The 21st century started with the launch of Path to Growth – a strategy to transform the business, leading to more acquisitions and the rationalisation of manufacturing and production sites to form centres of excellence. This was followed by the One Unilever programme, aligning the organization behind a single strategy, simplifying our business and leveraging our scale more effectively.
Our mission 'to meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people look good, feel good and get more out of life' was launched in 2004. Reaching across the whole organization, how we are 'bringing Vitality to life' continues to provide the basis for our category, regional and functional strategies today.
The last decade has seen a fundamental shift in people’s shopping and purchasing habits. With consumers becoming more socially, environmentally and civically motivated, we are increasingly embedding sustainable thinking into our day-to-day activities. In 2002, the Lifebuoy brand launched its hygiene education programme, Swasthya Chetna. This has reached nearly 51,000 villages and made a difference to the lives of 120 million people in rural areas of India.
In 2004, we became a founding member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) – a body which we currently chair. In 2008, in an effort to halt deforestation, we announced our commitment to draw all our palm oil from certified sustainable sources by 2015. In 2007, Lipton launched a sustainable tea partnership with the Rainforest Alliance, announcing our aim to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags in Western Europe sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms by 2010 and all Lipton tea bags globally similarly sourced by 2015.
As the end of the 2000s draw to a close, the whole world is experiencing unprecedented economic uncertainty. Unilever was born at the time of the Great Depression of the 1930s and has had to deal with many economic and financial crises since. Being able to respond quickly to rapidly changing market conditions will ensure it emerges from the recession stronger than ever.