Unilever's 'sustainable brands' growing twice as fast as regular ones

At the London launch of its Sustainable Living Plan progress report, Unilever has revealed that its sustainable living brands such as Dove and Lifebuoy, are growing faster than regular brands.

Indeed, the FMCG giant's sustainable brands grew at twice the rate of its regular business, according to Paul Polman, Unilever ceo. “In a volatile world of growing social inequality, rising population, development challenges and climate change, the need for businesses to adapt is clear, as are the benefits and opportunities. This calls for a transformational approach across the whole value chain if we are to continue to grow. Consumers are recognising this too, increasingly demanding responsible business and responsible brands.

"Our experience is that brands whose purpose and products respond to that demand – ‘sustainable living brands’ – are delivering stronger and faster growth. These brands accounted for half the company’s growth in 2014 and grew at twice the rate of the rest of the business.”

The company also confirmed that it is on track to meet most of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan goals, which it set in 2010 and reported significant supply chain progress: more than 55% of Unilever’s agricultural raw materials are now sustainably sourced.

Against the ambitious target to help improve the health and well-being of over 1 billion people by 2020, Unilever is nearly 40% of the way to reaching it. The company says that it has also enhanced the livelihoods of over 1 million people so far, having helped and trained 800,000 smallholder farmers since 2010 and provided 238,000 women with access to training, support and skills.

You can read the full progress report here.