Unilever is a multi-national corporation, formed of Anglo-Dutch parentage, that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products.
Unilever employs nearly 180,000 people and had a worldwide revenue of almost €40 billion, or just over US$50 billion, in 2005.
Unilever has two parent companies: Unilever NV in Rotterdam, and Unilever PLC in London. Both Unilever companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business.
- 1929 Unilever was created by the merger of British soap and margarine maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie, a logical merger as palm oil was a major raw material for both margarine and soaps and could be imported more efficiently in larger quantities.
- 1930s The business of Unilever grew and new ventures were launched in Latin America. In face of the depression, Unilever cuts its 50 soap-manufacturing companies to concentrate on fewer brands, continental Europe governments acted to protectelocal butter production, and so Unilever's margarine and edible fat plants were cut from ten to five.
- 1938 After a campaign to improve public perception of margarine, and the growth of vitamin-enriched brands including Stork in the UK and Blue Band in the Netherlands, sales of margarine rose to levels close to the highs of 1929.
- 1943 Unilever became the majority shareholder in Frosted Foods which owned Birds Eye and the UK rights to deep-freezing for food preservation. Unilever acquired Batchelor's, which specialised in freeze-dried vegetables and canned goods.
- 1946 Birds Eye launched the first frozen peas in the UK. Meat, fish, ice cream and canned goods accounted for only 9% of Unilever's total turnover.
- 1954 Launch of Sunsilk shampoo in the UK.
- 1955 The first advertisement on UK commercial TV, for Gibbs SR toothpaste. Introduction of Fish fingers in the UK. Launch of Dove soap in USA.
- 1958 In the Netherlands Unilever expanded into frozen foods and ice cream by acquisition of Vita NV.
- 1959 Its first margarine in a tub wqas released - Blauband in Germany followed by Flora in Britain.
- 1963 Launch of Cornetto, the first packaged and branded ice cream cone, in Europe.
- 1968 Failed attempt to merge with Allied Breweries.
- 1972 Unilever purchased A and W Restaurants, A and W (Canada)'s Canadian division but sold its shares through a management buyout to former A and W Food Services of Canada CEO Jeffrey Mooney in July 1995.
- By 1980, soap and edible fats contributed just 40% of profits, compared with an original 90%.
- In 1984 the company bought the brands Brooke Bond (maker of PG Tips tea), Fabergé and Elizabeth Arden, but the latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances.
- 1987 Unilever acquired Chesebrough-Ponds, the maker of Ragú, Ponds, and Vaseline, which strengthened its position in the world skin care market.
- 1997 Sold four businesses to ICI: National Starch, Quest, Unichema, and Crosfield
- In 2000, the company absorbed the American business Best Foods, strengthening its presence in North America and extending its portfolio of foods brands. In a single day in April 2000, it bought, ironically, both Ben and Jerry's, known for its calorie-rich ice creams, and Slim Fast.
- Today the company is fully multinational with operating companies and factories on every continent and research laboratories at Colworth and Port Sunlight in England; Vlaardingen in the Netherlands; Trumbull, Connecticut, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in the United States; Bangalore in India (see also Hindustan Unilever Limited); Pakistan; and Shanghai in China. Its European IT infrastructure headquarters is based in Unity House, Ewloe in Flintshire, Wales.
- 1990s The US division continued to carry the Lever Brothers name until the 1990s, when it adopted the parent company's moniker. The American unit is now headquartered in New Jersey, and no longer maintains a presence at Lever House, the iconic skyscraper on Park Avenue in New York City.
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