Unilever at a glance
We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life, meeting their everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.
Key facts
On any given day, two billion people use our products.
We employ 163,000 people in around 100 countries worldwide. In 2009 our worldwide turnover was €39.8 billion.
Our products are sold in over 170 countries around the world. In many countries we manufacture the products that we sell, while we also export products to countries where we do not have manufacturing operations.
The top 25 brands in our portfolio account for nearly 75% of our sales.
We are the global market leader in all the Food categories in which we operate : Savoury, Spreads, Dressings, Tea and Ice Cream. We are also global market leader in Mass Skin Care and Deodorants, and have very strong positions in other Home and Personal Care categories.
In 2009 we invested €891 million in research and development.
We have 264 manufacturing sites worldwide, all of which strive for improved performance on safety, efficiency, quality and environmental impacts, working to global Unilever standards and management systems. Around 50% of the raw materials that we use for our products come from agriculture and forestry. We buy approximately 12% of the world’s black tea, 6% of its tomatoes and 3% of its palm oil.
We invested €89 million in community projects worldwide in 2009.
