Building a
sustainable future AS
our readers will be well aware, Unilever has a large stable of over 400 brands sold across the world, from Ben & Jerry’s, Hellmann’s and Lipton to Surf, Sunslik and Rexona. The company continues to combine its solid international success with a commitment to reducing its environmental footprint and effecting real social change. In November 2018, Unilever made the announcement that its CEO, Paul Polman, would be stepping down after 10 years at the helm. During this time, Mr Polman has overseen a strategic transformation that has seen Unilever become a model for sustainable growth. All this while continuing to deliver top and bottom line growth, delivering a Total Shareholder Return of 290 per cent over his tenure. In 2017 it achieved a turnover of €53.7 billion, with growth across all three divisions.
142 Industry Europe
The year 2018 has seen some big developments at Unilever, the global food, home and personal care giant, with the appointment of a new CEO, acquisitions and the continuation of its strategy for sustainable growth. Industry Europe reports.
The man taking over from Paul Polman, Alan Jope, has headed Unilever’s Beauty & Personal Care division since 2014 and has been on the company’s Leadership Executive since 2011. His main challenges will be to carry on Polman’s sustainability legacy while navigating today’s uncertain economic landscape and maintaining prices and margins to ensure Unliever remains competitive.
Sustainability focus As we reported last year, under Mr Polman’s leadership Unilever has wholly committed itself to sustainable development, and it says this will continue to be a cornerstone of its business moving forward. Remember that, according to the company, on any given day 2.5 billion people will use Unilever’s products – whether that is food,
