CEO introduction
As one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies, it is through our brands that Unilever has the biggest potential to make a difference.
Our mission
Unilever's mission is to meet the everyday needs of people all around the world for nutrition, hygiene and personal care. We do this with products that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.
Every day around 160 million people in 150 countries will buy a Unilever brand. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the social and environmental impacts which we have on the world around us come largely from our brands. We are increasingly embedding sustainability thinking into the day-to-day activities of our brand management and R&D teams. We have done this through a simple tool called Brand Imprint.
Brand imprint
Brand Imprint forces management to think carefully about both the resources they use (such as water, packaging, energy and raw materials) and the social and economic impacts that our brands have in the countries where they are sold. For example, it encourages managers selling soap to consider the positive effects which they can have on public health through improved hygiene. For those marketing tea, it prompts them to think about where they source their ingredients and how they can get value from communicating this to consumers.
Our achievements
We are making progress. Around half the tea used in Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags in Western Europe is now sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms. In an effort to halt deforestation we have committed to draw all of our palm oil from sustainable sources by 2015. Our Lifebuoy brand has reached 120 million people in India with its education programme about the importance of washing hands with soap. Many other examples are referenced in this Sustainable Development Report.
To achieve these goals we have to work in partnership with others. For example, we work with the Rainforest Alliance on tea, Greenpeace on palm oil and UNICEF on handwashing. These collaborations are bringing new insights and new thinking into the business.
The business case
What we are learning is that operating in this way is bringing us hard business benefits. Our quest to run the company more sustainably is fuelling our innovation pipeline, delivering cost savings and helping us to 'win' with our retail and food service customers who have sustainability programmes of their own and who want to work jointly with us. Above all, it is winning the hearts (and wallets) of the growing numbers of consumers who want to be reassured that companies from whom they are buying their products are sourcing, manufacturing and marketing them in a responsible and ethical fashion.
Much of this thinking was already well embedded in Unilever when I took over in January 2009. My predecessor Patrick Cescau deserves great credit for the impetus he gave to it. It is my intention to build on Unilever's leadership in this area.
Our ongoing commitment to sustainability
In these uncertain economic times, our core values and commitment to sustainability must remain unchanged. Indeed, now more than ever, this agenda holds the potential for the long-term and sustainable success of our business and our brands.
I sincerely believe that businesses like Unilever can be a positive force for good in the world and that such an approach is in the interests of all our stakeholders – our investors, our consumers and customers, our employees and the communities where we operate.
Paul Polman
Chief Executive Officer
