Introduction to HUL

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods
Company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories
in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. The company’s Turnover is
Rs. 20, 239 crores (for the 15 month period – January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009).

HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving
consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with
annual sales of €40.5 billion in 2008. Unilever has about 52% shareholding in HUL.

Hindustan Unilever was recently rated among the top four companies globally in the list
of “Global Top Companies for Leaders” by a study sponsored by Hewitt Associates, in
partnership with Fortune magazine and the RBL Group. The company was ranked
number one in the Asia-Pacific region and in India.

The mission that inspires HUL's more than 15,000 employees, including over 1,400
managers, is to “add vitality to life". The company meets everyday needs for nutrition,
hygiene, and personal care, with brands that help people feel good, look good and get
more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company, Unilever, which
holds about 52 % of the equity.

Heritage
HUL’s heritage dates back to 1888, when the first Unilever product, Sunlight, was
introduced in India. Local manufacturing began in the 1930s with the establishment of
subsidiary companies. They merged in 1956 to form Hindustan Lever Limited (The
company was renamed Hindustan Unilever Limited on June 25, 2007). The company
created history when it offered equity to Indian shareholders, becoming the first foreign
subsidiary company to do so. Today, the company has more than three lakh resident
shareholders.

HUL’s brands -- like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Sunsilk,
Clinic, Close-up, Pepsodent, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr, Annapurna, Kwality-
Walls - are household names across the country and span many categories - soaps,
detergents, personal products, tea, coffee, branded staples, ice cream and culinary
products. They are manufactured in over 35 factories, several of them in backward areas
of the country. The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates.HUL's
distribution network covers 6.3 million retail outlets including direct reach to over 1
million.

HUL has traditionally been a company, which incorporates latest technology in all its
operations. The Hindustan Lever Research Centre (now Hindustan Unilever Research
Centre) was set up in 1958.
Doing Well by Doing Good
HUL believes that an organisation’s worth is also in the service it renders to the
community. HUL focuses on hygiene, nutrition, enhancement of livelihoods, reduction of
greenhouse gases and water footprint.It is also involved in education and rehabilitation of
special or underprivileged children, care for the destitute and HIV-positive, and rural
development. HUL has also responded in case of national calamities / adversities and
contributes through various welfare measures, most recent being the relief and
rehabilitation of the people affected by the Tsunami disaster, in India.

HUL’s Project Shakti is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than
5000 individuals. Through Shakti, HUL is creating micro-enterprise opportunities for
rural women, thereby improving their livelihood and the standard of living in rural
communities. Shakti also provides health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani
programme.The program now covers 15 states in India and has over 45,000 women
entrepreneurs in its fold, reaching out to 100,000 villages and directly reaching to over
three million rural consumers.

HUL also runs a rural health programme, Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The programme
endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among rural Indians and aims to
bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched 120 million people in
approximately 50, 676 villages across India.

If Hindustan Unilever straddles the Indian corporate world, it is because of being single-
minded in identifying itself with Indian aspirations and needs in every walk of life.

Foods

From yummy ice creams to scrumptious sauces, our food brands can satisfy even the
most discerning palates.

Home care

Whether you want fresh, soft clothes or sparklingly clean bathrooms, our home care
brands can help

Personal care

In need of hair care heroics? Wanting to relax with a luxurious bath? Our personal care
brands have answers to all these questions and more.

We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help
people feel good, look good and get more out of life.

HUL at a glance
Our mission

Vitality is at the heart of everything we do. It's in our brands,

our people and our approach to businessOur mission
Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition,
hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get
more out of life.

Enthused with Vitality

Vitality is at the heart of everything we do. It's in our brands, our people and our values.

Vitality means different things to different people. Some see it as energy, others view it
more broadly as a healthy state of body and mind – of feeling alive.

Whatever their personal definition, millions of people around the world use our products
daily to add Vitality to their lives - whether that's through feeling great because they've
got shiny hair and a brilliant smile, keeping their homes fresh and clean, or by enjoying a
great cup of tea, satisfying meal or healthy snack.

Ever since the 19th Century when William Hesketh Lever stated that the company's
mission was "to make cleanliness commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster
health and contribute to personal attractiveness, that life may be more enjoyable and
rewarding for the people who use our products," Vitality has been at the heart of our
business.

Vitality defines what we stand for: our values, what makes us different, and how we
contribute to society. It's the common thread that links our brands and it’s central to the
unique way we operate around the world.

Health & nutrition

Our Vitality mission commits us to growing our business by addressing health and
nutrition issues. We focus on priorities including children and family nutrition,
cardiovascular health and weight management.

Inside & out

Our culture also embodies Vitality. Adding Vitality of life requires the highest standards
of behaviour towards everyone we work with, the communities we touch and the
environments on which we have an impact.

The growing demand for more Vitality in life provides us with a huge opportunity for
growth. The way we work and the products we develop are shaped by consumer trends,
along with the need to help raise health and hygiene standards in both the developing and
industrialised regions of the world.

Read our mission statement

About us
• Introduction to HUL
• Our mission
 • Purpose & principles
• Our history

• Company structure

HUL at a glance
Incorporation

Incorporated in 1933

Turnover

Rs.20239 Cr Audited results for January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009

People

More than 15000 direct employees including more than 1400 managers

Parentage

HUL is a part of the €40.5 billion Unilever Group

Reach

Reaches over 6.3 million retail outlets including direct reach to over 1 million

R&D

Two R&D centres in India in Mumbai and Bangalore

A
nnual Report

Check our Annual Report for more about our performance, people, operations and
brands.

View

Our brands
• Food brands
• Home care brands

• Personal care brands

• Water

• Nutrition
• Health, hygiene & beauty

Our history
In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight
soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it,
began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like
Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came
to the market in 1937.

In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing
Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited
(1935). These three companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered
10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do
so. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is
distributed among about 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions.

The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the
company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India
Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an
international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton's links with India were forged in 1898.
Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972, and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited was
incorporated.

Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold
through an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986.

Since the very early years, HUL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of economic
growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious diversification, always in
line with Indian opinions and aspirations.

The liberalisation of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in
HUL's and the Group's growth curve. Removal of the regulatory framework allowed the
company to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any
constraints on production capacity.

Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the

most visible and talked about events of India's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil
Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HUL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1996,
HUL and yet another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture,
Lakme Unilever Limited, to market Lakme's market-leading cosmetics and other
appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold
its brands to HUL and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company.

HUL formed a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation in
1994, Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary
Pads. HUL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Unilever Nepal Limited (UNL), and its
factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the Himalayan kingdom. The
UNL factory manufactures HUL's products like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products
both for the domestic market and exports to India.

The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on the
Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General
Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it acquired the Kissan
business from the UB Group and the Dollops Icecream business from Cadbury India.

As a measure of backward integration, Tea Estates and Doom Dooma, two plantation
companies of Unilever, were merged with Brooke Bond. Then in 1994, Brooke Bond
India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL),
enabling greater focus and ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. 1994
witnessed BBLIL launching the Wall's range of Frozen Desserts. By the end of the year,
the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Kwality Icecream Group families
and in 1995 the Milkfood 100% Icecream marketing and distribution rights too were
acquired.

Finally, BBLIL merged with HUL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal
restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond's (India) Limited (PIL) with HUL in
1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products, Speciality
Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution system since 1993 for
Personal Products. The two also had a common management pool and a technology base.
The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group, benefits from scale economies both
in domestic and export markets and enable it to fund investments required for
aggressively building new categories.

In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in
Modern Foods to HUL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public
sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HUL's entry into Bread is a strategic
extension of the company's wheat business. In 2002, HUL acquired the government's
remaining stake in Modern Foods.

In 2003, HUL acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised Crabmeat business of the
Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products exports.

HUL launched a slew of new business initiatives in the early part of 2000’s. Project
Shakti was started in 2001. It is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by
less than 5000 individuals. It is a unique win-win initiative that catalyses rural affluence
even as it benefits business. Currently, there are over 45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs
covering over 100,000 villages across 15 states and reaching to over 3 million homes.

In 2002, HUL made its foray into Ayurvedic health & beauty centre category with the
Ayush product range and Ayush Therapy Centres. Hindustan Unilever Network, Direct to
home business was launched in 2003 and this was followed by the launch of ‘Pureit’
water purifier in 2004.

In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited after
receiving the approval of share holders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007. Brooke
Bond and Surf Excel breached the the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark the same year followed
by Wheel which crossed the Rs.2,000 crore sales milestone in 2008.

On 17th October 2008 , HUL completed 75 years of corporate existence in India.

Related Links

• HUL 75 years Special Issue – Doing Well by Doing Good (4.4 MB)
Brands for life
• Food brands
• Personal care brands
• Home care brands
From sumptuous soups to sensuous soaps, our products all have one thing in common.
They help you get more out of life.

Food brands

• 3 Roses
• Annapurna
• Brooke Bond Taaza
• Bru

• Kissan
• Knorr
• Kwality Wall’s
• Lipton
Our brands

• Food brands
• Home care brands
• Personal care brands
• Water
• Nutrition
• Health, hygiene & beauty

•
o Food brands
o Home care brands
o Personal care brands
o Water
o Nutrition
o Health, hygiene & beauty

Food brands
HUL is one of India’s leading food companies. Our passion for understanding what
people want and need from their food - and what they love about it - makes our brands a
popular choice

Brooke Bond 3 Roses

Playful banter, a little mischief, serious conversation… there’s no time for young couples
like the time spent sharing a cup of 3 Roses.

Annapurna
Partnering with the mom in nurturing her dreams, Annapurna Atta is aimed at helping her
provide wholesome tasty nutrition to her family.

Red Label
India’s favourite cup of tea, the great taste of Red Label brings people closer together and
strengthens relationships.

Brooke Bond Taaza

Brooke Bond Taaza lifts me and unshackles my mind, allowing me to see and realize
possibilities.

Taj Mahal
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal is an exclusive selection of teas for the discerning consumer.
Bru
Ek cup Bru aur mood ban jae…

Kissan
With Kissan, good food is loved not shoved!

Kissan Amaze Brainfood

Kissan Amaze Brainfood is specifically designed for the mental development of kids.

Knorr
Knorr helps families make meal times special, nutritious, tasty and healthy.

Kwality Wall’s
A good honest scoop of daily pleasure.

Lipton
Lipton has a range of vitality teas that truly encompass the goodness of tea.

Home care brands

HUL has a diverse portfolio of brands offering home care solutions for millions of
consumers across India.

Active Wheel
Active Wheel de "Mehnat se Aazadi" Freedom from painful & tiring laundry

Cif
Cif- the best cleaner to let you shine.
Comfort
The world’s largest fabric conditioner brand.

Domex
The sheer power of Domex bleach gives you the confidence you need, eradicating all
known germs.

Rin
Rin provides ‘best in class whiteness’ which is demonstrable.

Sunlight
Sunlight is a color care brand
Surf Excel
Giving your kids the freedom to get dirty and experience life, safe in the knowledge that
Surf Excel will remove those stains

Vim
Created in 1885, the Vim brand is still innovating and using the magic of natural
ingredients to create unbeatable results over a hundred years later.

Personal care brands

Our personal care brands, including Axe, Dove, Lux, Pond's, Rexona and Sunsilk, are
recognised and love by consumers across India. They help consumers to look good and
feel good – and in turn get more out of life.

Aviance
Aviance enables women actualize their unique potential through expert customized
beauty solutions.
Axe
Axe with Best Quality Fragrance

LEVER Ayush Therapy

LEVER Ayush aims to help a new generation of Indians rediscover everyday health and
vitality through customized Ayurvedic solutions.

Breeze
Breeze, with the goodness of glycerine gives soft, fragrant and smooth skin.

Clear
New Clear with Essential Oils, guarantees Zero dandruff and leaves your hair feeling
fabulous.

Clinic Plus
Clinic Plus is India’s largest selling shampoo and has won the trust the millions of
families across India.

Closeup
Freshness that brings you Closer

Dove
Dove stands for real beauty. All around the world, Dove is making real women feel more
beautiful!
Fair & Lovely
More than 30 years ago, a unique brand was born. Wrapped within a humble lavender
tube, it went on to become the World’s No.1 Fairness cream.

Hamam
Holistic skin care experiences perfected over the ages to deliver healthy, beautiful skin

Lakme
Lakme is an ally to the Indian Woman and inspires her to express her unique beauty and
sensuality. Thus, enabling her to realize the potency of her beauty.

Lifebuoy
Lifebuoy is available in multiple variants in soaps and specialist formats such as liquid
handwash, catering to the entire family.
Liril
Awaken, and enliven your senses with a Liril bath.

Lux
Lux believes in passion for beauty. It continues to be a favorite with generations of users
for a sensuous experience of luxury.

Pears
Pears – the purest and most gentle way to skincare!

Pepsodent
Pepsodent India is committed to improve the overall Oral health of Indians.
Pond’s
Get the expert to look after your skin

Rexona
Rexona gives you 24 hr protection from sweat and body odour and therefore the
confidence to handle whatever the day has in store.

Sunsilk
Sunsilk encourages young women in India to live for today. Sunsilk helps you transform
the beauty of your hair instantly because LIFE CAN'T WAIT!!

Vaseline
Your skin is amazing. It deserves to be treated as such.
Water

Pureit is the world’s most advanced in-home water purifier. Pureit, a breakthrough
offering of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), provides complete protection from all water-
borne diseases, unmatched convenience and affordability.

Pureit’s unique Germkill Battery technology kills all harmful viruses and bacteria and
removes parasites and pesticide impurities, giving you water that is "as safe as boiled
water". It assures your family 100% protection from all water-borne diseases like
jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. What’s more, it doesn’t need gas, electricity or
continuous tap water supply.

Pureit not only renders water micro-biologically safe, but also makes the water clear,
odourless and good-tasting. Pureit does not leave any residual chlorine in the output
water.

The output water from Pureit meets stringent criteria for microbiologically safe drinking
water, from one of the toughest regulatory agencies in the USA, EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency).

The performance of Pureit has also been tested by leading scientific and medical
institutions in India and abroad.

This patented technological breakthrough has been developed by HUL. This state-of –
the-art engineering developed by a team of over 100 Indian and international experts
from HUL and Unilever Research Centres has made Pureit possible at the consumer price
of just Rs. 2000

Pureit runs with a unique ‘Germkill Battery Kit’™ that typically lasts for 1500 litres* of
water. The ‘Germkill Battery Kit’™is priced at Rs.365. This means consumers will get 4
litres of water that is ‘as safe as boiled water’ ™ for just one rupee, which works out to
an extremely affordable 24 paise per litre.

Pureit in-home purification system uses a 4 stage purification process to deliver “as safe
as boiled water” without the use of electricity and pressurized tap water. Pureit purifies
the input drinking water in four stages, namely;

1. Micro-fiber MeshTM - Removes visible dirt

2. Compact Carbon TrapTM - removes remaining dirt, harmful parasites & pesticide
impurities

3. Germkill ProcessorTM – uses 'programmed chlorine release chlorine technology' and its
stored germkill process targets and kills harmful virus and bacteria

4. PolisherTM – removes residual chlorine and all disinfectant by-products, giving clear
odourless and great tasting water

5. Battery Life Indicator - Ensures total safety because when the germkill power is
exhausted, the indicator turns red, warning you to replace the battery

Advanced Auto-Switch off - In case, the battery is not changed when it turns fully red, as
an additional assurance of safety, the advanced Auto-Switch off will automatically
switch-off the flow of water.

Protect your loved ones with a Pureit today!

You can ask for a free home demonstration of Pureit. A trained Pureit Water Expert will
visit your home and give you a detailed demonstration of how Pureit works.

For a free home demo, queries, or to purchase

Call Pureit Helpline : 09223 200 200

Download Pureit brochure

*at a water temperature of 25° Celsius, in moderate humidity conditions

Pureit-Blue
 Nutrition
We've created policies and guidelines to ensure we always act responsibly when it comes
to health and nutrition.

Acting responsibly
Millions of people around the world enjoy the foods and drinks we create. So the
ingredients we use, the formulations, and the way we advertise and market our brands can
potentially make a big impact on global health.

We aim to act responsibly and have a strong nutrition policy. We've also developed a
carefully considered approach to health and nutrition which includes:

• encouraging a balanced diet with the right amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats,
vitamins and minerals
• developing a growing range of low fat, low sugar, low calorie alternatives, plus
more 'active health' products
• marketing responsibility our foods and beverages and helping to reduce over-
consumption
• helping people understand the nutritional benefits of our products
• creating products that reflect the fact that people will only eat foods that they
enjoy
• having sound specific evidence underpinning all our claims
• making significant contributions to researching the relationship on nutrition and
health, such as the effects of good fats (unsalted fats), fruits & vegetables and
vitamins and minerals

Clear communication

We've also developed a set of marketing principles to ensure we're always 'honest, decent
and truthful' in our communication – which include special principles on advertising to
children.

As well as excluding anything that appears to condone over-consumption in our

marketing, we also prohibit anything that undermines the promotion of healthy, balanced
diets and lifestyles, or misrepresents snacks as meals. We will also make sure that any
claims made in our marketing about any of our products are supported by scientific
evidence.

Under our principles for marketing to children, we ensure our advertisements don't
convey misleading messages, don't undermine parental influence, don't encourage pester
power, don't suggest time or price pressure, don't encourage unhealthy dietary habits, and
don't blur the boundary between promotion and content.

In addition, as well as supporting the development of international self-regulatory codes

for all marketing and advertising, we recently agreed to voluntarily restrict all paid
marketing communications (with the exception of packaging) directed primarily at
children under the age of six years.

We believe that by putting these principles in place, we're not only doing the right thing,
but we're being proactive through voluntary self-regulation – instead of simply reacting
to external pressures.

Cooking & eating

Whether you're sitting down for a family meal, enjoying a barbecue with friends or eating
on the go, choosing food that's natural, fresh and tasty is key. Let our culinary experts
help you.

Tips to snip out calories

Losing weight doesn’t have to mean feeling constantly hungry and deprived.

Food for thought - child nutrition & learning

Can your children's diet really have an impact on their powers of learning and memory?
Absolutely. Scientists agree that nutrition has an important contribution to make in
helping children reach their full cognitive potential.
Is tea the perfect drink?
What's the secret of tea's success? There are many reasons why this versatile drink is the
first choice for so many people around the world.

Why we love tea

After water, tea is the world’s favourite drink. So how does it manage to revitalise us so
thoroughly with each and every sip?

Foods

From yummy ice creams to scrumptious sauces, our food brands can satisfy even the
most discerning palates.

Making our food healthier

We care about health, which is why we're overhauling our entire food and drink portfolio.
We're cutting down levels of salt, sugar and trans fats and improving labelling to help
you eat better, feel better and stay healthy.

• Making our food healthier

Pureit-Maroon

Product innovations
We use our knowledge and imagination to translate science into products that meet a
range of consumer needs. In this section you can find examples of this work.
Clean clothes, less water
Rinsing clothes is the most water- and time-consuming part of hand washing. How are
we helping?

Smoother, straighter hair

There’s a good reason why Sunsilk is the number one hair care brand in Asia, Latin
American and the Middle East, and the fastest-growing in Europe - tip-targeting
technology.

Intelligent deodorant
Our Rexona deodorant uses body-responsive micro-capsule technology that kicks in
when it’s needed most, giving people the confidence to face the day's more stressful
situations.
Cool ice cream innovations
Unilever has found a way to make ice cream healthier as well as really tasty. It has all
been possible thanks to a new ice cream ingredient discovered by Unilever's ice cream
scientists.

Knorr: a revolution in stock

Knorr helps home-cooks provide natural and nutritious meals for their families in a
convenient way. This story describes the transformation of one of Knorr’s iconic
products: the bouillon cube.

Pioneering technology for Magnum Temptation

Since its launch in Europe in the early 90s, Magnum has grown to be one of Unilever’s
biggest brands, bringing real chocolate indulgence to the adult ice cream market.

Innovation in Unilever
Innovation is the engine of Unilever’s growth; the lifeblood of our business. Our future
depends on our ability to bring bigger & better innovations to market more quickly than
our competitors.
Our R&D leadership
Professor Geneviève Berger, Chief Research & Development Officer and Vindi Banga,
President Foods, Home & Personal Care outline how our R&D teams create unique
products with proven benefits for consumers around the world.

Research & development in Unilever

Research & development plays a key role in delivering proprietary breakthrough
innovations. At Unilever, R&D is treated as an investment aligned closely with our
overall business strategy.

The science behind success

The common thread running through all our R&D activities is a direct connection
between science, technology and consumer needs.

Areas of innovation
Unilever is recognised as a world leader in R&D, both in terms of innovation (new
products and mixes) and renovation (refreshing existing products).
How we work
We employ more than 6000 R&D professionals in six global research centres, 13 global
product development centres and regional development & country implementation
centres.

Responsible innovation
We believe our products make a real contribution to an individual’s wellbeing and that of
their community, while having the least possible adverse effect on the environment at
every stage in the product lifecycle.

Our R&D centres and people

We apply our scientific capabilities and consumer insights to contribute to advances in
nutrition, health and well-being.

On the map
Our R&D centres located around the world help us respond fast to changing needs, tastes
and trends.

Unilever Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre

At the Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), our job is to provide Unilever
with the skills, advice and guidance needed to reduce, manage and control any safety
risks for consumers, employees and the environment.

People profiles
Some of our employees give you an insight into the opportunities in R&D in Unilever

Innovation

• Innovation in Unilever
• Our R&D centres and people
• Building the future
• Product innovations

• Building the future

o Reducing salt in food
o The science of touch
o Food structuring
o Unilever at the International Congress of Nutrition
o The science behind ice cream's magic
o The naked microscope
o Beautiful skin – an age-old problem
o The power of more
o An unusual source of calcium?

Building the future

Research & development in Unilever covers a very broad spectrum of activities.

Scientific foundations
At one end of the scale, we look at emerging technologies, exploring possible
applications and collaborating with external experts in the field. At the other, in projects
that last around six to nine months, we adapt products for local markets. Both are equally
important for the future of our business. Sandwiched in-between is the day-to-day
development of innovations.

Delivering ground-breaking advancements

Ground-breaking research is the foundation on which Unilever's R&D programme is

built. This research takes a number of forms - for example research focussed on a single
product category or longer-term projects that will benefit a broader range of Unilever's
brands. A third area of research is concerned with the five key scientific platforms that
encompass the range of disciplines necessary for successful product innovation.

The platforms are ‘Advanced Measurement and Data Modelling’, ‘Bioscience’,

‘Nutrition and Health’, ‘Sensation, Perception and Behaviour’, ‘Structured Materials and
Process Science’. Their role is to establish partnerships with leading academics and
specialist companies in areas that have the potential to deliver market-disrupting
innovation. In essence, the platforms provide new horizons for Unilever’s products and
brands.

Focal point for Unilever scientists worldwide

They also provide a focal point for approximately 1300 scientists spread across our six
R&D sites in the US, UK, Netherlands, India and China. By bringing together these
diverse locations into one scientific organisation, we can leverage the power of collective
minds to maximum effect. Everybody works in multi-disciplinary project teams,
individuals from different platforms will join forces to tackle a particular scientific issue.

Platforms are the lens through which we look at the world of science and technology,
both internally and externally. They are at the centre of our most exploratory and
challenging research.

Related Links

• Our R&D centres and people

RAHUL TEGTA