Lilleborg AS is a major

hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

and

cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for aesthetic, hygienic, functional, environmental, or safety purposes. Cl ...

article company in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, owned by the

Orkla Group Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Os ...

. It was established in 1833, and was one of the first companies in Norway to start manufacturing brand name products. It currently operates three factories in Norway, and employs a total working staff of 595.

History

Originally a

family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

, established in 1833 on the banks of the

Aker Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

river in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Lilleborg expanded in 1842 to manufacturing hygiene products with the opening of ''"sæbesyderiet"'', the "soap boilery". Here the company's manufacture of soft soap and bathroom soaps took place. In 1897, it became an ''

aksjeselskap ''Aksjeselskap'' is the Norwegian term for a stock-based company. It is usually abbreviated AS, historically often written as A/S. An AS is always a limited company, i.e. the owners cannot be held liable for any debt beyond the stock capital. P ...

'', and changed its name to A/S Lilleborg Fabrikker. In the final years of the 19th century, the company was offering a broad range of

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

, bathroom, household and soft soaps. It was also the largest company of its sort in Norway, with more than 100 employees on roll. At the end of the 1920s, Lilleborg had developed a close relationship with

Denofa Denofa AS, established in 1912 as De Nordiske Fabriker A/S (De-No-Fa for short), is a Norwegian industrial company. It has produced oil, proteins and fatty acid (lecithin) for the food processing industry, the fodder industry and the pharmaceutic ...

, a

cooking oil Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavoring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and may be called edible oil. ...

producing company based in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

. This culminated in 1930 with an agreement of cooperation between Lilleborg, Denofa, and the

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

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

(later

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 ...

), which had large ownership interests in the companies. As part of this agreement, Lilleborg acquired ownership and production of several well-known Lever Brothers brands,

Sunlight Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when t ...

being perhaps the foremost. Focusing strongly on brands throughout the 1930s, the company launched several of their strongest-selling brands of today in the years before the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, including Lano, Solidox, Blenda and Lux. Unilever decided to sell their stocks in the company in 1958, but agreed upon another cooperation agreement which was to last for 20 years. This agreement was subsequently reformed on two occasions, and is still in effect - and will be until 2014. The following year, Denofa and Lilleborg

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

to form ''A/S Denofa og Lilleborg Fabriker'', which soon became a major player in the Norwegian hygiene market. The company then, in 1973, acquired

Goma fabrikker Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the wester ...

, which in turned owned (amongst others)

A/S Ello As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voic ...

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

. In 1996, Lilleborg and Denofa split once more into two separate entities, in which Denofa continued the cooking oil activities, while Lilleborg was evolved into a pure brand-name manufacturer. In relation with this split, Lilleborg was reorganized as a company under ''Orkla Brands'', a division of the

, whilst Denofa was placed under ''Orkla Chemistry''. In 1997, the activity by the Aker river ceased, while a new

laundry detergent Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form. While powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share o ...

factory was opened in

Ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

Brands

Lilleborg holds and/or produces the following brand name products:

Personal hygiene

* Lano * Lux (hand soap) * Dr Greve (shower gels, deodorant, hand soap) *

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 ...

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 ma ...

* Sterilan (deodorant) *

Define A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional defini ...

(hair care) *

Finesse In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents. The player a ...

(hair care) *

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 ...

(hair care) * Vaseline Intensive Care (skin care) * LdB / Lait de Beauté (skin care) * Solidox (toothpaste, gum) * Spenol

Laundry

Blenda Blenda is the heroine of a Swedish legend () from Småland. Blenda led the rural women of Värend in an attack on a pillaging Danish army and annihilated the invaders. Legend According to the legend, the events took place in the time of Alle ...

Omo Omo or OMO may refer to: Geography Ethiopia * Omo River (Ethiopia), in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile Basin and namesake for all the topics below * Omo Nada, one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia ...

Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine *'' Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * ''Milo'' (video game), a first-person adventure-puzzle computer ga ...

(detergent and fabric softener) *

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 softener)

Household

Zalo
(manual dishwashing) *

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

(dishwashing) * Svint (soap-added steel wool) * Jif * Salmi (ammonia-based cleaning fluid) * Klorin (chlorine bleach/disinfectant) *

Krystal Krystal may refer to: People * Krystal Ann Simpson (born 1982), American poet, fashion blogger, DJ, reality television personality, and musician * Krystal Ball (born 1981), American political commentator * Krystal Barter, Australian activi ...

(soft soap)

Other

Lypsyl Lypsyl is a brand of moisturising lip balm owned by Lornamead. Marketing rights in the UK and Ireland are owned by Alliance Pharma since 2013. It is packaged in a small, Cylinder (geometry), cylindrical, twist action tube and is applied like a lip ...

(lip balm)

References

{{nofootnotes, date=December 2010

External links

Company website
(in Norwegian)