Unilever

In 2022, the Unilever board introduced a new strategic plan to shape the company around fewer brands and its bigger markets, namely the US, India and China as well as six key emerging markets.

Unilever’s strength lies in its large emerging markets franchise, while the group’s strategy of including brands at all price points in these markets is uncommon at western competitors. These days, over half of group sales are in emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia, where growth trends are very favourable.

Management has also tidied up it range of brands by selling some of its underperformers and we expect to see more of this.

The company estimates that 3.4bn consumers use its products globally and its multi-category and international structure ensures significant scale benefits in terms of distribution, supply chain, marketing, and other crucial functions. 

Unilever’s broad product range depends on a complex, global supply chain. Many of the raw materials it uses (e.g., palm oil and sugarcane) are sourced from regions where labour standards are weak.

These sourcing practices not only raise social concerns but also pose serious environmental risks, including widespread deforestation and associated impacts on biodiversity and climate change. To mitigate this, the company has taken a leading role in a number of initiatives to improve environmental management through its supply chain. It also publishes a list of its palm oil suppliers.

Unilever relies heavily on plastic for its product packaging, contributing to the growing global concern around plastic waste. This waste can break down into microplastics, which pose long-term risks to environmental ecosystems and human health.

While Unilever has been transparent in the challenges it faces to reduce its reliance on plastic, addressing the use of plastic in packaging remains a critical issue for the company.