Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is an Indian

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

company, headquartered in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. It is a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products and other consumer staples. The company was established in India in 1931 as Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Co. Following a merger of constituent groups in 1956, it was renamed Hindustan Lever Limited. The company was renamed again in June 2007 as Hindustan Unilever Limited. Hindustan Unilever has been at the helm of a lot of controversies, such as dumping highly toxic mercury-contaminated waste in regular dumps, contaminating the land and water of

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () (English: ) is a municipality and hill station in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated at an altitude of in the Palani hills of the Western Ghats. Kodaikanal was established in 1845 to serve as a r ...

. (See: Kodaikanal mercury poisoning). The British-Dutch company also faced major flak for an advertising campaign covering the Hindu pilgrimage site at

Kumbh Mela Kumbh Mela (, ; ) is an important Hinduism, Hindu pilgrimage, celebrated approximately every 6 or 12 years, correlated with the partial or full orbital period, revolution of Jupiter. It is the largest peaceful gathering of people in the w ...

in a negative light, calling it a "place where old people get abandoned," a move that was termed racist and insensitive. In December 2018 HUL announced its acquisition of

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

India's consumer business for US$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.

Presence

Hindustan Unilever's corporate headquarters are located in

Andheri Andheri (Help:IPA/Marathi, �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a suburb situated in Western Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Government and politics For administrative purposes, Andheri is bifurcated into Andheri (west) and Andheri (east). Andheri (west) comes ...

. The campus is spread over 12.5 acres of land and houses over 1,600 employees. The Campus is designed by Mumbai-based architecture firm Kapadia Associates. The company's previous headquarters were located in Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai at the Lever House, where it was housed for more than 46 years. The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up in 1966 in

, and Unilever Research India in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

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

Controversies

Mercury pollution

In 2001 a thermometer factory in

run by Hindustan Unilever dumped glass contaminated with mercury and selling it to scrap merchants. Protests by local NGOs and Greenpeace lead to the shutting of the factory in March 2001. The issue has since snowballed into a controversy impacting the reputation of the company and led to a series of regulatory and legal confrontations. The issue was eventually resolved in 2016 through an out of court settlement between the company and the affected ex-workers.

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 India's highest-paid actress and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and fiv ...

a brand ambassador for

Pond's Pond's is an English 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 ...

, 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 primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. The titular head of the Pataudi family since 2011, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore a ...

and

Neha Dhupia Neha Dhupia (born 27 August 1980) is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title of Femina Miss India in 2002 and represented India at Miss Universe 2002. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films and t ...

; 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 ...

agent

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

('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 respo ...

(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

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

In 2014, Hindustan Unilever Limited received Porter Prize for Creating Shared Value, awarded by the Institute for Competitiveness, India. It ranked number one on the Forbes list of ‘Most Innovative Companies’ globally for 2014. It also received an award as a 'Conscious Capitalist of the Year' at the 2013 Forbes India Leadership Awards. Unilever was named the fourth most respected company in India in a survey conducted by Business World in 2013. In a 2015 Nielsen campus track-business school survey, Hindustan Unilever was 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, it 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. 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.

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 among others with over 700 million Indian consumers using its products. Sixteen of HUL's brands featured in the

Nielsen Corporation NIQ (also known as NielsenIQ, formerly known as ACNielsen or AC Nielsen) is a global marketing research firm, with worldwide headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The company has approximately 30,000 employees and operates in more ...

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. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

''.

Food

* Annapurna salt and Atta (formerly known as Kissan Annapurna) * Boost chocolate Drink mix * Bru coffee powder *

Brooke Bond Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions, except in India, Nepal, and Indonesia where it is owned by Unilever. Brooke Bond was formerly an independent tea- trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known ...

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

Lipton Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, Tom Lipton, who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1 ...

leaf tea, ice tea * Knorr soups & meal makers, Ketchups, Readymade Sauces and soupy noodles * Kwality Wall's frozen desserts * Hellmann's mayonnaise * Magnum (ice cream) * Cornetto Ice cream cones *

Horlicks Horlicks is a British sweet malted milk hot Malt drink, drink powder developed by founders Sir James Horlick, 1st Baronet, James and William Horlick. It was first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food", soon adding "aged and travellers" ...

(Health Drink supplements)

Homecare

* Active

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn 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 machin ...

detergent * Cif cream cleaner *

Comfort Comfort is a state of physical or psychological ease, often characterized by the absence of hardship. Individuals experiencing a lack of comfort are typically described as uncomfortable or in discomfort. A degree of psychological comfort can b ...

fabric softeners * Domex disinfectant/toilet cleaner * Love & Care wash care * Nature Protect disinfectant surface cleaner * Rin detergents and bleach * Sunlight detergent and colour care * Surf Excel detergent and gentle wash * Vim dishwash * Magic – Water Saver Source:

Personal care

* Aviance Beauty Solutions *

Axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

deodorant, aftershave lotion and soap * Lever Ayush Therapy

ayurvedic Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

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 prod ...

hair cream and hair gel * Clear anti-dandruff hair products * Clinic Plus shampoos and oils *

Close-Up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...

toothpastes *

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 small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

skin & hair care range: bar, lotions, creams and anti-perspirant deodorants * Denim shaving products * Dermalogica * Elle 18 * Find Your Happy Place * Glow and Lovely, skin lightening cream *

Hamam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the Islamic culture, culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

soaps * Indulekha Ayurvedic soaps, shampoos, hair oils * Lakmé beauty products and salons *

Lifebuoy A lifebuoy or life ring, among many other names (see § Other names), 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-activat ...

soaps, Hand Sanitizers and handwashes *

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 irradiance, as perceived by ...

soap, body wash and deodorant * Nature Protect *

Pears soap Pears Glycerin 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 pioneer T ...

, body wash *

Pepsodent Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor that is 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 ...

toothpastes *

talcs and Cosmetics *

Rexona Rexona is an Australian deodorant and antiperspirant brand owned by the British- Dutch company Unilever. While marketed under the Rexona name in most countries, it is known as Rexena (; ) in Japan and South Korea, Sure in the United Kingd ...

Deodarants *

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. History Sunsilk was launched in the United Kingdom in 1954. and in the same year it ...

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 * V Wash feminine wash *

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

petroleum jelly, skincare lotions *

TRESemmé TRESemmé is an American brand of hair care products first manufactured in 1947 by the Godefroy Manufacturing Company in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It was named after the renowned hair care expert Edna L. Emme. The brand ...

* TIGI Source:

References

External links

* {{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Mumbai Food and drink companies of India Food and drink companies established in 1933 Dental companies of India Personal care companies of India Pharmaceutical companies of India Pharmaceutical companies established in 1933 Condiment 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