Unilever’s Manufacturing: Sustainability, People & Sites

Each day, 3.7 billion people use products made by Unilever in more than 190 countries across the globe, the company says.

Its manufacturing footprint spans China, India, the UK, Germany and South America, operating hundreds of factories across a variety of brands including Dove, Domestos and Vaseline. 

In Unilever’s annual report covering the year 2025, Unilever’s CEO Fernando Fernandez said: “We are moving at speed to build a business that drives Desire at Scale in our brands and execution excellence across all channels.”

Unilever’s global factories

Unilever is headquartered in London. In the UK, Unilever’s five factories produce nearly 4.5 million products every day, delivering 1.5 billion products each year. Its UK manufacturing operations support the delivery of 24 household brands in the country.

Multiple Unilever factories have been recognised by the WEF’s Global Lighthouse Network. 

Its Hefei factory-to-consumer site in China was awarded the WEF Global Lighthouse Distinction in Supply Chain Resilience. The site's transition to a factory-to-consumer model has been supported by 31 digitally enabled use cases, 65% of which are “GenAI-driven”, according to the company.

Its Pondicherry Home Care site in India was recognised with the WEF Global Lighthouse Distinction in Productivity and its Gandhidham Personal Care site in India was awarded the WEF Global Lighthouse Distinction in Sustainability. 

The group also manufactures in Brazil, Germany and in the Philippines, as well as a variety of other countries. 

In 2025, Unilever rolled out a new digital manufacturing system called which is now embedded in 124 of its factories globally. The company says the system covers 2,100 manufacturing lines, which is more than 75% of the company's total production capacity.

Unilever's range of products

Unilever’s products span beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care and foods. 

In March of 2026, the multinational consumer goods company announced a deal to sell its foods business, including Hellman's mayonnaise, to US company McCormick in a US$44.8bn deal.

In beauty and wellbeing, the company’s products include Dove, Nutrafol, Nexxus, Dermalogica, TRESemmé, Vaseline and POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE. 

In personal care products, Unilever manufactures Axe, Closeup, Rexona, Lifebuoy and Pepsodent.

Its home care products include Domestos, Comfort, Cif, OMO, Radiant, Surf and Sunlight. 

Sustainability strategy

Unilever says its sustainability targets play a critical role in futureproofing the business, ensuring focus and urgency in the areas where it can deliver the most impact.

Rianne Buter, Unilever’s Global Head of Sustainability, says: “We’ve set clear sustainability priorities and remain focused on delivering our targets to enhance the value of our business through innovation, operational efficiency and long-term resilience.”

Unilever’s key leaders

Fernando Fernandez was appointed as Unilever’s CEO in March 2025 and is responsible for leading the consumer goods business across its presence in 190 countries. Prior to this, Fernando was CFO from January 2024, though he joined Unilever in 1988.

Srinivas Phatak is the company’s CFO. Srinivas is an accomplished business and finance leader passionate about driving growth and delivering sustainable impact. In his career of more than 25 years with Unilever, Srinivas has covered all parts of business and corporate finance.

Mairéad Nayager is the company’s Chief People Officer and is responsible for Unilever’s global people strategy, global talent, culture and organisation initiatives.