Some well known Brands
Axe/Lynx · Becel · Ben & Jerry's · Bertolli · Boursin · Bovril · Breyers · Brooke Bond · Chicken Tonight · Cif · Colman's · Comfort · Conimex · Continental · Cornetto · Cup-a-Soup · Degree · Domestos · Dove · Findus · Flora · GB Glace · Golden Gaytime · Good Humor · Good Humor-Breyers · HB · HB Wall's · Helene Curtis · Hellmann's/Best Foods · I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! · Iglo · Imperial Margarine · Impulse · Kibon · Klondike · Knorr · Kwality Wall's · Lakme · Langnese · Lever 2000 · Lifebuoy · Lipton · Lux · Magnum · Maille · Marmite · Omo · PG Tips · Paddle Pop · Peperami · Persil · Persil Power · Persil Service · Pond's Creams · Popsicle · Pot Mash · Pot Noodle · Pot Rice · Prince Matchabelli · Q-tips · Radox · Ragú · Rexona · Rinso · Sana · Scottish Blend · Selecta · Signal · Skippy · Slim Fast · Solero · Spry · Squirrel · Suave · Sunsilk · Sure · Surf · Timotei · Twink · Vaseline · Vermonster · Viennetta · Wall's · Wish-Bone

Type Public
(Euronext: UNA)
(LSE: ULVR)
(NYSE: UN) (Unilever N.V.)
(NYSE: UL) (Unilever PLC)
Industry Conglomerate
Founded 1930
Headquarters Unilever House, City of London, United Kingdom Rotterdam, Netherlands
Area served Worldwide
Key people Michael Treschow (Chairman)
Baron Simon of Highbury (Vice Chairman)
Paul Polman (CEO)
Products See brands listing
Revenue €39,823 million (2009)
Operating income €5,020 million (2009)
Net income €3,659 million (2009)
Employees 163,000 (2010)
Website www.unilever.com

Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever N.V. has its head office in Rotterdam, while Unilever PLC has its head office in the Unilever House in the City of London and its registered office in Port Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside.[3]

Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever NV in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, United Kingdom. This arrangement is similar to those of Reed Elsevier and Royal Dutch Shell prior to their unified structures. Both Unilever companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business. The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Michael Treschow while Paul Polman is Group Chief Executive.

Unilever's main competitors include Danone, Henkel, Kraft Foods, Nestlé, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Sara Lee and S.C. Johnson & Son

History
Unilever was created in 1930 by the amalgamation of the operations of British soapmaker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie, a merger as palm oil was a major raw material for both margarines and soaps and could be imported more efficiently in larger quantities.

In the 1930s the business of Unilever grew and new ventures were launched in Latin America. In 1972 Unilever purchased A&W Restaurants' Canadian division but sold its shares through a management buyout to former A&W Food Services of Canada CEO Jeffrey Mooney in July 1996.[4] By 1980 soap and edible fats contributed just 40% of profits, compared with an original 90%. In 1984 the company bought the brand Brooke Bond (maker of PG Tips tea).

In 1987 Unilever strengthened its position in the world skin care market by acquiring Chesebrough-Ponds, the maker of Ragú, Pond's, Aqua-Net, Cutex Nail Polish, and Vaseline. In 1989 Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Fabergé, and Elizabeth Arden, but the latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances.[5]

In 1996 Unilever purchased Helene Curtis Industries, giving the company "a powerful new presence in the United States shampoo and deodorant market".[5] The purchase brought Unilever the Suave and Finesse hair-care product brands and Degree deodorant brand.[6]

Global employment at Unilever 2000-2008
Black represents employment numbers in Europe, light grey represents the Americas and dark grey represents Asia, Africa, and Middle East. Between 2000 and 2008 Unilever reduced global workforce numbers by 41%, from 295,000 to 174,000. Note: Europe figures for 2000-2003 are all Europe; from 2004 figures in black are Western Europe. For 2004-2008 Figures for Asia, Africa and Middle East include Eastern and Central Europe.
Source: Unilever Annual Reports 2004, 2008In 2000 the company absorbed the American business Best Foods, strengthening its presence in North America and extending its portfolio of foods brands. In April 2000 it bought both Ben & Jerry's and Slim Fast.

The company is fully multinational with operating companies and factories on every continent (except Antarctica) and research laboratories at Colworth and Port Sunlight in England; Vlaardingen in the Netherlands; Trumbull, Connecticut, and Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in the United States; Bangalore in India (see also Hindustan Unilever Limited); and Shanghai in China.

The US division continued to carry the Lever Brothers name until the 1990s, when it adopted the parent company's moniker. The American unit now has headquarters in New Jersey, and no longer maintains a presence at Lever House, the iconic skyscraper on Park Avenue in New York City.

Unilever's Lipton brandThe company is said to promote sustainability[7] and started a sustainable agriculture programme in 1998.[8] In May 2007 it became the first tea company to commit to sourcing all its tea in a sustainable manner,[9] employing the Rainforest Alliance, an international environmental NGO, to certify its tea estates in East Africa, as well as third-party suppliers in Africa and other parts of the world.[10] It declared its aim to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in Western Europe certified by 2010, followed by all Lipton tea bags globally by 2015.[11]

Covalence, an ethical reputation ranking agency, placed Unilever at the top of its ranking based on positive versus negative news coverage for 2007.

In 2008 Unilever was honoured at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Creation and Distribution of Interactive Commercial Advertising Delivered Through Digital Set Top Boxes" for its program Axe: Boost Your ESP.

Billion-Euro brands
Brands with annual sales of one billion euros or more:[1]

Axe/Lynx
Blue Band
Dove
Flora/Becel
Heartbrand
Hellman's
Knorr
Lipton
Lux (soap)
Omo
Rexona/Sure
Sunsilk
Surf (detergent)
TIGI (haircare)[citation needed]

[edit] Food and beverages
Ades or Adez — soya-based drinks
Alsa — desserts and syrups
Amora — French mayonnaise and dressings
Amino - dehydrated soup (Poland)
Annapurna — salt and wheat flour (India)
Becel — also known as Flora/Promise; health-aware: margarine, spreads, cooking oil, milk, fermented milk
Ben & Jerry's — ice cream
Best Foods — mayonnaise, sandwich spreads, peanut butter and salad dressings
Bertolli — pasta sauces (ambient/chilled & frozen) and margarine
BiFi - sausage-based snacks (Germany)
Blue Band — family-aware: margarine, bread, cream alternatives
Bovril — beef extract
Breyers — ice cream
Brooke Bond — tea
Bru — instant coffee (India)
Brummel & Brown — margarine
Bushells — tea (Australia, New Zealand)
Calvé — sauces, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, peanut butter
Captain Findus — children's frozen food
Conimex — Asian spices (Netherlands)
Colman's — mustard
Continental — side dishes
Country Crock — margarine
Delma — margarine (Poland)
Du Darfst (Germany)
Elmlea — Pourable artificial cream available in different varieties (UK)
Fanacoa — Mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup (Argentina)
Findus — frozen foods (Italy, UK, Scandinavia)
Flora — margarine, light butter, jams
Fruco — ketchup, mayonnaise and condiments
Fudgsicle
Gallo — olive oil
Heartbrand — ice cream (umbrella logo)
Hellmann's — mayonnaise
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter — margarine spread
Imperial Margarine — margarine
Jif Lemon & Lime Juice
Kasia - margarine (Poland)
Kecap Bango — soya sauce in Indonesia
Kissan — Ketchups Squashes and Jams (India and Pakistan)
Klondike — Ice cream sandwiches
Knorr (Knorr-Suiza in Argentina) — sauces, stock cubes, ready-meals, meal kits, ready-soups, frozen food range
Lady's Choice — mayonnaise, peanut butter and sandwich spreads (Philippines)
Lan-Choo — tea (Australia/New Zealand)
Lao Cai Seasoning
Lipton — tea
Lipton Ice Tea — ready-to-drink tea (partnership with PepsiCo)
Lizano Sauce (Salsa Lizano) - Costa Rican condiment
Lyons' - tea (Ireland)
Maille — French mustard
Maizena — corn starch
Marmite — yeast extract spread (except in Australia and New Zealand)
McCollins — tea (Peru)
Mrs. Filbert's — margarine (USA)
Paddle pop — Ice cream (Australia, Indonesia [incorporated with Wall's])
Pfanni — Bavarian potato mixes
Peperami — Sausage snacks
PG Tips — tea (UK)
Phase — cooking oil
Planta — margarine
Popsicle — Frozen treats
Pot Noodle — cup noodles
Promise — Becel/Flora
Ragú — pasta sauces
Rama — margarine
Royal — pastas (Philippines)
Rinso - detergent (only in Indonesia)
Royco — stock cubes, non-MSG stock (only in Indonesia)
Red Rose Tea — tea (Canada)
Sana — Margarine (Turkey)
Saga — tea (Poland)
Sariwangi — tea (Indonesia)
Scottish Blend — tea
Skippy — peanut butter
Slim·Fast — diet products
Sunlight Soap (Africa)
Surf (Ireland, UK, Indonesia)
Stork margarine
Streets (ice cream) (Australia/New Zealand)
Tortex - ketchup (Poland)
Turun sinappi — mustard (Finland/Sweden)
Unilever Foodsolutions — professional markets (food service)
Unox — soups, smoked sausages
Vaqueiro — cooking margarine, cooking oil
Wall's ice cream
Wish-Bone salad dressing

[edit] Partial list of national brands variants of the Heartbrand
Algida - Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey
Bresler - Chile
Cargills - Sri Lanka
Eskimo - Austria
Frigo - Spain, Serbia
Frisko - Denmark
GB Glace - Sweden, Finland
Glidat Strauss - Israel, USA
Good Humor - USA, Canada
HB - Ireland
Helados La Fuente - Colombia
Hertog Ola - Netherlands (selected products)
和路雪 - China
Holanda - Mexico, Central America
Kwality Wall's - India
Langnese - Germany
Lusso - Switzerland
Miko - France
Ola - Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, South Africa
Olá - Portugal
Pingüino - Ecuador
Selecta - Philippines
Streets - Australia, New Zealand (slogan 'Nothing Beats Streets')[2]
Kibon - Brazil
Tio Rico - Venezuela
Wall's - United Kingdom (Great Britain), Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and other parts of Asia
Wall's HB - United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

[edit] Home and personal care brands
Ala - laundry detergent (Argentina-Brazil)
Andrelon
Axe - deodorant, shower gel, bodyspray (Lynx in the UK, Ireland and Australia)
Ayush (India)
Baba (East Europe)
Brilhante - laundry detergent (Brazil)
Brisk (Southeast Asia)
Brut - cologne
Caress - soap
Cif - cleaning
Clear - anti-dandruff shampoo (China, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Romania, Pakistan, Poland, Hungary)
Clear - conditioner (Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan)
Close-Up - toothpaste
Coccolino - softener (Poland, Hungary)
Comfort
Cream Silk - conditioner (Philippines)
Degree - deodorant
Dimension
Domestos - bleach (Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Spain, Germany, Italy, Israel, France, Turkey)
Dove - skin, hair, and deodorant
Fair and Lovely - skin lightening product (available in India and Malaysia)
Finesse - shampoo and conditioner (sold in 2006 to Lornamead Brands, Inc.)
Gessy (Brazil)
Glorix (Netherlands)
Good Morning - soap (Egypt)
Impulse - deodorant
Lever 2000 - soap
Lifebuoy - soap (Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia)
Linic - dandruff shampoo
Lynx - deodorant, men's
Lysoform - home care (Italy)
Lux - women's soap, shower gel, and lotions (Caress in the United States)
Minerva - laundry and dishwasher detergents (Brazil)
Mist - soap (Egypt)
Omo (Bolivia) - laundry detergent
Origins
Pears Transparent Soap
Pepsodent - dental
Persil (IE/UK/FR/NZ)
Pond's
Quix - dishwashing liquid (Chile)
Q-Tips - cotton swabs
Rexona - deodorant
Rinso
Robijn - softener
Sedal (known in Brazil as Seda) shampoo and conditioner
Signal (dental care)
SR - toothpaste with sodium ricinoleate[3]
Skip - laundry detergent
Snuggle (ファーファ in Japan) - fabric softener
Suave
Sun - dishwasher
Sunlight
Sunsilk (Sedal in Latin America, Seda in Brazil) - shampoo and conditioner
Sure
Surf - laundry detergent
Swan (defunct)
Thermasilk - shampoo and conditioner
TIGI - shampoo and conditioner for hair salons
Timotei - shampoo and conditioner
Vaseline body lotion, shower gel, deodorant (Vasenol in Portugal, Brazil, Italy, India, Spain and Mexico)
Vibrance - shampoo and conditioner
Vim (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan)
Vinólia - soap (Brazil)
Viso - laundry detergent (Vietnam)
White Beauty - skin lightening cream
Wisk - laundry detergent
Xedex
Zhonghua - toothpaste

Special Notes: Key information obtained from wikipedia.com