Indian Vanaspati Manufacturing Company (1931–1956) Lever Brothers India Limited (1933–1956) United Traders Limited (1935–1956) Hindustan Lever Limited (1956–2007)
HUL was established in 1931 as Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Co. Following a merger of constituent groups in 1956, it was renamed Hindustan Lever Limited. The company was renamed again in June 2007 as Hindustan Unilever Limited.[4]
Hindustan Unilever has been at the helm of a lot of controversies, such as dumping highly toxic mercury-contaminated waste in regular dumps, contaminating the land and water of Kodaikanal. (See: Kodaikanal mercury poisoning). The British company also faced major flak for an advertising campaign attacking the Hindu pilgrimage site at Kumbh Mela, calling it a "place where old people get abandoned,"[5][6] a move that was termed racist and insensitive.[5]
As of 2019, Hindustan Unilever's portfolio had more than 50 product brands in 14 categories. The company has 21,000 employees and recorded sales of ₹34,619 crores in FY2017–18.[3]
In December 2018, HUL announced its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline India's consumer business for US$3.8 billion in an all-equity merger deal with a 1:4.39 ratio.[7][8] However, the integration of GSK's 3,800 employees remained uncertain as HUL stated there was no clause for retention of employees in the deal.[8] In April 2020, HUL completed its merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) after completing all legal procedures.[9] In December 2022, HUL's market cap was Rs. 638548.42 crore.[10]
Hindustan Unilever's corporate headquarters are located in Andheri, Mumbai. The campus is spread over 12.5 acres of land and houses over 1,600 employees.[11] The Campus is designed by Mumbai-based architecture firm Kapadia Associates.[12]
The company's previous headquarters were located in Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai at the Lever House, where it was housed for more than 46 years.[13]
The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up in 1966 in Mumbai, and Unilever Research India in Bangalore in 1997. In 2006, the company's research facilities were brought together at a single site in Bangalore.[14]
Kodaikanal Lake, one of the most popular tourist attractions in South India, was contaminated following Unilever's illegal dumping of mercury.[15]
In 2001 a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal run by Hindustan Unilever dumped glass contaminated with mercury in C. Raj Kumar, and selling it on to scrap merchants unable to deal with it appropriately.[16] Protests by local NGOs and Greenpeace lead to the shutting of the factory in March 2001.[17] After protest by activists led by Deepak Malghan of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Hindustan Unilever admitted before court to being guilty in the case in 2010.[18][19]
Hindustan Unilever's "Glow & Lovely" is the leading skin-lightening cream for women in India.[20] The company had to cease television advertisements for the product in 2007. Advertisements depicted depressed, dark-complexioned women, who had been ignored by employers and men, suddenly finding new boyfriends and glamorous careers after the cream had lightened their skin.[21] In 2008, Hindustan Unilever made former Miss World Priyanka Chopra a brand ambassador for Pond's,[22] and she then appeared in a mini-series of television commercials for another skin lightening product, 'White Beauty', alongside Saif Ali Khan and Neha Dhupia; these advertisements, showing Priyanka's face with a clearly darker complexion against the visibly fairer Neha Dhupia, were widely criticised for perpetuating racism[23] and lowering the self-esteem of women and girls throughout India who were misled by HUL to believe that they needed to be white to be beautiful. The company rebranded the cream from Fair and LovelytoGlow and Lovely, removing the word Fair from the brand.
In March 2019, HUL's advertisement for its beverage Brooke Bond Red Label tea was criticised on social media. A company tweet referred to the Kumbh Mela as a place where elderly people get abandoned by their family members.[25][26] This resulted in a severe backlash in the form of an adverse hashtag trending on Twitter '#BoycottHindustanUnilever'.[27]
The Institute of Competitiveness, India, recognized Hindustan Unilever Limited's Project Shakti for ‘Creating Shared Value’ and gave the company the Porter Prize for 2014.[citation needed] It ranked number one on the Forbes list of ‘Most Innovative Companies’ globally for 2014.[28] It also received an award as a 'Conscious Capitalist of the Year' at the 2013 Forbes India Leadership Awards.[29] Unilever was named the fourth most respected company in India in a survey conducted by Business World in 2013.[30]
In a 2015 Nielsen Campus Track-business school survey, Hindustan Unilever was among the top employers of choice for B-school students graduating that year. It has often been called a 'Dream Employer' for application by B-School students in India.[31][32][33][34][35] In 2012, it was recognised as one of the world's most innovative companies by Forbes. With a ranking of number 6, it was the highest ranked FMCG company.[36]
HUL is one of the country's largest exporters; it has been recognised as a Golden Super Star Trading House by the Government of India.[37]
HUL is the market leader in Indian consumer products with presence in over 20 consumer categories such as soaps, tea, detergents and shampoos amongst others with over 700 million Indian consumers using its products. Sixteen of HUL's brands featured in the Nielsen Corporation Brand Equity list of 100 Most Trusted Brands Annual Survey (2014), carried out by Brand Equity, a supplement of The Economic Times.[38]
^Jayaraman, Nityanand (April 2001). "Unilever's Dumping Fever". Multinational Monitor. Archived from the original on 27 July 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2013. - via Ban.org.
^Hiddleston, Sarah (24 September 2010). "Poisoned Ground". Frontline. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
₹62,707 crore (US$7.5 billion) (2024)[2]
NIFTY 200 companies
