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Unilever deodorant sales surge after workers return to office

By Nithya Bose in UK Business News, posted October 29, 2023

Unilever has seen a 15 percent uptick in deodorant sales after employees returned to offices and socialized following pandemic lockdowns.

Graeme Pitkethly, the group’s finance director, said: “Many people didn’t use deodorant as much when they were in lockdown and working from home and some recovery in that is coming through.”

The rebound in deodorant sales allowed Unilever's personal care division to outperform other product categories in Europe.

It became the only division to increase the number of items sold.

However, the overall volume of products sold by Unilever in Europe experienced a 10 percent decline.

It was offset by a 13 percent price increase, which drew criticism for accusations of profiteering and "greedflation."

However, sales of ice cream, like Ben & Jerry's and Magnums, were hurt by the cool and wet summer and stiff competition from supermarket own-label products.

The company had raised ice cream prices, further contributing to these challenges.

Globally, Unilever reported a 5.2 percent increase in total underlying sales, reaching €15.2 billion (£13.2 billion).

This growth was due to a 5.8 percent increase in prices, despite a slight decrease of 0.6 percent in the number of items sold.

Hein Schumacher, the CEO of Unilever, said the company had not widened its profit margins as it had not transferred all cost increases to customers.

Unilever is pursuing strategies to enhance its efficiency and productivity, including potential factory closures and streamlining its brand portfolio by divesting non-core brands.

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As part of this, the company recently sold a majority stake in its Dollar Shave Club razor brand.

Unilever is focusing on four key areas to boost sustainability: climate, nature, plastics, and livelihoods.

It intends to implement more near-term goals to demonstrate tangible progress.

Unilever has faced criticism for its continued business presence in Russia, selling locally manufactured essential products.

Unilever paid Moscow $331 million in taxes the previous year.

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