Category Archives: Unilever

Wild co-founders ‘land £100m’ from sale of natural deodorant maker

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Childhood friends sell upmarket brand to Unilever, the maker of Dove soap, Axe deodorant and Marmite

A pair of UK entrepreneurs selling refillable deodorant cases and manuka honey lip balms made from natural ingredients have reportedly landed a near-£100m payday from the sale of their brand to the global consumer goods group Unilever.

Wild, founded by childhood friends Freddy Ward and Charlie Bowes-Lyon, has been bought by Unilever, the maker of Dove soap, Axe deodorant and Marmite.

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Unilever sells Russian business after pressure from campaigners

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Dove maker’s deal with local manufacturer Arnest Group includes four factories

Unilever has sold off its Russian operations to a local manufacturing group after pressure from campaigners who claimed that the presence of the Dove and Ben & Jerry’s owner in the country was supporting the war in Ukraine.

Arnest Group, a Russian manufacturer of perfume, cosmetics and household products will take control of Unilever Rus, which includes four factories, as well as the group’s interests in Belarus. Arnest is owned by the businessman Alexey Sagal and bought the brewer Heineken’s business in the country last summer.

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Top UK food firms urged to do more to cut ‘staggering’ emissions

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Food campaign Bite Back says 10 firms account for more carbon emissions globally than aviation industry

Britain’s biggest food and drink firms are doing too little to tackle the climate emergency and are producing “staggering” amounts of greenhouse gases, campaigners claim.

The 10 companies that manufacture more of the UK’s food than anyone else produce more carbon emissions between them than even the aviation industry, a report says.

Three of the firms increased their annual emissions in 2022 – Ferrero, Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo.

Seven are on course to miss meeting emissions targets they have set themselves to achieve by 2050.

Only four have a verifiable commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – Danone, Mars, Mondelēz and Nestlé.

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London Stock Exchange CEO honoured in king’s birthday list

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Julia Hoggett awarded damehood for services to business, while HSBC chair Mark Tucker receives knighthood

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The head of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the chair of HSBC are among the business leaders to be recognised this year in King Charles’s birthday honours list.

Julia Hoggett, a former banker who has been the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange since 2021, has been awarded a damehood for her services to business and finance.

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Remote working and whiffy workout wear fuel laundry revolution

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Home workers aim to tackle smelly athleisure clothing, save money and be kinder to the environment

For years, laundry detergents have focused their cleaning power on stain removal and getting whites white but now a new invisible enemy has emerged in the shape of the musty smell that clings to your gym gear.

The shift to remote working has fuelled the popularity of “athleisure” clothing such as T-shirts, joggers and leggings which, rather than shirts and dresses, are now the default work wardrobe of many Britons.

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Unilever to scale back environmental and social pledges

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Environmental groups say bosses should ‘hang their heads in shame’ as firm bows to pressure from shareholders to cut costs

Unilever is to scale back its environmental and social aims, provoking critics to say its board should “hang their heads in shame”.

The consumer goods company behind brands ranging from Dove beauty products to Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream was seen as perhaps the foremost proponent of corporate ethics – particularly under the tenure of its Dutch former boss Paul Polman.

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Unilever to cut 7,500 jobs globally and splitt off ice-cream division

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Magnum to Marmite consumer goods group plans productivity programme to save £684m

Unilever is to cut 7,500 jobs globally as part of an overhaul aimed at saving about €800m (£684m) over the next three years.

The consumer goods company, whose brands range from Marmite and Hellmann’s mayonnaise to Dove soap, Lynx deodorant and Domestos bleach, employs 128,000 people worldwide, including 6,000 in the UK.

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Unilever to make payments to Kenyan tea pickers over 2007 plantation attacks

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UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack

Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.

The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.

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Wilko: rescue deal to save many stores at risk over supplier debts

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Big suppliers want debts paid upfront in order to guarantee supplying shops

A rescue deal to save the majority of Wilko’s stores has been put at risk as some key suppliers want outstanding debts repaid upfront to guarantee continuing to provide products to the chain.

Doug Putman, who engineered a turnaround of HMV in the UK and owns Toys R Us in Canada, has been negotiating a deal to save as many as 300 of Wilko’s 400 stores, throwing a lifeline to its more than 12,000 staff.

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Sainsbury’s and Unilever deny claims of profiteering in cost of living crisis

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Supermarket chain and consumer goods company insist they are protecting shoppers from inflation surge

Sainsbury’s and the Marmite maker Unilever have both insisted they are protecting shoppers from inflation, amid accusations that some companies are profiteering from the cost of living crisis.

“We are not profiteering in any form,” the chief executive of Unilever, Alan Jope, said as the consumer goods company insisted it was only passing on three-quarters of its increased costs to customers.

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Unilever settles Israel dispute with Ben & Jerry’s board

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Unilever sold business in June to local licensee but Ben & Jerry’s tried to block sale, saying it did not want to sell products in occupied West Bank

Unilever said on Thursday that its litigation with the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s over the sale of its Israeli ice cream business has “been resolved”.

The company did not provide details of how the litigation had been resolved.

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Two-thirds of UK’s biggest advertisers to cut television spend

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Traditional TV shunned in favour of digital media and last-minute promotional campaigns

More than two-thirds of the UK’s biggest advertisers intend to cut back spending on traditional TV next year, as the recession fuels a shift to digital media and last-minute bursts of promotion.

A survey of 59 UK advertisers has found that 67% will make the deepest budget cuts to ads on broadcast TV, according to the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and the media investment analysts Ebiquity.

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Ben & Jerry’s sues parent company over Israeli deal ‘to protect social integrity’

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Complaint says Unilever sale of Israeli business to local licensee undermines its values to sell its ice-cream in occupied West Bank

Ben & Jerry’s has sued its parent Unilever plc to block the sale of its Israeli business to a local licensee, saying it was inconsistent with its values to sell its ice-cream in the occupied West Bank.

The complaint filed in the US district court in Manhattan said the sale announced on 29 June threatened to undermine the integrity of the Ben & Jerry’s brand, which Ben & Jerry’s board retained independence to protect when Unilever acquired the company in 2000.

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Unilever shares rise as billionaire investor Nelson Peltz joins board

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Hedge fund boss – whose daughter married Brooklyn Beckham – holds 1.5% stake in Unilever

Unilever’s share price has risen after the consumer goods company announced that the billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz is to become a board member.

Peltz, the US founder and chief executive of Trian Fund Management, has been building his Unilever stake since January amid growing speculation that he will push the Dove soap and Marmite manufacturer to shake up its sprawling operations, with the company under increasing pressure to sell off brands or consider a break-up.

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Unprecedented inflation ahead as Ukraine war adds to costs, says Unilever

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Rise in energy and ingredient costs suggests consumers will have to pay more for well-known brands

The consumer goods firm Unilever has said “unprecedented cost inflation” lies ahead as Russia’s war on Ukraine has added to a surge in energy and ingredient costs, and said that shoppers will pay even more for well-known brands in the coming months.

The company, which makes goods ranging from Dove soap to Magnum ice-cream and Marmite, said on Thursday it expected its costs to rise by €2.7bn (£2.3bn) in the second half of 2022, after an already steep increase on the €2.1bn expected for the first half.

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Cop26 corporate sponsors condemn climate summit as ‘mismanaged’

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Exclusive: NatWest, Microsoft and GSK among firms to raise complaint over poor planning and breakdown in relations

Companies that stumped up millions of pounds to sponsor the Cop26 climate summit have condemned it as “mismanaged” and “very last minute” in a volley of complaints as next month’s event in Glasgow draws near.

The sponsors, which include some of Britain’s biggest companies, have raised formal complaints blaming “very inexperienced” civil servants for delayed decisions, poor communication and a breakdown in relations between the organisers and firms in the run-up to the landmark talks.

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Israeli PM: Ben & Jerry’s sales ban will have ‘serious consequences’

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Naftali Bennett hits back at Unilever after subsidiary stops selling ice-cream in occupied territories

The decision by Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling its ice-cream products in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has been met with fierce criticism from the Israeli political establishment, including a warning from the prime minister, Naftali Bennett, that the decision will have “serious consequences” for Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company, Unilever.

The announcement from the ice-cream maker, which has also taken political stances on the climate crisis and social justice issues such as Black Lives Matter, is one of the highest-profile rebukes of Israeli settlement building to date by a well-known brand.

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Comfort food and cleaning products: no wonder Unilever’s doing so well

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The company’s wide portfolio has been perfectly suited to pandemic shopping. This week’s results will be strong again

A vast portfolio of food and household brands has allowed the consumer goods giant Unilever to navigate its way through the pandemic.

The maker of Domestos bleach, Dove soap and Cif cleaner benefited from a surge in demand for cleaning products in the initial stages of the health crisis. Its shares rose, and Unilever briefly became the most valuable company in the FTSE 100 index last year. And the company behind Marmite, Colman’s mustard and Magnum ice-cream benefited from the forced shift to eating out less and cooking at home, which some analysts think could be a long-term change.

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Unilever sets target of €1bn in annual sales of plant-based foods

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Multinational plans to cash in on consumer trend towards reducing meat and dairy intake

Unilever is setting a target of €1bn (£900m) in annual sales of its plant-based foods through some of its best-known brands, as it seeks to cash in on the growing number of consumers reducing their meat and dairy intake.

The estimated five-fold sales growth over the next five to seven years will be driven by new products from The Vegetarian Butcher meat-free label, and bolstered by expansion of dairy-free ice cream and mayonnaise ranges from Ben & Jerry’s, Hellmann’s, Magnum and Wall’s.

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Kenyan tea workers file UN complaint against Unilever over 2007 ethnic violence

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Attacks following election at centre of ‘most serious known case of human rights abuse suffered by Unilever workers’

A group of 218 Kenyan tea plantation workers have filed a complaint with the UN against Unilever, alleging that the multinational violated international human rights standards by not adequately assisting its employees, who were attacked when ethnic violence broke out following a disputed election in 2007.

The workers say that Unilever, known in the UK for its PG Tips brand, breached its obligation to remediate any human rights abuses to which it has contributed, which is central to the UN’s guiding principles on business and human rights, and which the company has endorsed. They request the UN’s working group on business and human rights to make a declaration to this effect, and to call on the company to provide redress.

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