Hindustan Unilever
Indian consumer goods company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company, headquartered in Mumbai.[3] It is a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products and other consumer staples.
- BSE: 500696
- NSE: HINDUNILVR
- BSE SENSEX constituent
- NSE NIFTY 50 constituent
| |
| Company type | Public company |
|---|---|
| |
| ISIN | INE030A01027 |
| Industry | Fast-moving consumer goods |
| Predecessor | Indian Vanaspati Manufacturing Company (1931–1956) Lever Brothers India Limited (1933–1956) United Traders Limited (1935–1956) Hindustan Lever Limited (1956–2007) |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra , India |
Key people | Priya Nair (CEO and MD)[1] |
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  ₹627 billion (US$7.4 billion) (2024)[2] |
| ₹139 billion (US$1.6 billion) (2024)[2] | |
| ₹103 billion (US$1.2 billion) (2024)[2] | |
| Total assets | ₹785 billion (US$9.3 billion) (2024)[2] |
| Total equity | ₹514 billion (US$6.1 billion) (2024)[2] |
Number of employees | 27,764 (2024)(including 19,109 workers)[2] |
| Parent | Unilever (61.90%) |
| Website | www |
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.[4]
Hindustan Unilever has been at the helm of many controversies, such as dumping highly toxic mercury-contaminated waste in regular dumps, contaminating the land and water of Kodaikanal. The British-Dutch company also faced major flak for an advertising campaign covering the Hindu pilgrimage site at Kumbh Mela in a negative light, calling it a "place where old people get abandoned,"[5][6] a move that was termed racist and insensitive.[5]
In December 2018 HUL announced its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline India's consumer business for US$3.8 billion in an all-equity merger deal with a 1:4.39 ratio.[7][8] 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.[8] In April 2020, HUL completed its merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) after completing all legal procedures.[9]
Presence
Hindustan Unilever's corporate headquarters are located in Andheri, Mumbai. The campus is spread over 12.5 acres of land and houses over 1,600 employees.[10] The Campus is designed by Mumbai-based architecture firm Kapadia Associates.[11]
The company's previous headquarters were located in Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai at the Lever House, where it was housed for more than 46 years.[12]
The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up in 1966 in Mumbai, and Unilever Research India in Bangalore in 1997. In 2006, the company's research facilities were brought together at a single site in Bangalore.[13]
Controversies
Mercury pollution
In 2001 a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal run by Hindustan Unilever dumped glass contaminated with mercury and selling it to scrap merchants.[15] Protests by local NGOs and Greenpeace lead to the shutting of the factory in March 2001.[16] 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.[17][18]
Skin lightening creams
Hindustan Unilever's "Glow & Lovely" is the leading skin-lightening cream for women in India.[19] 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.[20] In 2008, Hindustan Unilever made former Miss World Priyanka Chopra a brand ambassador for Pond's,[21] and she then appeared in a mini-series of television commercials for another skin lightening product, 'White Beauty', alongside Saif Ali Khan and Neha Dhupia; these advertisements, showing Priyanka's face with a clearly darker complexion against the visibly fairer Neha Dhupia, were widely criticised for perpetuating racism[22] 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 agent Triclosan ('Active B') in India because it is under review by the American Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).[23]
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 as a place where elderly people get abandoned by their family members.[24][25] This resulted in a severe backlash in the form of an adverse hashtag trending on Twitter '#BoycottHindustanUnilever'.[26]
Brands
Food
- Annapurna salt and Atta (formerly known as Kissan Annapurna)
- Boost chocolate Drink mix
- Bru coffee powder
- Brooke Bond (3 Roses, Taj Mahal, Taaza, Red Label) tea
- Kissan squashes, ketchups, juices and jams
- Lipton leaf tea, ice tea
- Knorr soups & meal makers, Ketchups, Readymade Sauces and soupy noodles
- Kwality Wall's frozen desserts
- Hellmann's mayonnaise[27]
- Magnum (ice cream)[28]
- Cornetto Ice cream cones[29]
- Horlicks (Health Drink supplements)[30]
Homecare
- Active wheel detergent
- Cif cream cleaner
- Comfort fabric softeners
- Domex disinfectant/toilet cleaner
- Love & Care wash care
- Nature Protect disinfectant surface cleaner[31]
- Rin detergents and bleach
- Sunlight detergent and colour care
- Surf Excel detergent and gentle wash
- Vim dishwash
- Magic – Water Saver[32][33]
Source:[34]
Personal care
- Aviance Beauty Solutions
- Axe deodorant, aftershave lotion and soap
- Lever Ayush Therapy ayurvedic health care and personal care products
- International Breeze
- Brylcreem hair cream and hair gel
- Clear anti-dandruff hair products
- Clinic Plus shampoos and oils
- Close-Up toothpastes
- Dove 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 soaps
- Indulekha Ayurvedic soaps, shampoos, hair oils
- Lakmé beauty products and salons
- Lifebuoy soaps, Hand Sanitizers and handwashes
- Liril 2000 soap
- Lux soap, body wash and deodorant
- Nature Protect
- Pears soap, body wash
- Pepsodent toothpastes
- Pond's talcs and Cosmetics
- Rexona Deodarants
- Sunsilk shampoo
- Sure anti-perspirant
- V Wash feminine wash
- Vaseline petroleum jelly, skincare lotions
- TRESemmé[35]
- TIGI
Source:[36]
See also
- Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea House, Hindustan Unilever's first tea house restaurant
- Dalda, vegetable cooking oil brand started by HUL
- Kodaikanal mercury poisoning
