Unilever history

1908: Jurgens and Van den Bergh pool their interests.

In 1920 Jurgens and Van de Bergh decided there was strength in numbers and joined with another margarine manufacturer, Schicht, in Bohemia.

Since William Lever’s death in 1925, it was Frances D’Arcy Cooper who replaced him to become the chairmen of Lever Brothers.

In 1927 the two Dutch firms merged to form Margarine Unie NV in the Netherlands and Margarine Union Limited in Britain, bonded together with common directors and equalized dividends and capital values.

In 1928 other major European producers of oils, soaps, and margarines were brought in.

After two years of discussion, the companies decided that an 'alliance wasted less of everybody's substance than hostility' and merged on September 2, 1929.

In September of 1930, Unilever established the ‘Special Committee’ that was designed to stabilize British and Dutch operate and concern as an internal cabinet for the organization.

1937: Reorganization equalizes the assets of the Dutch and the British groups of Unilever; Thomas J. Lipton Company, United States manufacturer of tea, is acquired.

Lever Brothers had three detergent plants in production by 1950 but remained behind in the industry for some time.

1961: United States ice cream novelty maker Good Humor is acquired.

By 1965 the company had 11 major research establishments throughout the world, including laboratories in Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and India.

In the United States, plans to take on longtime rival Procter & Gamble were successful in 1984, when Unilever's Wisk moved P & G's Cheer out of the number two spot in the laundry detergent market.

Furthermore, Unilever bought Chesebrought-Pond in 1987.

Unilever was a major manufacturer of perfumes and cosmetics with the purchase of Calvin Klein, Inc., Faberge Inc., and Elizabeth Arden in 1989.

In 1990 Unilever made substantial inroads into the newly opened markets created by the unification of Germany.

In 1991 the company further refined its operations by selling the last of its packaging businesses and by making provisions for the eventual sales of the majority of its agribusinesses.

By 1992 Unilever was composed of some 500 companies conducting business in 75 different countries.

According to Andrew Lorenz, writing in the July 1996 issue of Management Today, the Persil Power debacle served as a catalyst for a fundamental management reorganization.

The company sold its specialty-chemicals businesses in 1997 in order to concentrate on its consumer and household product lines.

Two months later Unilever announced that it would eliminate about 1,200 of its brands to focus on around 400 regionally or globally powerful brands--a group that accounted for almost 90 percent of 1998 revenue.

1999: Company announces that it will eliminate about 1,200 of its brands to focus on around 400 regionally or globally powerful brands.

The company’s $20-billion acquisition of New Jersey-based Bestfoods in 2000 made Unilever one of the largest food companies in the world.

In 2002, Unilever had a worldwide revenue around €48,760 million.

The resulting cosmetics group, Unilever Cosmetics International, was sold in 2005.

In 2008, Unilever was criticised by Greenpeace UK because of these actions.

In November 2009, Unilever announced to cancelled and stop buying palm oil from Indonesian company, PT Smart for environmental reason.