HINDUNILVR
HUL or Hindustan Unilever is India's largest fast-moving consumer goods company, along with leadership in both the Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. Its brands are being spread across 20 distinct consumer sectors such as touch the lives of two out of the three Indians. Also, in the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbor observed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, with the embossed words that were 'Made in England by Lever Brothers.' And then started an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (or FMCG).
In 1931, it also set up its first Indian subsidiary named, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company that was followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (in 1933) and United Traders Limited (in 1935). Such three companies were merged to form HUL in November 1956. It also offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public and being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Also, now Unilever holds about 52.10% equity in the company.
The recent Brooke Bond's presence in India is also associated back to 1900. Until 1903, it had launched Red Label tea in India. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was being formed. Soon, it joined the Unilever fold in 1984 via an international acquisition. The recent Lipton's links with India were being forged in 1898. Soon, Unilever acquired Lipton in the year 1972 and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited was being incorporated.
Also, the Pond's (India) Limited has been presented in India since 1947. Also, it joined the Unilever fold via an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in the year 1986.
In 2003, it also acquired the Cooked Shrimp and the Pasteurised Crabmeat business of the Amalgam Group of Companies that is a leader in value-added Marine Products exports.
Some of the HUL's brands such as Lifebuoy, Lux, Fair & Lovely, Surf Excel, Wheel, Pond's, Rin, Sunsilk, Clinic, Close-up, Lakme, Pepsodent, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Kwality Wall's, and Knorr-Annapurna - are some household names across India and also span in various categories such as detergents, soaps, personal products, coffee, tea, branded staples, ice cream and culinary products.
It has traditionally been a company that incorporates the latest technology in almost all of its operations. HURC or The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre was also set up in 1958, and presently has facilities in both Mumbai and Bangalore. Both HURC and the Global Technology Centres in India have more than 200 highly qualified scientists and technologists, along with many post-doctoral experiences being acquired in the US and Europe.
It is also running a rural health program named Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. It endeavors to induce the adoption of hygienic practices specifically in the rural Indians and aim to bring down the incidence of diarrhea. Also, it has touched 120 million people in about 50, 676 villages across India. So, its vision is to make a billion Indians feel both safe and secure.
In 2012, it entered into an agreement with Unilever for manufacturing, marketing and distributing the Brylcreem brand in India.
The product range of the company includes:
Home & Personal care
- Personal wash
- Lux
- Breeze
- Lifebuoy
- Dove
- Liril
- Pears
- Hamam
- Rexona
- Laundry
- Surf Excel
- Rin
- Wheel
- Sunlight
- Hair care
- Deodorant
- Ayurvedic Personal & Health Care
- Skin Care
- Fair & Lovely
- Pond's
- Vaseline
- Aviance
- Oral Care
- Colour Cosmetic
- Tea
- Coffee
- Foods
- Ice Cream
Some of the Milestones:
- 2011:
- All the shareholders of the company on July 28, 2011, approved the scheme of arrangement for the transfer of certain liabilities, assets, and properties of the FMCG Exports Business Division of Hindustan Unilever Limited to the Unilever India Exports Limited.
- Both HUL and Bharti Retail’s ‘easy day Market’ and ‘easy day’ stores, introduced a joint initiative of promoting plastic recycling among consumers in NCR.
- 2012:
- In March 2012, its state-of-the-art Learning Centre was being inaugurated at the Hindustan Unilever campus located at Andheri, Mumbai.
- In April 2012, the Customer Insight and Innovation Centre (or CiiC) was being inaugurated at the Hindustan Unilever campus located at Andheri, Mumbai.
- 2013: It also completes 80 years of corporate existence in India as of October 17th, 2013.
Some of the Achievements:
- It received the Award for Excellence in HR in 2010 from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). It also won this award for the third consecutive year.
- Some Five of the HUL's leading brands such as Dove, Lux, Pears, Sunsilk, and Clinic Plus, also won the Reader's Digest Trusted Brand 2008 Awards.
- It was also awarded the Bombay Chamber Civic Award 2007 in the sector of the Sustainable Environmental Initiatives.
- It was also chosen as the top Indian company in the sector of FMCG for the Dun & Bradstreet - American Express Corporate Awards in 2007.
- It is one of the country's largest exporters and has also been recognized as a Golden Super Star Trading House from the Government of India.