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Unilever’s first quarter results showed that we started the year well with volume-led growth driven by our Power Brands. While growth was broad-based across all business groups, Home Care delivered a particularly strong quarter with 6.1% underlying sales growth and 6.2% volume growth.
This marks a further acceleration of performance and two years where volume growth has been consistently above 3% for Unilever Home Care.
Home Care’s Q1 results were driven by our Power Brands building Desire at Scale, with stronger momentum in core markets such as India and Brazil.
At a category level, Fabric Cleaning (laundry detergents) and Fabric Enhancers (laundry conditioners) both posted mid-single digit growth, led by our premium formats that deliver superior cleaning performance and elevated sensorial experiences.
In Fabric Cleaning, double-digit growth in our premium liquids portfolio was propelled by the continued expansion of Wonder Wash – a product designed for short cold cycles – from Dirt Is Good (also known as OMO, Persil, Surf Excel, Breeze, Rinso, Ala and Skip). Wonder Wash marks the fastest deployment of an innovation from our Home Care business on the back of unprecedented consumer demand. Launched in 2024, it is now available in 41 countries and delivering around €200 million of annualised turnover.
Home & Hygiene grew mid-single digit, with mid-single digit volume growth. Cif continued to perform strongly with the probiotic powered Cif Infinite Clean range launching a new Anti-Bac variant and expanding into additional markets. Domestos also continued to perform well. Both brands hit the sweet spot of performance, science and consumer relevance.
Highlights in Fabric Enhancers included the success of Comfort Pure White in Vietnam and Yumos in Turkey, which delivered its highest single day of sales in the brand’s history.
In India, our market leadership strengthened further as liquids continued to deliver double-digit growth. Here we also achieved our highest-ever share in laundry powders.
Brazil delivered double-digit volume growth with good momentum following various corrective actions, including on pricing, taken in the second half of 2025.
Strategic resets have delivered notable business improvements in Indonesia, Vietnam and China.
“We have started 2026 with a strong performance in Home Care, underpinned by volume growth acceleration,” says Edu Campanella, Business Group President, Unilever Home Care. “The recent completion of a £150 million investment in Port Sunlight, Home Care’s birthplace, to strengthen our UK and European production and logistics is testament to ambition for UK and Europe.”
The performance of our Home Care business happens as the wider company moves to become a sharper, fully focused HPC pureplay. One that’s aligned to higher-growth categories and geographies, more premium segments and superior routes to market.
For the first quarter of 2026, Unilever reported underlying sales growth (USG) of 3.8%, with underlying volume growth (UVG) of 2.9% and underlying price growth (UPG) of 0.9%. Growth was broad-based across categories with Power Brands leading performance at 5.0% USG and 4.0% UVG. Emerging market momentum was led by strong growth in India and good recovery in Latin America.
The turnaround was made possible by investment in our Power Brands to develop scalable, multi-year innovations that address changing consumer behaviours and needs. These include Persil Wonder Wash, Domestos Power Foam and Sun Machine Dishwash Tablets, all of which respond to the growing trend for convenience. Home Care is also transforming its supply chain with a €150 million investment to improve productivity and efficiency.
In 2024, we launched our biggest Home Care innovation ever, Wonder Wash, under our Dirt Is Good brand (also known as OMO, Persil, Surf Excel, Breeze, Rinso, Ala and Skip). This is our first liquid laundry detergent specifically designed to work in short cycles – as quick as 15 minutes – in response to the growing need for speed and convenience. We used advanced science and technology to develop an innovation that creates a new sub-category.
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