Unilever Facts For Kids

Unilever is a very large company based in London that makes everyday things you might use at home. It began on 2 September 1929 when a Dutch margarine maker called Margarine Unie joined with a British soap maker named Lever Brothers. Today Unilever sells foods, ice cream, toothpaste, cleaning products, shampoo, baby food, pet food, and many other items in more than 190 countries.

The company groups its products into four big areas: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, and Nutrition. Unilever also runs research labs in places like China, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the UK, and the United States to invent and test new products. What would you like them to make next?

After the 1929 merger, the name Unilever mixed the two older company names. In the 1930s Unilever grew quickly, starting shops and factories in parts of Africa and Latin America. In 1933 Unilever began operations in Indonesia, making products for people in Java and Sumatra.

During the 1940s and 1950s Unilever bought many food and household brands. It added tea and frozen foods, and bought toothpaste brands. In 1954 it launched the hair brand Sunsilk and in 1957 it brought the soap brand Dove to the US. By the 1960s fats and soaps still made much of the company’s money, so Unilever began to buy different kinds of products and spread into new markets by the late 1970s.

In the 1980s and 1990s Unilever kept buying famous brands to reach more people. In 1984 it took over tea maker Brooke Bond, and in 1986 it added the Ponds business. Through these moves Unilever built up skin care, hair care, and other personal-care lines.

In the 1990s Unilever became a big name in ice cream after buying US ice cream makers like Breyers and Popsicle brands, and it expanded other food lines. In 1997 it sold its chemical businesses and in 1998 it began working on sustainable farming to help farmers grow better crops. By 2000 Unilever had added brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and many food names to its range.

Since 2001 Unilever changed how it was organized and focused more on quick-moving grocery and care products people buy often. It sold some older businesses and bought new ones to reach shoppers who like natural, healthier, or more eco-friendly choices.

In the 2000s and 2010s Unilever made deals to get brands in beauty, cleaning, and food, and promised to stop using tiny plastic beads in some products. It also worked with groups to source tea more sustainably and bought small companies like Dollar Shave Club to reach new shoppers. In recent years Unilever has sold its spreads business and given help like soap and sanitizer to communities during health emergencies. How do you think companies can help people and the planet at the same time?

Unilever used to be run by two parent companies in different countries, but in 2020 it joined into one company based in the United Kingdom. This made its rules and shares simpler for the people who own parts of the company, who are called shareholders. The registered office is in Port Sunlight and the head office is in London.

Leaders change over time. Paul Polman led from 2009 to 2019, then Alan Jope, and Hein Schumacher started as CEO in 2023 and later announced he would step down in 2025. Graeme Pitkethly is the chief financial officer and Nils Andersen became chairman in 2019. Unilever also has research centers and factories in places like China, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the UK, and the US.

Unilever has made many changes recently to focus on smaller groups of brands. In 2021 it started a beauty group called Elida Beauty and in 2023 agreed to sell that group to a US firm. Also in 2021 Unilever sold most of its tea business to a buyer called CVC; that deal finished in 2022.

Looking ahead, Unilever plans to make its ice cream business into a separate company called The Magnum Ice Cream Company, listing on the Amsterdam stock market in 2025 and finishing the split by November 2025. The company also plans to sell some food brands to another firm and announced in 2025 it would buy the personal care brand Dr. Squatch for $1.5 billion, if regulators agree. What change do you think matters most to people who buy these brands?

Unilever makes lots of things you might see at home or in shops. Its products fit into four main groups: Beauty & Wellbeing (like creams), Personal Care (like soap and toothpaste), Home Care (like cleaners), and Nutrition (like tea and ice cream). Unilever is the world’s largest soap maker and sells items in more than 190 countries, so you can find its brands almost anywhere.

Some big names—Dove, Lipton, Magnum, and Ben & Jerry’s—bring in much of the company’s sales. In 2004 Unilever created a new “U” logo made of 25 little symbols to show its many brands and values, and to mean “adding vitality to life.” Unilever uses ads on TV, online, and in stores to show people how its products work and why they matter.