On any given day approximately 14 million people across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand use Unilever products — from childhood favourite ice creams like Paddle Pop, and pantry staples like Continental, to laundry detergents like OMO.
Each time a large company like Unilever ANZ joins the ranks of the B Corp movement, we are reminded of the growing desire to see businesses put their values front and centre and use the power of the market to galvanise a more inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy for all.
In celebration of their recent certification, we sat down with the team at Unilever ANZ to learn more about their sustainable business strategy, ‘The Compass,’ and how complex businesses of this size and scale can do and be better.
Many of us are using Unilever products every day, whether we realise it or not. We’d love to hear a bit about what Unilever ANZ does more broadly.
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of beauty, personal care, home care, and food and refreshment products. We are a consumer goods manufacturer, and now a proud Certified B Corporation in ANZ.
In Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, we employ over 900 people, and have offices and manufacturing facilities spread across Gadigal land of the Eora Nation/Sydney, Darug Nation/North Rocks, Yorta Yorta Country/Tatura, Dharawal Land/Minto and Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland. We make a range of iconic brands including Continental, Magnum, OMO/Persil, Comfort, Surf, Blue Ribbon, Splice, Golden Gaytime, Bubble O Bill, Paddle Pop, Weis, TRESemmé, and Radox – all of which are eligible to use the B Corp logo.
Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how a purpose-led, future-fit business model can drive superior performance.
As the number of businesses looking to join the B Corp movement continues to expand, we must continue to make room under the umbrella for both big and small. It is not simple or easy to certify as a B Corp, but even less so for a business of Unilever’s size and complexity. What made you want to certify as a B Corp?
On any given day, millions of Aussie and Kiwi households use our products — so, we believe that we have both a responsibility and an opportunity to use our scale as a force for good. We’re thrilled to become a Certified B Corporation, as both a validation of the actions we’ve implemented across Australia and Aotearoa, and a motivator to strive even further to improve our impact.
Without a healthy planet and society, we cannot have a healthy business, which is why our purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace.
To realise this purpose, we have to work collaboratively. From the suppliers who provide us with essential ingredients and materials; to our team members, the partners that sell our products, and the people who enjoy them every day — we want to create a coalition of the passionate, willing and able.
Did you know that every B Corp that has certified since 2007 — no matter its size, scale or geographic location — has met a wide range of performance, accountability and transparency requirements? There is also additional rigour for large enterprises and multinational companies, including a risk screen, a mandatory site review, increased transparency requirements and more.
Learn more about B Lab’s Large Enterprise approach and the established guidelines on how eligibility and certification scope are determined.
READ: Why there’s room for both big and small under the B umbrella
What are some of the guiding principles behind the Unilever brand?
The Unilever Compass, our fully integrated sustainable business strategy, is designed to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:
- Improving the health of the planet;
- Improving people’s health, confidence and wellbeing; and
- Contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.
The actions Unilever ANZ took under The Compass were integral to our successful certification as a B Corp. This includes:
- Fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce with gender parity across management;
- Pioneering flexible work with a four-day work week trial in Aotearoa New Zealand;
- Switching to 100 per cent renewable electricity to power our operations;
- Reimagining packaging to reduce plastic waste;
- Collaborating with farmers on Regenerative Agricultural Principles; and
- Driving strong employee engagement around Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).
What makes your B Corp unique as a business? Tell us some of the areas where you have the biggest impact, or some of the little changes you’ve made to make a difference.
We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world’s first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap more than 100 years ago, and it’s at the heart of how we run our company today.
We are a large business with a diverse and complex supply chain — in fact, we’re one of the largest businesses to become a B Corp in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Since Lever Brothers began soap production in Sydney in the 1890s, our Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand operations have expanded significantly with several offices across the region. We also source from over 1,800 suppliers both through direct and indirect procurement to manufacture some of Australia’s favourite brands such as Continental, Magnum, OMO/Persil, Comfort, Surf, Blue Ribbon, Splice, Golden Gaytime, Bubble O Bill, Paddle Pop, Weis, TRESemmé, and Radox.
Through our Certification, we want to demonstrate that all businesses, large and small, can be a force for good. Together we can create a coalition to transform the global economy in a way that benefits all people, communities, and the planet.
Find out why Unilever ANZ wants to use their scale as a force for good with this infographic.
Certification approaches are categorised into Standard (covering Small and Medium enterprises), Large Enterprise, and Multinational Corporations. While B Lab does not certify business divisions, brands, or units individually, it is possible for wholly owned subsidiaries like Unilever to certify.
The B Corp movement is consistently evolving and continuously improving thanks to a wide range of stakeholder input. Not sure if your business is ‘complex’? Reach out to our Certification Team.
B Corps want to help transform our economy to one that is inclusive, sustainable, and regenerative. What business practice do you want to see become the norm?
Put simply, we want to see all businesses prioritising the triple bottom line (planet, people and profit) every day.
Was there a B Corp that inspired you to certify, or one that you look to for inspiration?
We love that there are several Unilever brands that are already part of the B Corp community such as Ben & Jerry’s, Seventh Generation and Graze.
Our ANZ CEO, Nicky Sparshott was also the former Global CEO of T2, which achieved B Corp Certification in 2020. She personally saw the immense value of being part of the B Corp movement and wanted Unilever ANZ to be part of that.
Do you have any tips for aspiring B Corps about the certification process?
It is a great idea to establish a cross-functional team from the start. This will help with mining all the information needed for the B Impact Assessment from the start but, even more importantly, it will establish a group of passionate team members who not only want to achieve certification but want to help drive improvement once certification is achieved.
A big thank you to Unilever ANZ for sharing their insights on the certification process. If you are curious about B Corp certification as a large or complex business, please reach out to our Certification Team who are on hand to answer all of your questions.
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