Our Story
From the first branded soap in the 1800s and our first purpose-built research lab in Port Sunlight in 1911, to addressing today’s global sustainability issues, innovation has always been at the heart of our business. It’s how we progress. It’s at the core of our business strategy.
210 tonnes of plastic recycled per year by Vegetarian Butcher
When you use one of our products, you can be sure that there’s an innovation or two in there – we have over 20,000 patents. We also lay claim to some innovations you might find surprising: in the 1980s, for example, we launched the very first home pregnancy test in the UK. We also invented fish fingers – launching them into to UK in 1955 where, within a decade, they accounted for 10% of the UK’s fish consumption.
Products, ingredients, processes, packaging… we always look to improve for our customers and for the world we live in. For example: our Vegetarian Butcher brand has a 100% recycled tray. Sounds straightforward – however, this represents a huge step forward in packaging sustainability and will lead to the brand recycling more than 210 tonnes of plastic per year back into its packaging.
Did you know...
Unilever invented fish fingers. We launched them in the UK in 1955.
Lipton’s packaging is now 100% rPET (recycled plastic) – it uses previously used plastics (including bottles) which might otherwise have been waste and turns them into Lipton rPET bottles. In 2020 alone, that translated into 25,000 tonnes of recycled plastic for Lipton bottles.
Our vision is to innovate boldly for people and for the planet. Here are a few highlights from some of our best-known brands.