Hindustan Unilever

Hindustan Unilever Limited
Company typePublic company
ISININE030A01027
IndustryFast-moving consumer goods
PredecessorIndian Vanaspati Manufacturing Company (1931–1956)
Lever Brothers India Limited (1933–1956)
United Traders Limited (1935–1956)
Hindustan Lever Limited (1956–2007)
Founded1933 (1933)
Headquarters
Mumbai, Maharashtra
,
India
Key people
Priya Nair (CEO and MD)[1]
Products
Revenue ₹627 billion (US$7.4 billion) (2024)[2]
₹139 billion (US$1.6 billion) (2024)[2]
₹103 billion (US$1.2 billion) (2024)[2]
Total assets ₹785 billion (US$9.3 billion) (2024)[2]
Total equity ₹514 billion (US$6.1 billion) (2024)[2]
Number of employees
26,667 (2025) (including 18,465 workers)[3]
ParentUnilever (61.90%)
Websitewww.hul.co.in

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company, headquartered in Mumbai.[4] It is a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products and other consumer staples.

The company was established in India 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.[5]

Hindustan Unilever has been at the helm of many controversies, such as dumping highly toxic mercury-contaminated waste in regular dumps, contaminating the land and water of Kodaikanal. The British-Dutch company also faced major flak for an advertising campaign covering the Hindu pilgrimage site at Kumbh Mela in a negative light, calling it a "place where old people get abandoned,"[6][7] a move that was termed racist and insensitive.[6]

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.[8][9] 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.[9] In April 2020, HUL completed its merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) after completing all legal procedures.[10]

Presence

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]

Controversies

Mercury pollution

Main article: Kodaikanal mercury poisoning

In 2001 a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal run by Hindustan Unilever dumped glass contaminated with mercury and selling it to scrap merchants.[16] Protests by local NGOs and Greenpeace lead to the shutting of the factory in March 2001.[17] The issue has since snowballed into a controversy impacting the reputation of the company and led to a series of regulatory and legal confrontations. The issue was eventually resolved in 2016 through an out of court settlement between the company and the affected ex-workers.[18][19]

Skin lightening creams

Main article: Glow & Lovely (cosmetics)

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 Lovely to Glow and Lovely, removing the word Fair from the brand.

Triclosan

Several academic papers have pointed out the firm's continued use of the antibacterial agent Triclosan ('Active B') in India because it is under review by the American Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).[24]

Kumbh Mela ad

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]

Brands

Food

Homecare

  • Active wheel detergent
  • Cif cream cleaner
  • Comfort fabric softeners
  • Domex disinfectant/toilet cleaner
  • Love & Care wash care
  • Nature Protect disinfectant surface cleaner[32]
  • Rin detergents and bleach
  • Sunlight detergent and colour care
  • Surf Excel detergent and gentle wash
  • Vim dishwash
  • Magic – Water Saver[33][34]

Source:[35]

Personal care

  • Aviance Beauty Solutions
  • Axe deodorant, aftershave lotion and soap
  • Lever Ayush Therapy ayurvedic health care and personal care products
  • International Breeze
  • Brylcreem hair cream and hair gel
  • Clear anti-dandruff hair products
  • Clinic Plus shampoos and oils
  • Close-Up toothpastes
  • Dove skin & hair care range: bar, lotions, creams and anti-perspirant deodorants
  • Denim shaving products
  • Dermalogica
  • Elle 18
  • Find Your Happy Place
  • Glow and Lovely, skin lightening cream
  • Hamam soaps
  • Indulekha Ayurvedic soaps, shampoos, hair oils
  • Lakmé beauty products and salons
  • Lifebuoy soaps, Hand Sanitizers and handwashes
  • Liril 2000 soap
  • Lux soap, body wash and deodorant
  • Nature Protect
  • Pears soap, body wash
  • Pepsodent toothpastes
  • Pond's talcs and Cosmetics
  • Rexona Deodarants
  • Sunsilk shampoo
  • Sure anti-perspirant
  • V Wash feminine wash
  • Vaseline petroleum jelly, skincare lotions
  • TRESemmé[36]
  • TIGI

Source:[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Meet Priya Nair: First Woman CEO of Hindustan Unilever in 92 Years; to Take Charge on August 1". 11 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Hindustan Unilever Annual Reports" (PDF). hul.co.in.
  3. ^ "https://www.hul.co.in/files/integrated-annual-report-2024-25.pdf"
  4. ^ "Introduction to HUL". Hindustan Unilever Limited website. HUL. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  5. ^ Srinivasan, Lalitha (31 July 2007). "Transition to new name was smooth: HUL". Mumbai: The Financial Express. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Hindustan Unilever faces flak over Red Label ad showing son 'abandoning' father at Kumbh Mela". cnbctv18.com. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  7. ^ "#BoycottHindustanUnilever Trends After Ad On Kumbh Mela Faces Criticism". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  8. ^ "GSK Consumer Healthcare to merge with Hindustan Unilever: Here are 10 things you should know". www.businesstoday.in. 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  9. ^ a b "HUL-GSK deal: 3,800 employees face uncertainty, decision awaited". www.businesstoday.in. 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  10. ^ "HUL expects to complete merger with GSK Consumer Healthcare in 2019". Medical Dialogues. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  11. ^ "HUL moves to new campus | 2010 | Hindustan Unilever". Hindustan Unilever. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  12. ^ "Designed for leverage – Livemint". livemint.com. 3 February 2010. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Atlas Integrated Finance Ltd". Aifl.net. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  14. ^ Overview of Research Centres on official website. Retrieved 12 August 2010 Archived 19 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Prevent mercury pollution". The Hindu. 29 September 2016 [23 August 2007]. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "Greenpeace wants probe into Kodaikanal mercury pollution". Times of India. 30 June 2002. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  18. ^ Hiddleston, Sarah (24 September 2010). "Poisoned Ground". Frontline. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  19. ^ Jayaraman, Nityanand (31 July 2010). "One gram mercury can kill a 25-acre lake. A plant has leached mercury for 10 years into Kodai". Tehelka Magazine. Anant Media Pvt. Ltd. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  20. ^ Anushay Hossain, The Color Complex: Is the Fixation Really Fair? Archived 1 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Sapna, 10 March 2008
  21. ^ Dhillon, Amrit (1 July 2009). "India's hue and cry over paler skin". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  22. ^ Priyanka Chopra is the new face of Ponds Archived 26 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Thaindian News, 6 May 2008
  23. ^ Criticism in India over skin-whitening trend Archived 1 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Telegraph, 10 July 2008
  24. ^ See for example Cross, Jamie; Street, Alice (August 2009) [2008]. "Anthropology at the Bottom of the Pyramid" (PDF). Anthropology Today. 25 (4): 4–9. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8322.2009.00675.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012. Reprinted in Callan, Hilary; Street, Brian; Underdown, Simon, eds. (March 2013). Introductory Readings In Anthropology. Berghahn Books & The Royal Anthological Institute. pp. 232–40. ISBN 9780857459688. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  25. ^ Ambwani, Meenakshi Verma (7 March 2019). "HUL in deep water over Kumbh-theme ad". @businessline. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  26. ^ "Hindustan Unilever faces backlash for calling Kumbh Mela 'place where old people get abandoned'". www.businesstoday.in. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  27. ^ "#BoycottHindustanUnilever Trends After Ad On Kumbh Mela Faces Criticism". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  28. ^ "Hellmann's". Hindustan Unilever Limited website. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Magnum Ice-cream". Hindustan Unilever Limited website. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  30. ^ "Cornetto". Hindustan Unilever Limited website. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  31. ^ "Horlicks". Hindustan Unilever Limited website. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  32. ^ "Nature Protect". Hindustan Unilever official website. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  33. ^ "Magic – Water Saver". Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  34. ^ "Magic – Water Saver". The Times of India. 25 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  35. ^ "Home care brands | Hindustan Unilever". Hindustan Unilever. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  36. ^ "TRESemmé". Hindustan Unilever. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  37. ^ "Personal care brands | Hindustan Unilever". Hindustan Unilever. Archived from the original on 29 December 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
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