Unilever 2004 Annual Report Download - page 14

Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2004 11
About Unilever
(continued)
Our brands include Comfort,Omo, Radiant, Skip, Snuggle and
Surf, and they are available in over 100 countries.
Our household care products are designed to meet most cleaning
and hygiene needs around the home. In this category, our
heartland is Europe, where Cif and Domestos hold strong
positions in the key markets in which they operate.
Personal care
We lead the global deodorants and skin cleansing markets, and
are in the top three in daily hair care and mass-market skin care.
Six global brands – Axe, Dove, Lux, Pond’s, Rexona and Sunsilk –
are the core of our business in these categories. They are
complemented by Suave, mainly in North America, and ‘health
brands’ such as Clear, Lifebuoy and Vaseline, together with a
selection of regional and local ‘jewels’.
In oral care we have strong positions in a number of countries in
Europe and in developing and emerging markets, particularly with
our Signal and Close Up toothpaste brands.
Our global prestige fragrance business is based on the Calvin
Klein range, which includes cK one, Eternity and Obsession,
complemented by ranges developed with other designers.
Other operations
To support our consumer brands, we have invested in tea
plantations in India and Africa and palm oil plantations in Africa.
Corporate venture activities
In 2004 Unilever reviewed the progress of its venturing activities
and decided to increase the funds available for investment to
€250 million and to extend the period to five years (2002-2006).
These funds are invested in venturing activities to build business
opportunities that fit our core business interests in Foods and
Home and Personal Care. Of this, we have committed €97 million
to Langholm Capital Partners Fund, which invests in private
European companies with above-average longer-term growth
prospects. It has invested in Physcience, a French natural food
supplements business, and Noiro, the leading company in the
mass prestige personal care market in Finland.
Up to €120 million will be invested over the five years, in two
venture funds of our own, Unilever Ventures and Unilever
Technology Ventures. Unilever Ventures acts as an early stage
business development fund for businesses both from within
Unilever and from outside. During 2004 its major new
investments have been in Alleggra, a healthy egg replacement
business, Re-aqua Beauty Centres in the UK and the
Biotechnology Application Centre in the Netherlands, a
technology spinout from Unilever. Unilever Technology Ventures
invests in technology funds and start-up companies. It has
invested in a life science and a materials science fund, as well as
in companies working in haplotyping genomics technology,
systems biology, radio frequency identification, plant science and
water purification.
As at 31 December 2004 we have invested €100 million in all our
venture activities.
Technology and innovation
In 2004 Unilever spent €1 040 million on research and
development, representing 2.6% of our turnover. Our R&D
groups respond to emerging consumer needs – revealed in our
carefully researched consumer insights – and supply a stream of
innovation.
Corporate Research and Unilever Technology Ventures search out
and identify new technology, which is fed through to the
divisional R&D programmes.
Foods and HPC also use external scientists who are at the
forefront of their own fields to review their R&D programmes and
ensure that they are at the leading edge of scientific excellence.
In Home Care, we continued to roll out new technologies under
the Omo brand, including laundry bars optimised for great
cleaning performance in Africa and Asia. The Radiant brand
launched new formulations to improve fabric colour protection in
South Africa.
For our Comfort fabric conditioner we launched our first-ever
‘unit dose’ conditioner capsules in the UK, while in Vietnam, we
launched a concentrated variant of Comfort.
Our Domestos bleach business returned to growth in 2004,
thanks to an innovation leading to the ‘thickest-ever’ bleach,
which was developed by our global technology centre in Italy.
In personal care, there have been important global initiatives.
Dove has been relaunched with new graphics and packaging
across skin, hair and deodorants. Lux launched a new range of
bars, with a step change in sensorial benefits, together with
outstanding fragrances and new packaging. Axe deodorant in
North America now offers longer-lasting fragrances, while in
other regions 24-7 and the new Touch variant have been
launched.
In oral care, the family brands Signal and Pepsodent were
relaunched, incorporating a new technology allowing extended
protection. The design centre in Italy also launched two new
toothbrushes: a top-performance brush with new bristle
technology giving superior plaque removal and an affordable
four-pack of brushes launched from India.
We have also developed an internet-based system that will bring
the power of the net to people in rural India as part of a
marketing initiative in Hindustan Lever. The pilot has been very
successful and the algorithms developed as part of this project are
more widely applicable as a tool for consumer dialogue.
In savoury, R&D has been aligned to the new Vitality mission with
innovation in soups linked to naturalness and nutrition benefits.
Innovations included the launch of chilled soups, together with
new pack formats. Knorr innovations in cooking aids included
Cubitos seasoning cubes, powdered seasonings and ‘meal
makers’, targeted at developing and emerging markets.