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2020 to present – The Unilever Compass

2020 - Helping to protect lives and livelihoods from the Covid-19 pandemic

A row of Unilever trucks

We contributed more than €100m to help people affected around the world by the Covid-19 pandemic. Product donation of soaps and sanitiser to the COVID Action Platform of the World Economic Forum and adaption of manufacturing lines to produce sanitiser for use in hospitals, schools and other institutional settings also took place.

2020 - Unilever announces completion of Horlicks acquisition from GSK

A Horlicks bottle

Hindustan Unilever (HUL), our Indian listed subsidiary, merged with GSK Consumer Healthcare Limited in India. With this transaction, HUL completed the acquisition of the Health Food Drinks portfolio of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in India, including Horlicks and Boost brands.

2020 - Unilever set out new actions to fight climate change

A graphic of a person holding a plant in their hands

We set out an ambitious new range of measures and commitments designed to improve the health of the planet by taking even more decisive action to fight climate change, and protect and regenerate nature, and to preserve resources for future generations. We will achieve Net Zero emissions from all our products by 2039.

2020 - Unilever to acquire Liquid I.V.

A collection of Liquid IV products

We announced our signing of an agreement to acquire Liquid I.V., a U.S-based health-science nutrition and wellness company.

2020 - Unilever to eliminate fossil fuels in cleaning products by 2030

A graphic of a man taking laundry out of a washing machine

We announced we will source 100% of the carbon derived from fossil fuels in our cleaning and laundry product formulations with renewable or recycled carbon.

2020 - Unilever sets bold new 'Future Foods' ambition

A collection of Vegetarian Butcher products

We announced a new annual global sales target of €1 billion from plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, within the next five to seven years. The growth will be driven by the roll-out of The Vegetarian Butcher as well as increasing vegan alternatives from brands including Hellmann's, Magnum and Wall's.

2020 - Unilever completes unification

Unilever headquarters

Unilever announced completion of the unification process for our Group legal structure under a single parent company, Unilever PLC, creating a simpler company with greater strategic flexibility, better positioned for future success.

2020 - Unilever seek shareholder approval for Climate Transition Action Plan

Unilever logo

The Unilever Board announces intentions to put its climate transition action plan before shareholders and seek a non-binding advisory vote on the company’s ambitious emissions reduction targets and the plans to achieve them.

2020 - The Vegetarian Butcher launches in Latin America and China in partnership with Burger King®

A burger

The Vegetarian Butcher announces the expansion of its successful partnership with Burger King® to launch the Plant-Based WHOPPER®, in Latin America, the Caribbean and China.

2021 - Unilever gets one step closer to self-cleaning surfaces with Innova Partnerships

An underwater shot

Unilever and Innova Partnerships launch a joint venture, Penrhos Bio, a biotechnology company with the aim to commercialise a technology that sees self-cleaning surfaces become a reality.

2021 - Unilever commits to help build a more inclusive society

A group of people

Unilever announces a wide-ranging set of commitments and actions to help build a more equitable society by raising living standards across its value chain, creating opportunities through inclusivity, and preparing people for the future of work.

2021 - Unilever champions a new era of beauty

A collection of Unilever products

Unilever announces elimination of the word ‘normal’ from all of Beauty and Personal Care brands’ packaging and advertising, as part of the launch of the new Positive Beauty vision and strategy.

2021 - Unilever pioneers innovations with world-first industrial carbon emissions made laundry capsule

An OMO container

Unilever partners with LanzaTech and India Glycols to produce a surfactant made from industrial carbon emissions instead of from fossil-fuels, utilising biotechnologies and a newly configured supply chain.

2021 - New LEAF coalition sets out to protect tropical forests and enhance global climate action

A forest

The LEAF Coalition is announced at the Leaders Summit on Climate, an ambitious new public-private initiative to accelerate climate action by providing results-based finance to countries committed to protecting their tropical forests.

2021 - Unilever to acquire Onnit

A collection of Onnit products

Unilever announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire Onnit, a holistic wellness and lifestyle company, based in Austin, Texas (US).

2021 - Unilever to introduce recyclable toothpaste tubes

A tube of Signal toothpaste

After four years of development, Unilever’s oral care brands including Signal, Pepsodent and Closeup announce plans to convert their entire global toothpaste portfolio to recyclable tubes by 2025.

2021 - Unilever’s TRESemmé receives PETA certification

Bottles of Tresemme

TRESemmé become the latest Unilever brand to be approved by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Listed as ‘not tested on animals’, becoming the 24th beauty and personal care brand in Unilever’s portfolio to join PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies list.

2021 - Unilever partners with ‘ENOUGH’ to step up plant-based protein innovations

A bowl of plant-based protein

Unilever announces partnership with food-tech company ENOUGH to bring new plant-based meat products to market.

2021 - Unilever reveals world-first paper-based laundry detergent bottle

Unilever reveals world-first paper-based laundry detergent bottle

Paper based laundry detergent bottles

Unilever introduces new technology to launch the first ever paper-based laundry detergent bottle, developed for leading laundry brand OMO. A prototype is set to debut in Brazil by 2022, with an ambition for roll-out in Europe soon after.

2021 - Unilever to acquire Paula's Choice skincare

A collection of Paula's Choice products

Unilever signs agreement to acquire leading digital-led skin care brand Paula’s Choice from TA Associates. Paula’s Choice is a pioneer of science-backed products and direct to consumer (DTC) e-commerce.

2021 - 27 PETA-approved Unilever brands join the fight to save cruelty free cosmetics in Europe

White rabbits drawn on a purple background

Unilever’s PETA-Approved brands commit to fighting to save cruelty free cosmetics in Europe. Unilever’s largest beauty and personal care brand, Dove, unites with The Body Shop, PETA, Cruelty Free Europe, Humane Society International/Europe, Eurogroup for Animals, and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments* to call on the European Commission to protect its longstanding ban on animal testing for cosmetics.

2021 - A new co-development of an environmental impact assessment and scoring system for cosmetics

A collection of Unilever products

Henkel, L’Oréal, LVMH, Natura &Co, and Unilever announce a new global collaboration to co-develop an industry-wide environmental impact assessment and scoring system for cosmetics products. The aim is to co-design an approach that is brand-agnostic, and which provides consumers with clear, transparent and comparable environmental impact information, based on a common science-based methodology.

2021 - Unilever works with suppliers to beat the clock on climate change

The Unilever Climate Promise launches to invite our suppliers to demonstrate their shared values and commitment to reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of their value chains & position themselves on the leading edge of our planet goals.

2021 - World’s first ice cream factory to join prestigious WEF Lighthouse Network

Ice cream tubs

Unilever’s ice cream factory in TaiCang, China becomes the first of its kind to be recognised as an ‘Advanced 4th Industrial Revolution Lighthouse’ by the World Economic Forum.

2021 - Unilever invites startups to partner through Positive Beauty Growth Platform

Positive Beauty Growth Platform

Unilever announces the launch of the Positive Beauty Growth Platform – a new initiative which aims to partner with scaleups and startups to drive innovation and brand growth.

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