Unilever investment boosts science, technology and innovation capabilities in India

Firstly, Richard, what exactly is this investment for?

It’s actually additional investment of €35 million that will further build on capabilities we’ve established recently in our Liquids Lab of the Future; the Unilever Fragrance House; our Advanced Manufacturing Centre for soap bars; Packaging and Flexibles Design Lab; and AI and digital modelling platforms.

Our existing R&D centres – in Mumbai and Bangalore – already integrate deep consumer understanding with science, automation, predictive modelling and rapid prototyping.

We’ve invested more than €20 million over the past five years to build these state-of-the-art capabilities, which help us accelerate the development of superior and more desirable products.

With India so deeply connected to our global R&D network, the capabilities and work across our India R&D hubs will help shape innovation for Unilever globally, across Beauty, Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and beyond.

What changes are we making at our Mumbai hub?

We’re transforming Mumbai into a new Product Innovation Centre. This will bring together consumer insights, new measurement approaches, product and format science, packaging design, rapid prototyping and scale-up capabilities within a single integrated environment.

It will also include collaboration spaces so our teams will also be able to work even more closely with an extraordinary innovation ecosystem around us – partnering with leading academics, technology companies and innovators.

And what about at Bangalore?

We will continue to evolve Bangalore as a global science, technology and partnership hub, combining application and foundational science, digital capabilities and India Foods R&D.

Additionally, we’re investing €5 million over the next five years to establish a strategic Bio-Futures Partnership, accelerating innovation across human biology, microbiome science, biotechnology and biomanufacturing.

Sitting at the heart of India’s rapidly growing bioscience ecosystem, it’s where we’ll translate cutting-edge science into the next generation of bioscience-led innovation.

How are we using advanced technologies like AI?

Across both sites, AI, automated experimentation, predictive modelling and digital twins will enable our scientists and product developers to explore more possibilities, learn faster and translate promising ideas into scalable innovations with greater speed and precision.

Why is this investment being made in India specifically?

India already plays a central role in Unilever’s global innovation network, and this investment will further strengthen its position as one of our largest R&D hubs.

Over the decades, we’ve built up an incredible depth of scientific expertise and knowledge here, with fantastic talent across a huge range of disciplines.

India is also one of our most important growth markets. It’s changing fast. Consumer expectations are rising, needs are evolving and the pace of innovation keeps on accelerating. That makes it an incredibly important place for us to learn, create and scale new ideas.

How will this change the way R&D teams innovate?

The biggest shift is that this is a far more connected way of innovating.

So much goes into creating a great product – from understanding what consumers want, getting the science right and designing it, right through to making prototypes, testing them and working out how to manufacture at scale.

Today, this often happens in different places and at different times. With our new Mumbai centre, our scientists will work side by side with product developers, designers and digital experts. It brings scientific discovery and deep consumer understanding together under one roof.

With AI, digital twins, predictive modelling and automated experimentation, we can explore many more possibilities virtually before we make them physically. Then with rapid prototyping and consumer immersion, we can test and refine quickly.

So it combines capabilities that take years to build with advanced technologies that allow us to move much faster.

What sort of innovations will these capabilities help Unilever create?

Ultimately, this is about helping us solve consumer needs more effectively, creating superior products faster and unlocking new opportunities for growth.

Surf Excel Matic Express is a good example. This is a laundry detergent we developed to deliver great performance in short, cold washing machine cycles. If you’re washing for two or three hours, the machine has plenty of time to do the work. In 15 minutes, much more of that work has to come from the science in the product.

That’s the kind of challenge our teams work on – delivering the performance consumers want in a fraction of the time.

Dove Hair Care’s new Peptide Bond Strength Technology is another example. It goes beyond treating surface damage, helping reconstruct the bonds inside damaged hair. Consumers can see and feel the benefits from the very first wash.

These are two very different products, but the principle is the same.

It starts with an obsession to really understand our consumers: what they want and need, the problems we can help solve for them. Then applying our people’s creativity and scientific expertise – with the power of data and AI – to contribute to breakthroughs that are genuinely superior and desirable.

We don’t want to just do today’s R&D faster. We want to give our scientists new ways to discover, design and develop truly great next-generation products and innovations – things we simply couldn’t create before.

Frequently asked questions

• Why is Unilever investing in its R&D facilities in India?

  India is a critical global R&D centre for Unilever, bringing together a range of research and market-facing capabilities within our global R&D network, supported by decades of scientific expertise and outstanding talent. This investment will enable a more connected way of innovating, bringing together science, consumer understanding, design, digital technology, AI, rapid prototyping and scale-up capabilities. By connecting Unilever with India’s world-class bioscience ecosystem, we can harness complementary science, capabilities and partnerships to accelerate the next generation of bio-futures innovation for India and the world.

• What is Unilever’s New Product Innovation Centre in Mumbai?

  The centre will bring together consumer insight, scientific research, prototyping and scale-up capabilities in one connected environment where scientists work alongside product developers, designers and digital experts. This integrated approach uses AI, digital twins and predictive modelling to explore possibilities virtually before physical production, dramatically reducing the time from concept to market.

• What is Unilever’s India Fragrance Hub?

  Located at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Powai in Mumbai, the lab is a fully integrated fragrance creation, application and evaluation facility. Teams of experts use neuroscience techniques to understand how fragrances impact emotional wellbeing, such as a person’s mood. They then use AI, digital modelling and robotics to speed up fragrance development.