Unilever has announced that it will separate its ice cream business, most likely via a demerger. Following separation, expected by end-2025, the FMCG player will become a more focused company, operating four business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Nutrition.
Unilever, which in October 2023 announced its Growth Action Plan, also intends to launch a comprehensive productivity programme, driving focus and faster growth through a leaner, more accountable organisation, enabled by investment in technology. This is expected to deliver total cost savings of around €800mn (US$874mn) over the next three years. The proposed changes will impact around 7,500 predominantly office-based roles globally.
Nicholas Hall Writes: One of the future drivers of the global CHC market is the arrival of new players, and here I don’t mean private equity. But so far that list is not a long one and only Nestlé Health Science and Unilever have joined our industry’s big league. Possibly reflecting their commercial roots in food, both companies specialise in VMS and have so far made the USA the centre of their gravity, possibly to take advantage of DSHEA legislation, which permits structure / function claims for unregistered supplements. Both companies have embraced e-commerce and over 50% of Unilever’s Wellness sales derive from this sector and an estimated 40% for Nestlé Health Science. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Unilever is willing to spin-off its lolly (and ice cream) in favour of Olly.
My colleague Liz Cummings was in Florida last week at the CHPA Self-Care Leadership Summit. Lisa Paley, who is the CHPA Board Chairman and Haleon’s President, North America, emphasised in her keynote address that Trust is the foundation of CHC, a statement with which I totally agree: “We have the good fortune to inherit this trust to some extent, but we can never take that trust for granted. This is something that requires input, attention and care from every CHPA member as we remain good shepherds of this industry.” Consumers are shifting to TikTok and Google for health information rather than HCPs and it’s imperative to keep their trust in the moments when they are making important decisions. Inclusivity is important as well. “After 10 years, we can expect to see an older, more diverse population. We have an obligation to make it easier for ageing, multicultural populations to access their critical medicines, their supplements and new devices.”
Nicholas examines the CHC competitive scenario with a dedicated chapter in his recent signature New Paradigms report, which also explores key issues including mental wellness, demographics and women’s healthcare. To purchase your copy, or to find out more about optional add-on presentations and quarterly updates, please get in touch with melissa.lee@NicholasHall.com.
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