the primary decision-makers for the purchase of our brands.”

Patel also said:

“Our advertising seeks to meet the consumers where they are, especially when they are making decisions about the products they will buy. Over the last several years, our advertising has shifted increasingly to online platforms—such as websites, video over-the-top streaming services, and applications—because consumers have done the same.

“Currently, about 80% of our U.S. advertising spending is directed at some form of digital media. Within that category, we spend more on advertising on digital commerce platforms—sites like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Walgreens and Instacart—than anywhere else because that is where consumers are most frequently when they are making their buying decisions. Only 20% of our U.S. advertising spending goes to social media platforms, and less than 1% goes to digital news.”

Links to Ad Age’s advertiser rankings

Latest rankings: U.S.

The Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2024 ranking was released Oct. 28, 2024.

Past rankings: U.S.

Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2023
Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2022

Latest rankings: worldwide

The Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2024 ranking was released Dec. 9, 2024.

Past rankings: worldwide

Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2023
Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2022

Financial results

See more: Unilever financial results

Read Unilever’s annual filing
 
See more: Archive of Unilever annual reports

See more: Unilever acquisitions and disposals since 2010

Elida Beauty (sale):
Unilever in June 2024 sold its Elida Beauty unit to buyout firm Yellow Wood Partners.

Unilever formed Elida Beauty in 2021 to house a number of smaller beauty and personal care brands.

Brands sold to Yellow Wood included Q-tips, Tigi, Caress, Timotei, Impulse, Monsavon, Fissan, Williams, Noxzema, Brylcreem, V05, Lever 2000, Badedas, Matey, Alberto Balsam, Brut, Pond’s (North America and Europe only) and St. Ives (North America and Europe only).

The sale came about a year after Unilever in May 2023 sold its Suave brand in North America to Yellow Wood. The Suave beauty and personal care brand included hair care, skin care, skin cleansing and deodorant products. Unilever acquired Suave in 1996 as part of the purchase of Helene Curtis Industries.

Ice cream (divestiture):
Unilever in March 2024 announced plans to divest its ice cream business. 

In the announcement, Unilever said: “A demerger of Ice Cream is the most likely separation route. … Other options for separation will be considered to maximise returns for shareholders. … Separation activity will begin immediately, with full separation expected by the end of 2025.”

The business had worldwide turnover (sales) of 7.9 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in 2023. Unilever said the business had five of the top 10 selling global ice cream brands including Wall’s, Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s.
 
Dollar Shave Club (sale):
Unilever in November 2023 sold Dollar Shave Club, a U.S. direct marketer of razor blades, to buyout firm Nexus Capital Management. Unilever kept a 35% stake in the business.
 
Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club in 2016. Dollar Shave Club was founded in 2012.
 
Tea business:
Unilever in June 2022 sold its global tea business, Ekaterra, to buyout firm CVC Capital Partners for 4.6 billion euros ($4.8 billion). The business had 2020 revenue of about 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion). Brands included Lipton, Brooke Bond, PG Tips, Pukka, Tazo and T2.
 
The sale excluded Unilever’s tea business in India, Nepal and Indonesia as well as Unilever’s interests in the Pepsi Lipton ready-to-drink tea joint ventures.
 
Unilever acquired control of Lipton’s U.S. tea business in 1938 and then bought Lipton International in 1971, giving Unilever full ownership of the Lipton brand. Unilever expanded its tea portfolio in 1984 by acquiring Brooke Bond Group, marketer of PG Tips, the U.K.’s top-selling tea brand.
 
Unilever’s GSK Consumer Healthcare takeover proposal:
GSK in January 2022 said it had received three “unsolicited, conditional and non-binding proposals” from Unilever to buy the GSK Consumer Healthcare business, a joint venture of GSK (68% ownership) and Pfizer (32%).
 
GSK said it rejected all three proposals because “they fundamentally undervalued the Consumer Healthcare business and its future prospects.” Unilever in January 2022 said it would not increase its offer.
 
GSK in July 2022 spun off its Consumer Healthcare business as a standalone public company, Haleon.

Spreads business:
Unilever in July 2018 sold its global spreads business to buyout firm KKR & Co. (Upfield Holdings) for 6.825 billion euros ($7.971 billion). At the same time, Unilever sold its spreads business in Southern Africa to Remgro.
 
Unilever’s spreads business included brands such as Becel, Blue Band, Country Crock, Flora, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, ProActiv and Rama. It operated across 66 countries and had 2016 turnover of 3.032 billion euros ($3.357 billion).
 
Unilever in April 2017 put the worldwide spreads (margarine) business on the block. In announcing its intent to exit that business, Unilever said: “The underlying category remains challenged in developed markets, and we have now taken the decision to launch a process to either sell or demerge spreads.”
 
Spreads was essentially the first name of Unilever. The company was formed in 1930 by the merger of Dutch food marketer Margarine Union and U.K. soap marketer Lever Brothers.
 
Kraft Heinz Co. takeover proposal:
U.S. food marketer Kraft Heinz Co. on Feb. 17, 2017, disclosed a $143 billion offer to buy Unilever.
 
Kraft Heinz withdrew its offer just two days later, on Feb. 19, 2017, after Unilever rejected its takeover overtures.
  
Alberto Culver acquisition (2011):
Unilever completed its acquisition of personal care products marketer Alberto Culver Co. for $3.7 billion cash in May 2011. With the acquisition, Unilever said it became “the world’s leading company in hair conditioning, the second largest in shampoo,” behind P&G, “and the third largest in styling.”
  
Other deals and strategic moves:
Unilever in February 2024 bought K18, a premium biotech hair care brand founded in 2020.
 
Unilever in August 2023 bought Yasso Holdings, a premium frozen Greek yogurt brand marketed in the U.S.

Unilever in July 2022 bought an additional 67% stake in Nutrafol, a marketer of hair wellness products, for 811 million euros ($828 million), increasing its ownership to 80%. Unilever previously held a minority stake (13.2%) in Nutrafol through Unilever Ventures. Nutrafol, backed by buyout firm L Catterton, is based in New York and was founded in 2016.
 
The company in August 2021 purchased Paula’s Choice, a skin care brand, from buyout firm TA Associates. The brand was started in 1995 by Paula Begoun.
 
Unilever in May 2021 bought Onnit, a holistic wellness and lifestyle products marketer based in Austin, Texas, and founded in 2010.
 
The company in 2020 bought SmartyPants Vitamins, a U.S.-based vitamin, mineral and supplement company based in Los Angeles and founded in 2011.
 
Unilever in 2020 bought Liquid I.V., a health-science nutrition and wellness company based in El Segundo, California, and founded in 2012.
 
Unilever in April 2020 bought the health food drinks portfolio of GSK in India and 20 other predominantly Asian markets for about 3.3 billion euros ($3.7 billion). The business had 2018 turnover of about 500 million euros ($591 million) primarily from products under the Horlicks and Boost brands.
 
The company in October 2019 acquired 75% of FruFru, a healthy food business in Romania.
 
Unilever in October 2019 acquired 70% of Lenor, a premium skin care business based in Japan.
 
Unilever in August 2019 bought Astrix, a Bolivian manufacturer of home and personal care brands. Astrix was founded in 1993.
 
Unilever in July 2019 bought Tatcha, a skin care brand founded in San Francisco in 2009.
 
The company in June 2019 bought Fluocaril and Parogencyl, oral care businesses in France and Spain.
 
Unilever in May 2019 bought Olly Nutrition, a U.S.-based marketer of vitamins, minerals and supplements. San Francisco-based Olly was founded in 2014.
 
The company in April 2019 bought Garancia, a French brand of facial and body skin care products founded in 2004.
 
Unilever in March 2019 sold its Alsa baking and dessert business to Dr. Oetker, a food marketer based in Germany.
 
The company in February 2019 bought Graze, a healthy snacking business in the U.K.
 
Unilever in January 2019 bought The Laundress, a premium eco-friendly line of detergent, fabric care and home cleaning products in the U.S.
 
Unilever in December 2018 acquired Vegetarian Butcher, a vegetarian meat replacement foods business in the Netherlands. Unilever said: “The acquisition fits with Unilever’s strategy to expand its portfolio into plant-based foods responding to the growing trend of vegetarian and vegan meals.”
 
The company in December 2018 bought Denny Ice, an ice cream business in Bulgaria.
 
Unilever in November 2018 bought Betty Ice, an ice cream business in Romania.
 
Unilever in October 2018 bought 75% of Equilibra, an Italian personal care and nutritional supplements brand. Equilibra was founded in 1987.
 
The company in September 2018 bought Adityaa Milk, an ice cream business in India.
 
Unilever in February 2018 purchased the personal care and home care brands of Quala, a Latin American consumer goods company. Unilever said the acquired brands had combined turnover of more than $400 million in 2016.
 
Unilever in December 2017 bought Schmidt’s Naturals, a U.S. personal care products marketer.
 
The company in December 2017 bought Sundial Brands, a hair care and skin care company.
 
Unilever in December 2017 bought Tazo, a tea brand, from Starbucks Corp. for $384 million. Tazo was sold primarily in grocery, mass and convenience channels and offered in formats including packaged teas, K-Cup pods, and bottled ready-to-drink teas. Tazo was founded in 1994; Starbucks bought it in 1999 for $8.1 million. Starbucks said it sold Tazo so Starbucks could focus its tea business on its super premium tea brand, Teavana.
 
Unilever in December 2017 bought Mae Terra, a Brazilian natural and organic food business.
 
Unilever in November 2017 bought 98% of Carver Korea, a skin care business in North Asia, for 2.27 billion euros ($2.71 billion) from Bain Capital Private Equity and Goldman Sachs. Unilever bought the remaining 2% in January 2018.
 
Unilever in September 2017 bought Weis, an Australian ice cream business.
 
Unilever in September 2017 bought Pukka Herbs, an organic herbal tea business based in the U.K. and founded in 2001.
 
The company in August 2017 bought Hourglass, a luxury color cosmetics brand launched in 2004.
 
Unilever in August 2017 bought 60% of EAC Myanmar, a home care business, to form Unilever EAC Myanmar Co.
 
Unilever in October 2016 bought Seventh Generation, a Vermont-based marketer of green-friendly home and personal care products. The price tag wasn’t disclosed.
 
Unilever in September 2015 bought Murad, a clinical skin care brand founded in Los Angeles in 1989 by Howard Murad, a dermatologist, pharmacist and UCLA professor. The price tag wasn’t disclosed. This followed Unilever’s 2015 acquisitions of three other personal care brands: Dermalogica, Kate Somerville and REN.

Management and employees

Hein Schumacher joined Unilever as CEO designate on June 1, 2023, and became CEO on July 1, 2023.
 
Before joining Unilever, Schumacher was CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina, a global dairy cooperative based in the Netherlands.
 
Prior to joining Royal FrieslandCampina as chief financial officer in 2014, Schumacher worked for H.J. Heinz Co. for more than a decade in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including four years in China.
 
See more: Unilever management
 
See more: Unilever careers

Stock

Unilever shares are listed in London, Amsterdam and New York. 
 
London Stock Exchange ticker: ULVR

History

Unilever was formed Jan. 1, 1930, by the merger of Dutch food marketer Margarine Union and U.K. soap marketer Lever Brothers.
 
Unilever operated under a dual-headed legal structure with two parent companies, U.K.-based Unilever Plc (formerly Unilever Limited) and Netherlands-based Unilever NV, from 1930 until 2020. At that point, Unilever unified its legal structure under a single parent company, Unilever Plc.
 
See more: Unilever history and timeline