Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

company headquartered in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. It is a subsidiary of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

company. Its products include foods, beverages,

cleaning agent Cleaning agents or hard-surface cleaners are substances (usually liquids, powders, sprays, or granules) used to remove dirt, including dust, stains, bad smells, and clutter on surfaces. Purposes of cleaning agents include health, beauty, removin ...

personal care products Personal care or toiletries are consumer products used in personal hygiene, personal grooming or for beautification. Products Personal care includes products as diverse as cleansing pads, colognes, cotton swabs, cotton pads, deodorant, eye liner ...

, water purifiers and other

fast-moving consumer goods Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG), are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, cand ...

. HUL was established in 1931 as Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Co. and following a merger of constituent groups in 1956, it was renamed Hindustan Lever Limited. The company was renamed in June 2007 as Hindustan Unilever Limited. As of 2019, Hindustan Unilever's portfolio had 50+ product brands in 14 categories. The company has 21,000 employees and clocked sales of ₹34,619 crores in FY2017–18. In December 2018, HUL announced its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline's India's consumer business for $3.8 billion in an all equity merger deal with a 1:4.39 ratio. However the integration of GSK's 3,800 employees remained uncertain as HUL stated there was no clause for retention of employees in the deal. In April 2020, HUL completed its merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) after completing all legal procedures. In December 2022, HUL's market cap was Rs. 638548.42 crore.

Headquarters

Hindustan Unilever's corporate headquarters are located in

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was ano ...

. The campus is spread over 12.5 acres of land and houses over 1,600 employees. Some of the facilities available for the employees include a convenience store, a food court, an occupational health centre, a gym, a sports & recreation centre and a day care centre. The Campus is designed by Mumbai-based architecture firm Kapadia Associates. The campus received a certification from LEED (

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

) Gold in the 'New Construction' category, by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), Hyderabad, under licence from the

United States Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

(USGBC) The company's previous headquarters was located in Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai at the Lever House, where it was housed for more than 46 years.

Research facilities

The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up in 1966 in

, and Unilever Research India in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in 1997. In 2006, the company's research facilities were brought together at a single site in Bangalore.

Sustainable living

Unilever launched

Sustainable Living Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. It is referred to as zero wastage living" or "net zero living". Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their e ...

Plan on 15 November 2010 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

simultaneously.

Brands and products

HUL is the market leader in Indian consumer products with presence in over 20 consumer categories such as soaps, tea, detergents and shampoos amongst others with over 700 million Indian consumers using its products. Sixteen of HUL's brands featured in the

ACNielsen The Nielsen Corporation, self-referentially known as The Nielsen Company, and formerly known as ACNielsen or AC Nielsen, is a global marketing research firm, with worldwide headquarters in New York City, United States. Regional headquarters for ...

Brand Equity list of 100 Most Trusted Brands Annual Survey (2014), carried out by Brand Equity, a supplement of ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bus ...

''.

Food

* Annapurna salt and Atta (formerly known as Kissan Annapurna) * Bru coffee *

Brooke Bond Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by Ekaterra, formerly an independent tea-trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known for its PG Tips brand and its Brooke Bond tea cards. History Brooke Bond & Company was founded by Ar ...

(3 Roses, Taj Mahal, Taaza, Red Label) tea * Kissan squashes, ketchups, juices and jams *

Lipton Lipton is a British brand of tea, owned by Ekaterra. Lipton was also a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, later sold to Argyll Foods, after which the company sold only tea. The company is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, who fo ...

ice tea * Knorr soups & meal makers and soupy noodles *

Kwality Wall's Kwality Wall's is an Indian multinational frozen desserts brand owned by the Indian consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever. It is a major producer and distributor of frozen dessert products in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Myanmar, Nep ...

frozen dessert * Hellmann's mayonnaise *

Magnum (ice cream) Magnum is a Belgian brand of ice cream and the company's namesake, originally developed and produced by Frisko in Aarhus, Denmark, a part of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. It is sold as part of the Heartbrand line of products, which is owned b ...

* Cornetto Ice cream cone *

Horlicks Horlicks is a sweet malted milk hot drink powder developed by founders James and William Horlick. It was first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food", soon adding "aged and travellers" to their label. In the early 20th century, it was so ...

(Health Drink)

Homecare

* Active

Wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

detergent *

Cif Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

Cream Cleaner *

Comfort Comfort (or being comfortable'')'' is a sense of physical or psychological ease, often characterized as a lack of hardship. Persons who are lacking in comfort are uncomfortable, or experiencing discomfort. A degree of psychological comfort c ...

fabric softeners * Domex disinfectant/toilet cleaner * Nature Protect disinfectant surface cleaner * Rin detergents and bleach * Sunlight detergent and colour care *

Surf Excel Surf Excel is a Unilever brand that is currently as the counterpart brand of Omo (detergent), OMO detergent in the India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka markets. References {{Reflist External links Surf Excel - IndiaSurf Excel - Sri Lanka

detergent and gentle wash * Vim dishwash * Magic – Water Saver Source:

Personal care

* Aviance Beauty Solutions *

Axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...

deodorant, aftershave lotion and soap * LEVER Ayush Therapy

ayurvedic Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

health care and personal care products * International breeze *

Brylcreem __NOTOC__ Brylcreem () is a British brand of hair styling products for men. The first Brylcreem product was a hair cream created in 1928 by County Chemicals at the Chemico Works in Bradford Street, Birmingham, England, and is the flagship produ ...

hair cream and hair gel * Clear anti-dandruff hair products * Clinic Plus shampoo and oil *

Close Up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...

toothpaste *

Dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

skin cleansing & hair care range: bar, lotions, creams and anti-perspirant deodorants * Denim shaving products * Glow and Lovely, skin lightening cream *

Hamam A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...

* Indulekha *

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in P ...

beauty products and salons *

Lifebuoy A lifebuoy is a life-saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in water, to provide buoyancy and prevent drowning. Some modern lifebuoys are fitted with one or more seawater-activated lights, to aid rescue at night. Other names Other nam ...

soaps and handwash range *

Liril Liril is a popular soap brand sold, to a large degree, in India, and Asia, as well as a few places in Europe. The soap is currently manufactured by Hindustan Unilever in India. Liril launched a blue variant called Icy Cool Mint in 2002. It also tr ...

2000 soap *

Lux The lux (symbol: lx) is the unit of illuminance, or luminous flux per unit area, in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to one lumen per square metre. In photometry, this is used as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the ...

soap, body wash and deodorant *

Pears soap Pears transparent soap is a British brand of soap first produced and sold in 1807 by Andrew Pears, at a factory just off Oxford Street in London. It was the world's first mass-market translucent soap. Under the stewardship of advertising pionee ...

, body wash *

Pepsodent Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights t ...

toothpaste *

Pond's Pond's is an American brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever. History Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...

talcs and creams *

Rexona Rexona is an Australian deodorant and antiperspirant brand, owned by British conglomerate Unilever. While marketed under the Rexona name in most countries, it is known as Rexena ( ja, レセナ; ko, 레세나) in Japan and South Korea, Su ...

Sunsilk Sunsilk is a British hair care brand produced by the company Unilever. The brand was introduced in 1954 in the UK and available in most countries globally. It is a hair care brand in Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, an ...

shampoo *

Sure SuRe (The Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure) is a global voluntary standard which integrates key criteria of sustainability and resilience into infrastructure development and upgrade. It has been developed by the Swiss Global In ...

anti-perspirant *

Vaseline Vaseline ()Also pronounced with the main stress on the last syllable . is an American brand of petroleum jelly-based products owned by transnational company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soa ...

petroleum jelly, skincare lotions * TRESemmé * TIGI Source:

Water purifier

* ''Pureit''

Controversies

Mercury pollution

In 2001 a

thermometer A thermometer is a device that temperature measurement, measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a merc ...

factory in

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () is a hill station which is located in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Its name in the Tamil language means "The Gift of the Forest". Kodaikanal is referred to as the "Princess of Hill stations" and has a long ...

run by Hindustan Unilever was accused of dumping glass contaminated with

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

in municipal dumps, and selling it on to scrap merchants unable to deal with it appropriately. Protests by local NGOs and Greenpeace lead to the shutting of the factory in March 2001. After protest by activists led by

Deepak Malghan Professor Deepak Malghan is an Indian ecological economist, social activist and author. He advocates for business ethics and transparency at work and against environmental degradation. He is professor in public policy at Indian Institute of Mana ...

of the

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore or IIMB) is a public business school and Institute of National Importance located in Bangalore, India. Founded in 1973, it was the third IIM to be established, after IIM Calcutta and IIM ...

Hindustan Unilever admitted before court to being guilty in the case in 2010.

Skin lightening creams

Hindustan Unilever's "Glow & Lovely" is the leading

skin-lightening Skin whitening, also known as skin lightening and skin bleaching, is the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to lighten the skin or provide an even skin color by reducing the melanin concentration in the skin. Several chemicals ha ...

cream for women in India. The company had to cease television advertisements for the product in 2007. Advertisements depicted depressed, dark-complexioned women, who had been ignored by employers and men, suddenly finding new boyfriends and glamorous careers after the cream had lightened their skin. In 2008, Hindustan Unilever made former Miss World

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

a brand ambassador for

, and she then appeared in a mini-series of television commercials for another skin lightening product, 'White Beauty', alongside

Saif Ali Khan Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Khan ma ...

and

Neha Dhupia Neha Dhupia (born 27 August 1980) is an Indian actress and model who works predominantly in Hindi, and some Punjabi, Telugu and Malayalam films. She has won the Femina Miss India 2002 pageant and was among the top 10 finalists in Miss Universe ...

; these advertisements, showing Priyanka's face with a clearly darker complexion against the visibly fairer Neha Dhupia, were widely criticised for perpetuating racism and lowering the self-esteem of women and girls throughout India who were misled by HUL to believe that they needed to be white to be beautiful. The company rebranded the cream from ''Fair and Lovely'' to ''Glow and Lovely'', removing the word ''Fair'' from the brand.

Triclosan

Several academic papers have pointed out the firm's continued use of the

antibacterial An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

agent

Triclosan Triclosan (sometimes abbreviated as TCS) is an antibiotic, antibacterial and fungus, antifungal agent present in some consumer products, including toothpaste, soaps, detergents, toys, and surgical cleaning treatments. It is similar in its uses a ...

('Active B') in India because it is under review by the American

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(US FDA).

Kumbh Mela ad

In March 2019, HUL's advertisement for its beverage Brooke Bond Red Label tea was criticised on social media. A company tweet referred to the

Kumbh Mela Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela () is a major pilgrimage and festival in Hinduism. It is celebrated in a cycle of approximately 12 years, to celebrate every revolution Brihaspati (Jupiter) completes, at four river-bank pilgrimage sites: Allahabad ( ...

as a place where elderly people get abandoned by their family members. This resulted in a severe backlash in the form of an adverse hashtag trending on Twitter '#BoycottHindustanUnilever'.

Awards

The Institute of Competitiveness, India, has recognized Hindustan Unilever Limited's Project Shakti for ‘Creating Shared Value’ and bestowed upon the company the Porter Prize for 2014. It ranked number one on the Forbes list of ‘Most Innovative Companies’ across the globe for 2014 and was ranked number three on Fortune India's list of India's most admired companies in a list compiled with the help of a global management consultancy Hay Group. It received an award from Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards in 2014. and was Client of the Year at Effies 2013 – 2014. It also received an award as a 'Conscious Capitalist of the Year' at the 2013 Forbes India Leadership Awards. HUL won 12 awards overall with 4 Golds, 4 Silvers and 4 Bronzes at the 2013 Emvies Awards. In 2013, HUL ranked number two on the on Fortune India's 2013 '50 Most Admired Companies list'. and was declared the fourth most Respected Company in India in a survey conducted by Business World in 2013. As per a 2015 Nielsen Campus Track-business school survey, Hindustan Unilever emerged among the top employers of choice for B-school students graduating that year. It has often been called a 'Dream Employer' for application by B-School students in India. In 2012, HUL was recognised as one of the world's most innovative companies by Forbes. With a ranking of number 6, it was the highest ranked FMCG company. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) won the first prize at FICCI Water Awards 2012 under the category of 'community initiatives by industry' for Gundar Basin Project, a water conservationist initiative. Hindustan Unilever Limited won 13 awards at the Emvies 2012 Media Awards organised by the Advertising Club Bombay in September 2012. The company received four awards at the Spikes Asia Awards 2012, held in September. The awards included one Grand Prix one Gold Award and two Silver Awards. HUL's Chhindwara Unit won the National Safety Award for outstanding performance in Industrial Safety. These awards were instituted by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment in 1965. HUL was one of the eight Indian companies to be featured on the Forbes list of World's Most Reputed companies in 2007. In July 2012, Hindustan Unilever Limited won the Golden Peacock Occupational Health and Safety Award for 2012 in the FMCG category for its safety and health initiatives and continuous improvement on key metrics. Hindustan Unilever Limited is rated as best 3Ci Company which is registered with National Industrial Classification Code 15140. Pond's Talcum Powder's packaging innovation has secured a Silver Award at the prestigious 24th DuPont Global Packaging Award, in May 2012. The brand was recognized for cost and waste reduction. In May 2012, HUL & Star Bazaar received the silver award for 'Creating Consumer Value through Joint Promotional and Event Forecasting' at the 13th ECR

Efficient Consumer Response {{Notability, date=July 2022 Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) is a joint trade and industry body working towards making the grocery sector as a whole more responsive to consumer demand and promote the removal of unnecessary costs from the supply ...

Asia Pacific Conference. In 2011, HUL was named the most innovative company in India by Forbes and ranked 6th in the top 10 list of most innovative companies in the world. Hindustan Unilever Ltd received the National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2011 of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) for excellence in corporate governance. In 2012, Hindustan Unilever emerged as the No. 1 employer of choice for B-School students who will graduate in 2012. In addition, HUL also retained the 'Dream Employer' status for the 3rd year running. Hindustan Unilever ranked No. 2 in Fortune India's Most Admired Companies list, which was released by Fortune India in partnership with the Hay Group. The company received the highest scores for endurance and financial soundness. HUL was ranked 47th in The Brand Trust Report 2014 published by Trust Research Advisory. 36 HUL brands also featured in the list including Lux,

, Vim, Kissan, Bru,

, Clinic Plus,

, Knorr, and

among others. HUL emerged as the top 'Dream Employer' as well as the top company considered for application in the annual B-School Survey conducted by Nielsen in November 2010. This was the second successive year that HUL has been rated as the top 'Dream Employer' in India. HUL has also emerged as the top employer of choice among the top six

Indian Institutes of Management The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are central government-owned-public business schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of busine ...

(IIMA, B, C, L, K and I). HUL won three awards at the '

CNBC Awaaz CNBC Awaaz () is an Indian pay television Hindi business news channel, owned by CNBC and TV18 based in New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). ...

Storyboard Consumer Awards' in 2011 – Most Recommended FMCG Company of the Year; Most Consumer Conscious Company of the Year and Digital Marketer of the Year. The company was felicitated in April 2010 for receiving the highest number of patents in the year 2009 at Annual Intellectual Property Awards 2010. In 2007, Hindustan Unilever was rated as the most respected company in India for the past 25 years by ''

Businessworld ''BusinessWorld'' is a business newspaper in the Philippines with a nationwide circulation of more than 117,000 (as of March 2014). Founded in 1967 as ''Business Day'', it is Southeast Asia's first daily business newspaper. History ''Busin ...

'', one of India's leading business magazines. The rating was based on a compilation of the magazine's annual survey of India's most reputed companies over the past 25 years. HUL is one of the country's largest exporters; it has been recognised as a Golden Super Star Trading House by the Government of India.

References

External links

* *To bu
HUL pureit water purifier
{{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Mumbai Food and drink companies of India Unilever companies BSE SENSEX NIFTY 50 Manufacturing companies established in 1933 Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies Multi-level marketing companies Indian companies established in 1933 Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange