Hindustan Unilever facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Hindustan Unilever Limited

Type	Public
Traded as	BSE: 500696 NSE: HINDUNILVR BSE SENSEX Constituent NSE NIFTY 50 Constituent
ISIN	ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=INE030A01027 INE030A01027]
Industry	Consumer goods
Predecessor	Indian Vanaspati Manufacturing Company (1931–1956) Lever Brothers India Limited (1933–1956) United Traders Limited (1935–1956) Hindustan Lever Limited (1956–2007)
Founded	1933; 91 years ago (1933)
Headquarters	Mumbai, Maharashtra , India
Key people	Rohit Jawa (CEO)
Products	Foods cleaning agents personal care skin care water purifiers dietary supplements protein supplements
Revenue	₹62,707 crore (US$11 billion) (2024)
Operating income	₹13,924 crore (US$2.4 billion) (2024)
Net income	₹10,282 crore (US$1.7 billion) (2024)
Total assets	₹78,499 crore (US$13 billion) (2024)
Total equity	₹51,423 crore (US$8.7 billion) (2024)
Number of employees	21,000 (2020)
Parent	Unilever plc (61.90%)

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a British-owned Indian final good company headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the British company Unilever. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products, water purifiers and other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs).

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.

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," a move that was termed racist and insensitive.

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.

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. 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. In April 2020, HUL completed its merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) after completing all legal procedures. In December 2022, HUL's market cap was Rs. 638548.42 crore.

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. The Campus is designed by Mumbai-based architecture firm Kapadia Associates.

The company's previous headquarters were located in Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai at the Lever House, where it was housed for more than 46 years.

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.

Kodaikanal Lake, one of the most popular tourist attractions in South India, was contaminated following Unilever's illegal dumping of mercury.

Awards

The Institute of Competitiveness, India, has recognized Hindustan Unilever Limited's Project Shakti for ‘Creating Shared Value’ and bestowed upon the company the Porter Prize for 2014. It ranked number one on the Forbes list of ‘Most Innovative Companies’ across the globe for 2014. It also received an award as a 'Conscious Capitalist of the Year' at the 2013 Forbes India Leadership Awards. Unilever and was declared the fourth most Respected Company in India in a survey conducted by Business World in 2013.

As per a 2015 Nielsen Campus Track-business school survey, Hindustan Unilever emerged 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. In 2012, HUL 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.

In 2011, HUL was named the most innovative company in India by Forbes and ranked 6th in the top 10 list of most innovative companies in the world. Hindustan Unilever Ltd received the National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2011 of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) for excellence in corporate governance.

HUL was ranked 47th in The Brand Trust Report 2014 published by Trust Research Advisory. 36 HUL brands also featured in the list including Lux, Dove, Lipton, Vim, Kissan, Bru, Rexona, Close Up, Clinic Plus, Pond's, Knorr, and Pepsodent among others.

HUL has also emerged as the top employer of choice among the top six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMA, B, C, L, K and I).

In 2007, Hindustan Unilever was rated as the most respected company in India for the past 25 years by Businessworld. The rating was based on a compilation of the magazine's annual survey of India's most reputed companies over the past 25 years.

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.

Brands and products

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.

Food

Homecare

Source:

Personal care

Source:

Water purifier

• Pureit

See also

• Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea House, Hindustan Unilever's first tea house restaurant
• Dalda, vegetable cooking oil brand started by HUL
• Kodaikanal mercury poisoning