Unilever Bangladesh's History and Operations in 40 Characters

Overview of Unilever Bangladesh 2014
Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch company, with a history of colonial exploitation, on which it has

gradually built its capital. Today it owns most of the world's consumer product brands in
food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs more than
247,000 people and had worldwide revenue of 48 760 million in 2002. Unilever has two
parent companies: Unilever NV in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Unilever PLC in London,
United Kingdom. This arrangement is similar to that of Reed Elsevier, and that of Royal
Dutch Shell prior to their unified structure. Both Unilever companies have the same
directors and effectively operate as a single business. The current non-executive Chairman
of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Antony Burgmans while Patrick Cescau is Group Chief Executive.
Unilever's major competitors include Nestl and Procter & Gamble.


HISTORY OF UNILEVER
Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever. Lever established soap
factories around the world. In 1917, he began to diversify into foods, acquiring fish, ice
cream and canned foods businesses. In the Thirties, Unilever introduced improved
technology to the business. The bus
In a history that now crosses three centuries, Unilever's success has been influenced by the
major events of the day economic boom, depression, world wars, changing consumer
lifestyles and advances in technology. And throughout they've created products that help
people get more out of life cutting the time spent on household chores, improving
nutrition, enabling people to enjoy food and take care of their homes, their clothes and
themselves.
America. The entrepreneurial spirit of the founders and their caring approach to their
employees and their communities remain at the heart of Unilever's business today.
Unilever was formed in 1930 when the Dutch margarine company Margarine Unie merged
with British soap maker Lever Brothers. Companies were competing for the same raw
materials, both were involved in large-scale marketing of household products and both used
similar distribution channels. Between them, they had operations in over 40 countries.
Margarine Unie grew through mergers with other margarine companies in the 1920s.
In a history that now crosses three centuries, Unilever's success has been influenced by the
major events of the day economic boom, depression, world wars, changing consumer
lifestyles and advances in technology. And throughout they've created products that help
people get more out of life cutting the time spent on household chores, improving
nutrition, enabling people to enjoy food and take care of their homes, their clothes and
themselves.
Through this timeline you'll see how UBL brand portfolio has evolved. At the beginning of
the 21st century, path to Growth strategy focused us on global high-potential brands and
vitality mission is taking us into a new phase of development. More than ever, how brands
are helping people 'feel good, look good and get more out of life' a sentiment close to
Lord Leverhulme's heart over a hundred years ago
Timeline
19th century: Although Unilever wasn't formed until 1930, the companies that joined forces
to create the business we know today were already well established before
the start of the 20th century.

1900s: Unilever's founding companies produced products made of oils and fats,
principally soap and margarine. At the beginning of the 20th century their
expansion nearly outstrips the supply of raw materials.
1910s: Tough economic conditions and the First World War make trading difficult for
everyone, so many businesses form trade associations to protect their shared
interests.
1920s: With businesses expanding fast, companies set up negotiations intending to
stop others producing the same types of products. But instead they agree to
merge - and so Unilever is created.
1930s: Unilever's first decade is no easy ride: it starts with the Great Depression and
ends with the Second World War. But while the business rationalizes operations,
it also continues to diversify.
1940s: Unilever's operations around the world begin to fragment, but the business
continues to expand further into the foods market and increase investment
in research and development.
1950s: Business booms as new technology and the European Economic Community
lead to rising standards of living in the West, while new markets open up in
emerging economies around the globe.
1960s: As the world economy expands so does Unilever and it sets about developing
new products, entering new markets and running a highly ambitious
acquisition program.
1970s: Hard economic conditions and high inflation make the 70s a tough time for
everyone, but things are particularly difficult in the fast-moving consumer
goods (FMCG) sector as the big retailers start to flex their muscles.
1980s: The business expands into Central and Eastern Europe and further sharpens
its focus on fewer product categories, leading to the sale or withdrawal of
two-thirds of its brands.
1990s: The business expands into Central and Eastern Europe and further sharpens
its focus on fewer product categories, leading to the sale or withdrawal of
two-thirds of its brands.
The 21
st
Centuries: The decade starts with the launch of Path to Growth, a five-year strategic
plan, and in 2004 further sharpens its focus on the needs of 21st century
consumers with its Vitality mission.

Unilever Design & History

In 2005, Unilever decided to change their logo to represent their new theme of vitality. The
new logo was also planned to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the company. The new
logo tells the story of Unilever and vitality. It brings together 25 different icons representing
Unilever and its brands, the idea of vitality and the benefits Unilever brings to consumers.
The icons are represented below.
Sun: The primary natural resource. All life begins with the sun- the ultimate
symbol vitality. It evokes Unilevers origin in port of sunlight & can
represent a number of Unilever brands.
DNA: The double helix. The generic blueprint of life and a symbol of bio-
science, it is a key to healthy life. The sun is the biggest ingredient of
life and DNA is the smallest.
Bee: Represent creation, pollination, hard works and bio diversity. Bees
symbolize both environmental challenges and opportunities.

Hand: A symbol of sensitivity, care and need. It represents both skin and
touch.
Flower: Represent fragrance, when seen with the hand, it represents
moisturizing cream.
Hair: A symbol of beauty and looking good. Placed next to the flower, it
evokes cleanliness and fragrances; placed near the hand it suggests
softness.
Palm tree: A natural resource, it produces palm oil as well as many fruits.
Coconut and dates are also symbolize paralyze.
Spoon: A symbol of nutrition, tasting and cooking.
Bowl: A bowl of delicious smelling food. It can also represent a ready meal,
hot drinks or soup.
Spice &
Flavors: Represent chili or fresh ingredients.
Fish: Represent food, sea or fresh water.
Sparkle: Clean,
Bird: A symbol of freedom. It suggests relief from daily chores, getting
more out of life.
Recycle: Part of commitment to sustainability.
Lips: Represent beauty, looking good & taste
Ice-cream: A treat, pleasure or enjoyment.
Tea: A plant or an extract of a plant, such as tea, also a symbol of growing
and farming
Particles: A reference to science bubbles and fizz.
Frozen: The plant is a symbol of freshness, the snowflake represent freezing, a
transformational symbol.
Wave: Symbolize cleanliness, freshness and vigorous icon. (With the clothes
icon)
Liquid: A reference to clean water and purity.

Container: Symbolizes packaging- a pot of cream associated with personal care.
Unilever Bangladesh

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is one of the worlds most successful fast moving consumer goods
manufacturing companies with local manufacturing facilities, reporting to regional business
groups for innovation and business results.
Lever Brothers Bangladesh Ltd. as a subsidiary of Unilever is leading the home care, personal
care and food product market of Bangladesh. On 25
th
February 1964 the eastern plant of
Lever Brothers Pakistan Ltd. was inaugurated at Kalurghat, Chittagong with a soap
production capacity of approximately 485 metric tons. It was a private limited company with
55% share held by Unilever and the rest by the Government of Pakistan. After independence
the eastern plant was declared abandoned. But on 5
th
July 1973 it was registered under the
name of Lever Brothers Bangladesh Ltd. as a joint venture company of Unilever PLC and the
Govt. of Bangladesh with a share arrangement of 60.75% to Unilever and 39.25% to the
Bangladesh Govt.

Type of business: Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with local manufacturing
facilities, reporting to regional business groups for innovation and
business results.
Operations: Home and Personal Care, Foods
Constitution: Unilever - 60.75% shares, Government of Bangladesh - 39.25%
Product
categories: Household Care, Fabric Cleaning, Skin Cleansing, Skin Care, Oral Care,
Hair Care, Personal Grooming, Tea based Beverages.
Brands: Wheel, Lux, Lifebuoy, Fair & Lovely, Pond's, Close Up, Sunsilk, Taaza,
Pepsodent, Clear, Vim, Surf Excel, Rexona, Dove, Vaseline &Lakme.
Manufacturing
Facilities: The Company has a Soap Manufacturing factory and a Personal
Products Factory located in Chittagong. Besides these, there is a tea
Unilever at a Glance

packaging operation in Chittagong and three manufacturing units in
Dhaka, which are owned and run by third parties exclusively
dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh.
Employees: Unilever Operations in Bangladesh provide employment to over
10,000 people directly and through its dedicated suppliers,
distributors and service providers. 99.5% of UBL employees are locals
and they have equal number of Bangladeshis working abroad in other
Unilever companies as expatriates

Mission
Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition; hygiene
and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of
life.
Vision
To make cleanliness a commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and
contribute to personal attractiveness, in order that life may be more enjoyable and
rewarding for the people who use the products.
Goals
The goals of UBL are:
To manufacture high-standard products.
Promoting products to the highest extent
Producing large volume to achieve production cost economies.
Enabling quality products to be sold out at obtainable prices.


Unilever Brand Variations

In Bangladesh the company operates in four distinct product categories. These are:
Fabric Wash
Household care
Personal care
Foods

Fabric Wash
Wheel Laundry Soap
Wheel Washing Powder
Wheel Power White
Surf Excel

Household Care
Vim Powder
Vim Bar
Vim Liquid
Personal Care
Unilever
Bangladesh
Home and
personal care
Home Care
Fabric Wash Houseold Care
Personal Care
Personal products
Skin Care Oral Care
Health Care Deo
Personal Wash
Food & beverage
Tea

International Lux
Lifebuoy Total
Dove bar
Lifebuoy Liquid soap
Skin Care
Fair & Lovely Multivitamins
Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk
Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic
Fair & Lovely Menz Active
Ponds Age Miracle range
Ponds Daily Face Wash range
Ponds Cold Cream
Ponds Perfect result Cream
Ponds Dream Flower Talc
Ponds flawless white range
Ponds White Beauty Range
Ponds Body Lotion
Lakme skin care products
Dove skin care products
Vaseline skin care products

Hair Care
Sun Silk Shampoo
All Clear Shampoo
Lifebuoy Shampoo
Dove shampoo

Oral Care
Close-up Toothpaste
Pepsodent Toothpaste
Pepsodent Toothpowder
Pepsodent Tooth brush
Deodorant
Rexona
Axe

Foods
Lipton TaazaDanadar

Lipton Taaza strong
Lipton Taaza Teabag.

Organizational Structure of Unilever

In terms of Unilever, they have two chairmen leading the company worldwide. They have
seven top directors leading seven different departments. They have divided their worldwide
business into different region and have different business groups to manage them.
Unilever Bangladesh limited falls under the Southeast Asian region. On a more micro scale,
Unilever Bangladesh ltd is monitored by Hindustan lever Ltd. which oversees operation in
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Srilanka. The chairman of Unilever Bangladesh Limited is
known as the managing director. The management staff of the company consists of six
layers, starting from junior manager (who are local managers) to manager grade 5 (who are
Unilever managers). Apart from this the company also hires many non management staff as
well as operatives to work in the factories.
Unilever Bangladesh Limited has five departments to carry out all the organizational
functions. Respective directors head are head of all departments. These departments are:
1. Customer Development Department Headed by Customer Development Director
(CDD)
2. Brands & Development Department headed by the Brands and Development Director
(B&DD)
3. Supply Chain Department headed by the Supply Chain Director (SCD)

4. Finance Department headed by Finance Director (FD)
5. Human Resources Department headed by the Human Resources Director (HRD)


Brands and Development Department:
The Brands Team has been expanded to Brands and Development, thus providing
opportunity of increased coordination between the marketing and Development Team.
Insight into consumer needs and aspirations is critical if new market opportunities are to be
identified. New market opportunities must be identified if they are looking for sustainable
profitable growth, keeping them miles ahead of their competitors. However it is also crucial
to exploit technology and developments to translate the found insight into tangible
products catering to the needs and aspirations of the consumers with speed. A deep
understanding of both consumers and technologies provides an essential foundation for
successful innovation. To ensure a successful innovation process at Unilever, Brands and
Development have been bought together. This will help their development team to have
closer contact with the consumer world, following the leads and cues of their aspirations
and thus innovating products tailored accordingly at a faster pace. Brands and Development
Department is further divided into six major areas. They include:
Home care
Personal care
Dental Services

Supply Chain Department:
Chairman &
Managing
Drector
Director,
Customer
development
Director, Supply
Chain
Director, Human
Resource
Director, Finance
Director, Brand
Deevelopment

The Supply Chain Director (SCD) who is in charge of planning, buying, manufacturing and
distributing heads Supply Chain Department. The supply chain process constitutes a series
of important activities ensuring smooth delivery to the consumers. Supply chain process led
to joining planning and buying with manufacturing. This chain is further extended by joining
distribution to the chain, thus integrating both backward and forward linkages. An
integrated supply chain will give them the advantage of acting with speed, enabling them to
keep up with pace of the ever changing business scenario. At present, it is divided into the
following functions:
Manufacturing
Engineering
Company Buying
Distribution
Quality Assurance
Planning
Finance and IT Department:
The Finance and IT departments are jointly headed by one Director. The main objectives of
this department are to serve all the division and departments of the companies, to secure
and safeguard company assets and interest, to ensure proper internal control within the
company and above all, to be cost effective in order to get optimum benefit for the
company while operating. At present the major sub departments are:
Business system
Finance
Legal.
Food
Tea export
Marketing research

Human Resources Department:
The Human Resources Director (HRD) currently heads this department. The major Functions
of this department are
Factory Personnel functions or Industrial Relations,
Recruitment, Training and developments, labor welfare,
Personnel Services and Security.

All these major personnel functions are integrated in the best possible way in Unilever
Bangladesh Limited which results in its higher productivity. Industrial relations or the factory

personnel functions are looked after by factory personnel manager, training and
development activities are supervised by Manager Human Resource Development,
Employee Welfare, activities are monitored by Assistant Manager labor welfare, personnel
services are looked after by the FPM along with the office services manager and finally
security officer is responsible for all the security services At present, the total number of
personnel in Unilever Bangladesh Limited are 720 which includes 159 in management & 543
unionized permanent workers.

Customer Development Department:
Managing customers i.e. retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, is becoming critical day by
day. With the evolution of modern trade and aggressive local and international competition,
role of Customer Management has also been gradually shifting from traditional Sales: to
Trade Marketing. Category Management, Space Management and In-store merchandising
are becoming more and more important. Exploring and developing new channels are
becoming critical to drive their business forward. With more and more sophistication, the
role of Customer Management will evolve further and the whole game will be turned into
Relationship Marketing. The customer management director (CMD) heads the Customer
Management Department. Reporting to him are the Sales Operation Manager, Regional
Sales Managers and Area Sales Managers. Company organized media is under the Sales
Operation Manager. Assistant Area managers report to the Regional Sales Managers.
Territory Managers report to the Assistant Area sales managers, Area Sales Managers and
Regional Sales Managers, which differ in different sales areas. TheCustomer Management
Department, early called Sales Department, is responsible for all company goods and
maintains the following customer management strategy:

Strong distribution network
Widest distribution with seasonal operation in cost effectives areas.
Effective and focused company sales force
Major thrust in rural market


Strategeies followed By Unilever

Functional Level Strategies:
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd follows different functional level strategies to gain competitive
advantages and sustain it in the long run in the matured industries.

They increase their efficiency through exploiting economies of scale and
learning effects. For example, 808,720 bars of soaps, 1,023,810 packets of
detergent powders, 154, 430 toothpaste tubes and sachets,329, 530 bottles
and sachets of shampoo, 156, 910 tubes, jars, bottles and sachets of creams
and lotions, and 35, 000 packets of tea are produced in one day in
Bangladesh by Unilever.

They adopt flexible manufacturing technologies, upgrade the skills of
employees through training and perform research and development function
to design products that are easy to manufacture.

They have higher customer responsiveness rate. They carry out extensive
research to innovate new products and modify the existing products to better
satisfy the consumers.

They continuously innovate products, promotional activities, packaging and
distribution. This way they can respond quickly to customer demands.

Business-Level Strategies:
Unilevers strategic managers adopt different business level strategies to use the companys
resources and distinctive competencies to gain competitive advantage over its rivals. These
are:
They follow cost-leadership strategy as they have intermittent over capacity
and the ability to gain economies of scale. This way they can produce cost
effective products and yet be profitable.


They also follow differentiation strategy for some products to meet the needs
of the consumers in a unique way.

They also target different market segments with different products to have
broad product line. By product proliferation they reduce the threat of entry
and expand the range of products they make to fill a wide variety of niches.

Strategy in the Global Environment:
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. is registered under Unilever. As a part of a global company it
follows some generalized strategies and principals of Unilever. However, they also modify
different strategies based on the national conditions. The different strategies that they
follow in the global environment are stated below:
As a worldwide famous company and comprising internationally renowned
brands gives them unique strengths that allow a company to achieve superior
efficiency, quality, innovation, or customer responsiveness. The different policies
and strategies Unilever follows and their experience is transferred to Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd.

They import the raw materials from the places where it is less costly, thus
achieve location economy.

They are locally responsive. They are always ready to improve and modify their
products to meet the needs of the local customers.

UBL follows a multi domestic strategy where the companies extensively
customize both their product offering and marketing strategy to different
national conditions.

Corporate strategy:
UBL carries out the following corporate level strategies:
They involve in short term contracts and competitive bidding for the supply of
raw materials.

They have a diversified business. UBL has both related and unrelated
diversification. They compete in nine different industries with various products
from home care, personal care and even food products. They have economies of

scope as most of the products can share the same manufacturing facilities, inputs
and specially the distribution channels.

Competitor Scenario

Category Products Of Unilever Competing brands
Personal Wash Lux Keya Beauty Soap, Tibet
Beauty
Soap, Aromatic, Camelia
Lifebouy Dettol, Savlon, Bactrol
Detergent, Laundry and
Household Wash
Wheel Laundry Soap Tibet, Keya Laundry Soap,
Chaaka,
Pocha ball soap
Wheel Powder Tibet Washing Powder, Keya
Washing Powder
Surf Excel Tide, Ariel

Vim Liquid

Trix , Saaf
Lifebuoy Liquid

Dettol Liquid
Oral Care Close Up

Colgate, Fresh Gel
Pepsodent White Plus, Medi Plus
Pepsodent Powder Magic tooth Powder
Skin Care Ponds Face Wash,

Scrub Mostly different
foreign brands
Ponds Lotion Meril, Johnson
& Johnson
Ponds Powder

Tibet Talcum Powder, Meril
Talc,
Johnson & Johnson
Fair and Lovely Fair and Care, Emami

Hair Care

Sunsilk Pantene and other foreign
brands


All Clear Head & Shoulders
Deodorant

Rexona Mostly foreign brands
Axe

Food Lipton Taaza IspahaniMirzapore, Tetley,

SWOT Analysis

Brands have the added appeal for international heritage and
connection. Almost all the brands are the top brands in their
respective categories.
Strong hold over the distributors
Has competitive advantage in terms of consumer insight,
on-shore manufacturing experience, and efficient human
resources.
Offers the consumers value for money with world-renowned
brands at an affordable price.
Worldwide supply chain network, which helps them to get
raw material more in a more cost effective manner.
Has access to top notch process and systems designed for
Unilever by the best consultants
Can implement tried and tested processes of innovation and
process simplification with help for Unilever global
assistance teams.

Strength

Suffers from consistent supply chain issues- with demand in
the market often exceeding supply. In such situation,
competitors find it very easy to make their own foothold.
As a brand developing country, has less opportunity to
impact a brands direction.
Many global and regional decisions may not be in line with
businesss well being at country level
Bangladesh trade structure is a lot different than majority of
other Unilever operating countries: with modern trade being
a very minuscule proportion of the business in Bangladesh,
whereas elsewhere it is often an important-if not majority of
the business.

Weakness
Has access to numerous global brands targeted to any and
all target segments that can be sourced anytime by Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd. With no huge brand building costs. This is
something local competitors can never do.
Huge potential for growth as the Bangladesh economy
gathers momentum.
In Bangladesh, penetration in personal products such as:
Toothpaste, Shampoo, Deodorant is very low. While this is a
challenge, it provides a huge opportunity to capitalize on the
untapped market and limitless sales growth opportunities

Opportunities
Slow down of the economy in general can effect sales
growths in the coming periods
New tax policy can effect growth and penetration of brands
aimed at the upscale market
Competitors are not fully compliant with government
regulations. Most of themevade taxes and therefore are
able to offer the traders a higher margin.
As a result of globalization, trade barriers are slowly being
lifted. Foreign products therefore are now entering the
domestic market with greater ease.
Grey market imports and selling of Unilever brands could
hurt UBLs business.


Financial Performance

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has delivered sustained double-digit top-line growth at an average
of nearly 3 times the countrys GDP growth for the last eight years. It has been one of the
fastest growing businesses for Unilever in entire Asia and has developed leading edge
activation, customer management and general management practices that are being
showcased and emulated by other Unilever Companies. The following table summarizes the
performance for 2012 and compares it to that of 2011. The growth percentages are
provided:

Year 2010 2011 2012
Turnover 22% 21% 35%
Total Cost 26% 24% 38%
Gross Profit 15% 17% 29%
Total Advertisement &
Promotion
20% 4% 7%
Profit before indirect 11% 25% 40%
Indirect 9% 40% 1%
Trading results 13% 14% 78%
Threats

Trading contribution 8% -19% 82%

After nine consecutive years of double digit sales growth in the period 2003-2011, UBL
delivered a staggering top line growth of 35% in 2012. The turnover for 2012 was BDT
16,476 million as opposed to BDT 12,175 million in 2011. Moreover the profitable growth
was delivered as marked by the 53% improvement of Profit before Tax and 62%
improvement of Profit after Tax.
Unilever Bangladesh Limited had revenue of over Taka 16 billion in 2012, contributing about
0.5% to global Unilever revenue. It is among the top five tax payers of Bangladesh
Government. The cash flow growth rate for 2012 was over 50%.
The company has been operating at a negative working capital over the last few years.
However, while calculating working capital, according to its financial principles, Unilever
does not take into account cash. The company has no long term outstanding debt. Also, it
tries to make the most profit by making selective investments. In 2012, the company had a
cash cycle of 37.3 days. Average days sales outstanding was 18 days, average inventory
outstanding 47 days and average days receivable outstanding of nearly 23 days.

CSR Activities

UBL believes in being a good corporate citizen and is fully aware of its responsibilities
toward the society it operates in. Unilever focuses its CSR efforts in areas of Health,
Education, Womens Empowerment, and Disaster Relief.UBL believes in placing the
interest of the society right up in front which is reflected by the widespread CSR activities
that the company undertakes.

HEALTH

Pepsodent Dentibus:
A mobile dental unit of professional dentists offering free check up and advice continued its
operations to various schools and neighborhoods. This program intends to increase the level
of awareness in Bangladesh about the need of good and regular oral care, and visiting
dentists regularly to help avoid major pain and discomfort. 200,000 contacts per year have
been made since its inauguration.

Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital

Which aims to bring medical advice to the doorsteps of the underprivileged and water
locked people in the chars. This hospital brings essential health care to the water locked
population in Bangladesh and provides a platform to talk about a healthy and hygienic
lifestyle in areas beyond the reach of traditional media.

Chittagong MaaShishu O General Hospital:
Unilever Bangladesh sponsored the setting up of a modern operation facility at the
MaaShishu O General Hospital (Mother, child and General hospital) in the Port city of
Chittagong. This facility was inaugurated on May 25th, 2004. In this endeavor, UBL has spent
6.5 Million Taka towards modernizing the existing operating theatre and in setting up a new
operating theatre together with an advanced Intensive Care unit. This was a much needed
upgrade of the hospital which is one of the very few health care facilities in the city with a
population of 2.5 million. UBL was actively involved in this project, recognizing the dire need
in the region for good health care, and an opportunity to help provide access to world-class
surgical facilities through this hospital that caters for less privileged citizens of Chittagong.
Having its major manufacturing facilities in Chittagong, Unilever Bangladesh has a long-
standing association with Maa Shishu O General Hospital and this initiative will radically
enhance the services of the hospital. The MaaShishu O General Hospital was set up in 1979
and is a popular reference in Chittagong for the treatment of mothers and infants. It treats
around one and a half lakh patients annually providing Pediatric, Obstetric, Gynecology ,
Blood Transfusion, Diagnostic services etc. However due to insufficient resources it could
not cater to all the requirements of the patients - despite the executive committees best
intentions. This is where UBL came in as a sponsor and besides financial help extended
personal involvement of UBL managers in ensuring speedy completion of the project. The
new OT now has world class surgical equipment including Life support, Anesthesia machines
etc. The involvement of UBL in bringing modern surgical facilities to this hospital did not
stop at the OT. With regular assessment, new needs for equipment have led to further
investment of another 1.5 million Taka in 2005 as well. UBL is working with the Hospital
management to enhance the skills and capabilities of the hospital staff and management as
well to be able to provide better health care to the patients. In 2007 again, a 3 month long
Nurses Training Programme was organized at the Hospital. The programme covered several
skill areas and had experts from outside the country help enhance nursing related skills. All
these activities helped improve the emergency, critical treatment and recovery facilities for
the port city residents and increased the hospitals ability to do surgery. The company not
only sponsors projects at MaaShishu O General Hospital but also actively supports and
monitors its improvement. The management quarterly visits the hospital to take patients
feedback and meet with the administration to review the quality of services and carry out
need assessments to enhance the services of the hospital. It is the companys firm belief
that to help bring vitality everywhere, it must first take steps to improve the well-being in
the community that it operates in.


Promoting hygiene awareness:

Bangladesh has a population of over 142 million and 80% of this population lives in rural
areas. Although there has been a lot of social progress and economic development in these
areas since the countrys independence in 1971, there remains a general ignorance about
the importance of hygiene. UBLS 2 health related brand: Lifebuoy and Pepsodent have
done significant work on this issue.

Lifebuoy: lifebuoy concentrating on all rural communities has a team of trained
personnel to visit neighborhoods, market places, schools etc and
communicate the importance of a healthy lifestyle through flipcharts
and leaflets. This is then followed by demonstrating the use of
Lifebouy soaps which have been made available in small packs for
people of all income groups.

Pepsodent: The Pepsodent team concentrates on schools across the country and
suburban localities to promote oral hygiene. Initiatives like the Dental
Support Program and Dental Health Awareness Week, both of which
have been quantum leaps in developing good oral hygiene practices.

The Dental Support Program

Is a mammoth community exercise that encompasses both direct and indirect dissemination
of the need and importance of oral hygiene. Not only does a qualified dentist visit schools to
educate school children; the Program reaches out to countless others indirectly by training
primary and secondary school teachers. Furthermore, Unilever Bangladesh reached out to
educate imams at mosques on dental hygiene, so that they can disseminate the message to
their congregations. More than 3 million school children have been covered through this
Program.

Unilever is committed to continue providing this service to the community. Unilever
Bangladesh and Bangladesh Dental Society (BDS) have been working together for over a
decade to promote oral health of Bangladeshi people. One of the major activities that is
carried out in partnership is the Pepsodent - Bangladesh Dental Society Oral Health Day. In
2007, the day was organized on November 16. People called in for appointment at a
stipulated time to have his or her teeth checked by dental professionals. 300 dentists at 257
clinics in 64 districts gave free dental check-up to 12,500 people. Unilever setup temporary
dental facilities in districts where there were no clinics available. The Day provided people

with an opportunity to be aware of the condition of their teeth and also promoted general
awareness of oral hygiene. Together, Lifebouy and Pepsodent have been instrumental in
bringing the message of a better lifestyle, free from germs and associated trauma, to
millions of people across Bangladesh.

Womens Empowerment

Fair & Lovely Foundation:

Unilever strongly believes in the importance of empowering women in Bangladesh, because
the progress of any society will be constrained if a significant part of its population is
neglected and excluded from the benefits of development. It is therefore necessary that
women be progressively brought into the main stream of economic activities. Unilever
believe, with economic and educational empowerment, women can become more vocal
about their rights and become stronger in withstanding repression in any form. Keeping this
mind and womens empowerment at the forefront, Fair & Lovely Foundation was set-up as
a social initiative by Unilever Bangladesh Limited on 15 June 2004 under its leading skin care
brand Fair & Lovely. The mission of the Foundation is to "Encourage economic
empowerment of Bangladeshi women through information and resources in the areas of
Education, Career and Enterprise.

Education: Even in the twenty-first century, Bangladeshi womens economic
empowerment is looked upon as a luxury. While the economic growth
of a country is dependent directly on the level of education of its
general population, it will be most unfortunate if a significant part of
it is neglected and excluded from the benefits of development. It is
this realization that has brought about the Fair & Lovely Foundation
Scholarship Programme. Any Bangladeshi female student with good
academic track record is eligible to apply for these scholarships. This
programme aims at providing women with basic and higher
education, as well as training and assistance. Supplementary
scholarship programs are also ongoing in partnership with the Faria
Lara Foundation. After the successful project entitled "UttoroneyNari"
in 2003 where 1,500 women students (at standard 10 level) received
courses on basic IT from NIIT, in 2004, Fair & Lovely Foundation tailor-
made yet another scholarship programme for women seeking higher
education.


Career: Education is like a beacon for the right career. It hints at what one is
good at. Yet, with so many choices that are available, it is easy to
make a wrong decision. This led to the Fair & Lovely Foundations
Career Guidance Programme. During its inception in 2004, the Fair &
Lovely Foundation aired a 13-episode TV series in Channel i. Each
episode showcased one particular career encapsulating detailed
information about its prospects, means of undertaking it, and an
inspiring success story to instigate interest. Career showcased in the
programme were Law, Banking, Advertising, Defence, Graphic
Designing, Engineering, Fashion Designing, Merchandising, IT,
Architecture, Journalism, Medicine and Business. The programme
received a huge response in terms of viewer enquiries and letters.

Enterprise: Unilever believe that small & medium enterprises are crucial to the
economic development of a country like Bangladesh. The Fair Lovely
Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme was set up to explore
the endless possibilities that lie in this sector for women. This
Programme assists both urban and rural women by
providing practical knowledge as well as business expertise.

Project Joyeeta: Joyeeta is a unique initiative of Unilever Bangladesh to
provide sustainable opportunities for over 2900 women in
rural Bangladesh to earn their livelihood. Joyeeta is derived
from the Bengali word Joy which means Win. Joyeeta is the
embodiment of a fearless female spirit trying to better her
socio-economic condition by trying new options given her
surroundings and ground realities. In recent times Non
Government Organizations (NGO)s and government bodies are
collaborating to establish self-help groups for the
development of rural women supported by microcredit
program. So, Project Joyeeta came out as a realistic venture of
Unilever Bangladesh aimed at improving the lives of rural
women bringing them into a sustainable income generation
through entrepreneurial skills. The project started in August
2003 in a nearby Thana of Manikganj as a pilot for six months.
From an initial twenty-five Joyeetas the number has now
increased to over two thousand. The women termed as
Joyeetas are given a task of selling Unilever products and
communicating the brand values in the rural households of
their village. Hence with a sizeable margin they would be able
to generate sustainable income for themselves and hence be

financially empowered. These women (Joyeetas) are serviced
from the distributor through a third party agency at a regular
interval. The success story of Joyeeta is taken even further
with a similar project named Aparajita with the support from
CARE. Under this project, UBL will be able to expand initiative
to reach 20 more Upazillas of the countrys northern and
eastern districts.

These Unilever led projects will continue to empower women all over the country.

Education

IT scholarships for women:

Faria Lara Foundation is a voluntary organization working in the remote village of
HaltaDawatala in BamnaUpozila, Barguna District, in the south of the country. FAL
Foundation came forward to work with this organization to assist semi-urban female
students to acquire spoken/written English and basic Computer skills after their SSC Exam
and help them to compete with their urban peers. In April 2005, UBL Chairman Sanjiv Mehta
officially handed over a cheque of Taka 5 Lakh and 10 computers to SelinaHossain, Executive
Director of the Faria Lara Foundation. Under this project 40 female SSC students from 16
secondary institutions in the district went through a three-month training program on basic
computer skills, spoken and written English. The courses were conducted by Certified IT
professionals and English language professors. The effectiveness of the course was
evaluated by a final exam conducted by Adcomm, UBLs agency for executing the various
projects related to FAL Foundation. In 2007 May, Fair & Lovely Foundation again re-started
the programme of providing Supplementary Education programme with Faria Lara
Foundation. This program continues in 2008 as well. 20 SSC and 20 HSC Examinees were
given the opportunity to train for three months in Borguna District.

School for slum children sponsored (SSKS):

Unilever came forward to support an institution that provides free primary education to
children of lowest income families. There exist some institutions that provide education to
these hapless children and one such organization is ShatheeSamajKalyanSamity (SSKS), an
NGO working for the slum residents in the citys posh residential area- Banani. Besides
entrepreneurial training and other activities, SSKS runs a free evening school for children
residing in slums and was funded by an international NGO thus far. Towards the end of

2004, the supporting organization wrapped up its activities from Bangladesh which left SSKS
floundering for funds. In January 2005, Unilever Bangladesh initiated the sponsorship of the
school' major expenses. The sponsorship helps to cover salaries for the teachers and staff,
uniforms and books for the students, and other administrative outflows.
Moreover, company managers volunteer to spend time with the children and take
innovative learning sessions. These include Origami, Good behavior, Electricity and safety
etc. The children eagerly await such visits which inspire their creative thinking and are a
break from the everyday school work. Unilever's PepsodentDentibus also visits the school
premises to create awareness about good oral hygiene.

UBL volunteers also visits the school to demonstrate the importance of hygiene and health.
Pop quizzes through which the children could win Lifebouy soaps, or Pepsodent toothpaste
with each correct answer creates a flurry of eager hands to jumping up to answer that
makes it a sight to see! The existence of the school is a great support for the children living
in Banani, Gulshan, Badda slum areas and UBL provides support for opportunities such as
training for teachers and sports lessons for the students. Nurturing the intellect and
development of the children coming to this school can help build a strong example of
conscientious involvement of the privileged society in support of the needy.

Chevening Scholarships:

Unilever Bangladesh Limited and the British High Commission signed an agreement on
11thSeptember 2006 to jointly fund a Chevening Scholarship titled the Unilever Chevening
Scholarship for a Bangladeshi national wishing to study in a University in the United
Kingdom.

The fields of study included for the Unilever Chevening Scholarship are the areas of Health,
Education and Womens Empowerment.Chevening Scholarships are prestigious scholarships
awarded by the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office, aimed at providing opportunities
for post-graduate study in the UK for young professionals in early or mid-careers who
demonstrate both academic excellence and the potential to become leaders, decision-
makers and opinion formers in their own countries.

Disaster Relief

Char Nazir To help the victims of SIDR, UBL partnered with the Bangladesh Army and set
out to rebuild one of the worst-affected villages of the calamity, Char Nazir. The Army
Engineering Corp designed the houses and oversaw the implementation of the project

based on the plan conceptualized by UBL. The BDT 8 million (80,000 Euro) project included
providing housing with sanitary latrines for all 75 families, installation of five deep tube
wells, rebuilding one retail outlet and providing ten cows and fifteen goats for income
generation to the village people. The village was finally completed and formally inaugurated
in July of 2008.

Unilever Bangladesh's History and Operations in 40 Characters

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Overview of Unilever Bangladesh 2014

Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch company, with a history of colonial exploitation, on which it has

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