The Growth of Unilever From Soap Maker to Consumer Goods Giant

Unilever is an international fast-moving consumer goods company that sells over 400 household names in over 190 countries – such as Knorr stock cubes, Lux and Lifebuoy soaps and Wall’s Magnum ice cream.

As soon as Jope assumed control of the company in 2018, he received an ambitious five-year goal: producing an increase in underlying sales by between 3-5 percent annually. To date, this goal has been accomplished.

The Company’s Strategy

Unilever’s management embraces change and adapts to its environment with open arms, never shying away from stirring things up and challenging the status quo. They regularly review, revise and reform their strategies to stay ahead of competitors in an ever-evolving business landscape – something which has enabled the company to flourish even during difficult periods such as The Great Depression.

The company was formed through the merger of three businesses; Lever Brothers soaps, Jurgens butter exporting family, and Margarine Unie, a margarine production company. The founders saw an opportunity to combine resources and leverage strengths into an international powerhouse – and their plan succeeded quickly! The business flourished quickly under this strategy.

Unilever’s success can also be attributed to its strategy of localization. One of only a handful of large multinationals that has adopted local market needs by hiring locally based managers, Unilever is better equipped than ever to understand consumers across different parts of the globe and meet them head on with products tailored precisely to them.

These strategies have also enabled it to accelerate brand growth more rapidly in certain categories, such as healthy eating and wellbeing. Acquisitions like Graze, gummy mineral supplement brands and Paula’s Choice demonstrate how the company can adapt quickly to consumer tastes.

Furthermore, the company has taken advantage of its global scale to negotiate with suppliers and achieve savings. Furthermore, long-term relationships were developed between itself and suppliers which increased supply reliability as well as ensured access to superior quality products.

Unilever managed to increase its underlying operating profit by 5.8% despite global economic instability that affected all businesses, thanks to their adaptability and commitment to sustainability.

The company has also increased its efficiency by cutting waste and increasing plant-based food sales, and set ambitious goals such as helping one billion people take steps towards bettering their health and wellbeing by 2025 and halving its environmental footprint from factory to retail by 2030.

The Company’s Management

Unilever has grown into one of the world’s largest transnational companies largely through a Darwinian process of selecting what works and discarding what doesn’t. Established as a Dutch-British joint venture that began manufacturing soap, processed food, and toiletries in 1930, Unilever expanded through acquisitions that focused on industries with both strong market presence and financial viability. By 1980, Unilever focused solely on food and detergent production while selling off non-essential ancillary businesses like shipping and packaging; in 1984 they conducted an aggressive hostile takeover of Brooke Bond which enhanced their tea brand offering further.

Unilever has long sought to develop local talent. One way this occurs is through hiring managers from local markets to lead its subsidiaries – this practice is known among company insiders as “Indianization, Australianization or Brazilianization.”

Unilever has made an effort to promote employee travel abroad and broaden their experience through a broad program of attachments, rotations and project work placements. This has allowed it to build up an international team who are well versed with how Unilever functions.

Unilever’s management structure is comprised of product type divisions and regional management groups. Each of these is led by a marketing director from an operating company; for instance, Birds Eye Wall’s in the UK provides leadership for one team responsible for Magnum strategy management – this group works closely with Unilever’s strategy group at corporate office but still retains authority to execute their own strategies independently.

Unilever places great emphasis on sustainability, with an open commitment to source all raw materials ethically and sustainably. They were the first consumer goods company to request Rainforest Alliance certification of tea suppliers; furthermore they have set an ambitious goal to reduce their carbon footprint by 2020 using various programs.

The Company’s Products

Unilever boasts an extensive portfolio of globally-recognized brands like Dove, Lipton, Hellmann’s Sunsilk and Rexona that are known worldwide. Unilever’s diverse portfolio helps it weather volatility while increasing profits over time.

William Lever was an insightful businessman who recognized opportunities where others failed. After the Great Depression hit, Lever saw an opportunity to expand his operations by producing soap and other household items to diversify his business; thus establishing Unilever.

As its operations began to expand, the company recognized that its management style needed to change accordingly in order to meet the demands of its new markets. This meant hiring local managers who would oversee daily operations instead of having its parent oversee them from above.

Unilever focused its food business expansion efforts on food products. They acquired competitors and began developing new offerings; these efforts paid off when Whisk, an antibacterial detergent product from Unilever, overtook P & G’s Cheer detergent in the US market. Furthermore, Unilever introduced Breeze which eventually replaced Surf as Britain’s main laundry detergent brand.

Unilever expanded after WWII when they made several acquisitions; Birds Eye (a frozen foods producer) was acquired in 1957, followed by Good Humor Ice Cream from America (an ice cream company) being added in 1961 – this marked just the start of an unprecedented period of growth for Unilever.

Unilever made waves during the 80s by rapidly consolidating various firms into its portfolio, including personal care titan Helene Curtis for $770 million and US ice cream manufacturer Good Humor for $215 million. They expanded their food business further by purchasing brands such as Ramon in the UK as well as Van den Bergh and Jurgens meat producers based out of Netherlands.

Unilever made significant strides with their purpose-led brands in the 2000s. Many consumers today are willing to pay more for sustainable and ethically sourced products; this trend should continue indefinitely and Unilever has made considerable advances with their purpose-led brands.

The Company’s Sustainability

Consumers don’t usually think about the world when making shopping decisions at supermarkets, filling their carts with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soap, Lipton tea, Vaseline and Hellman’s mayonnaise from Unilever – one of its key differentiators – yet Unilever does, which sets it apart.

Founders of this company were aware of the fragile environment they built their business on and understood they must adapt and reinvent themselves regularly in order to remain viable. That is why a portion of profits was set aside to invest in R&D; furthermore, emphasis was put on sustainability plans so as to meet goals while making an impactful statement to society at large.

Unilever’s success lies in their willingness to take bold steps, which have proven invaluable in an ever-evolving marketplace. Be it merger with competitors, relocation of headquarters or product renaming due to changes in consumer preference or the environment; Unilever has always shown sufficient flexibility to keep pace with its market environment.

As the world’s leading producer of household products, Unilever is acutely aware of shifts in lifestyle trends and consumer habits. When consumers become more mindful about how their food choices impact the environment, they tend to change their eating habits accordingly and take better care of themselves – which is why Unilever has taken an aggressive stance toward sustainability by working to decrease their carbon footprint.

Unilever’s management structure is another element that contributes to their success. Prior to the mid-1960s, national managers were held responsible for their own country’s profits; although those working at Unilever’s parent head office had the capacity to oversee an international enterprise, they often didn’t understand how operating in different markets such as India or Brazil worked – where customers may have different tastes, supply chains were more complex, and external influences differed from what was prevalent in Europe.