All articles tagged with #unilever
A federal judge dismissed most of Ben & Jerry's lawsuit against Unilever, ruling that the ice cream maker's independent directors lacked standing to sue on behalf of the company. The court allowed claims regarding unpaid funds to proceed, while Magnum, which now owns the brand, replaced Unilever as the primary defendant.
Ben & Jerry’s Foundation will shut down at year’s end after its corporate parent Magnum/Unilever cut funding and evicted staff following an independent audit flagging governance and conflicts-of-interest concerns. The foundation, which yearly grants about $600,000 to Vermont groups and has supported social‑justice causes for 40 years, is part of an ongoing SDNY lawsuit over whether the parent had authority to reshape governance and withhold funding. Magnum alleges the trustees ignored audit findings, while advocates say the move jeopardizes the foundation’s mission and the communities it serves, with no endowment and reliance on annual funding complicating the path forward.
Unilever unveiled plans for a $270 million Global Innovation Center in New Haven, Connecticut, a major investment aimed at accelerating product development and collaboration for its consumer goods portfolio.
Unilever will invest $270 million to open a 200,000-square-foot Global Innovation Center in the planned 2 Church Street lab-office building in downtown New Haven, creating about 300 jobs for scientists, engineers, and researchers in skincare, personal care, fragrances, packaging, and wellbeing testing. Construction could start next year and take about 24 months, with occupancy expected in spring 2029; Quantum CT will also lease space in the same building.
Unilever unveiled plans for a $270 million global innovation centre in New Haven, CT, including $50 million in capex, with around 300 staff and a spring 2029 launch. The facility will consolidate skincare, hair, fragrance, packaging, and human performance testing under one roof, leveraging AI, neuroscience and university partnerships to speed product development and scale US innovations globally for beauty, wellbeing and personal care.
Unilever announced an agreement to acquire Grüns, a leading US greens supplement brand founded in 2023, as part of a push to grow its premium Wellbeing portfolio in the US. Terms were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close later this year subject to regulatory approvals. Grüns, a digitally native brand with a strong retail and DTC footprint and a growing product line, will join Unilever’s Wellbeing business.
McCormick & Co. announced it will acquire Unilever's global seasoning business, expanding its spice-and-flavor portfolio and international reach. The deal, expected to close after regulatory approvals, will add established seasoning brands to McCormick’s lineup and strengthen its position in the growing flavors market.
Unilever and McCormick announced a deal to merge Unilever’s Foods business with McCormick, creating a $20 billion global flavor powerhouse; post‑completion, Unilever will become a pure‑play HPC company, while the combined portfolio will include iconic brands like Knorr and Hellmann’s and growth brands such as Cholula, Maille and Frank’s.
Unilever will merge its food arm with McCormick in a $44.8 billion deal, giving Unilever 65% of the new company and McCormick running the global business; the lineup includes Knorr, Pot Noodle, Hellmann’s, French’s, Old Bay and Cholula, with about $600 million in annual cost savings expected by year three. Some Unilever food operations (e.g., India) won’t join, while Unilever’s remaining business focuses on beauty/personal care/home; a European listing is planned; the deal is structured as a Reverse Morris Trust to be tax-free in the US, and shares moved modestly after the announcement.
McCormick is in talks to buy Unilever’s food business, a deal Barclays analysts value at over $30 billion, a move that would dramatically boost its global condiment and cooking-aid portfolio after past acquisitions like Frank's RedHot, French's, and Cholula, though financing and execution remain key hurdles in a tougher market.
Unilever is negotiating a multibillion-dollar sale of its food division to McCormick, including Marmite, Hellmann’s, Knorr and Pot Noodle, as it pivots toward beauty and personal care; the deal could use a Reverse Morris Trust and be funded with stock and cash, with Unilever possibly taking a minority stake, but there is no certainty a deal will close.
Unilever is in discussions to merge its foods business with McCormick in an all-stock deal, potentially reshaping the group to focus on beauty, personal care and home products; the talks are not guaranteed, and Unilever has signaled a shift away from food in recent years.
Unilever has updated its laundry detergents to better remove modern stains like matcha, Aperol, and bubble tea, which are increasingly common among Gen Z due to changing lifestyles and food trends. The company’s new stain index highlights these emerging stains, prompting reformulation of products like Persil and Surf to address these colorful and stubborn marks, reflecting evolving consumer habits and social media influences.
Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, claims that Unilever blocked the company from launching a Palestine-themed ice cream flavor to express solidarity with Palestine. Cohen plans to independently create a watermelon-flavored sorbet symbolizing Palestinian solidarity, highlighting ongoing disputes over the company's social activism and independence following Unilever's control. The controversy underscores tensions between corporate ownership and social mission commitments.
The article argues that the era of corporate social responsibility is over, highlighting how major companies like Ben & Jerry's are silencing their activism due to political pressures and corporate interests, exemplified by conflicts with Unilever and the broader trend of corporations avoiding controversial issues amid rising authoritarianism.