Unilever Bestfoods in France

Best in France Case Study

December 15, 2003

Patricio Aylwin, Nicolas Chabut, Matthew Nolan and Björn Seidel

OverviewUnilever & Unilever Bestfoods

– General presentation– Organization– Values– Reasons for an division in France

The French subsidiary of Unilever Bestfoods– Characteristics– Work process

The specific aspects and an adaptation to France– Specific activities– The French constraints– The French advantages

Unilever & Unilever BestfoodsGeneral presentation

• Created in 1930 by the merger of a British soap-maker, “Lever Brothers’’ (founded in 1885) and a Dutch margarine producer, “Margarine Unie’’ (which grew through mergers in the 1920s)

• Unilever’s business : – Food– Home and personal care

• Main food brands : Becel, Blue Band, Bertolli, Ben & Jerry’s, Flora, Knorr, Magnum, Lipton, Maille, Amora, …

Unilever & Unilever BestfoodsGeneral presentation

• Few key figures :– Worldwide turnover in 2002 : €48 760 million– Number of employees : 247,000 people, with 90% of

managers locally recruited and trained– Every day, 150 million people choose Unilever brands to

feed their families and to clean their homes – Over half of all sales are generated by the foods division

brands

• Unilever Bestfoods : • Created in 2000 by acquisition of

Bestfoods gathering Bestfoods and Unilever’s food division

Unilever as it sees itself

Unilever & Unilever BestfoodsOrganization

• UNILEVER BESTFOODS REGIONS– Foods North Africa, Middle East and Turkey – Ice Cream and Frozen Foods– Unilever Bestfoods Asia– Unilever Bestfoods Latin America– Unilever Bestfoods North America & Slimfast

Worldwide– Unilever Bestfoods, Europe

Unilever & Unilever BestfoodsUnilever Bestfoods Europe

• HQ : Rotterdam (The Netherlands). • Local offices in almost all European countries.

• European customer base of some 650 million people.

• A wide cross section of consumers, incorporating people in both the developed markets of western Europe and the developing markets of former Eastern block countries.

Unilever & Unilever BestfoodsCompany values

• The core values of the company expressed through a Code of Business Principles :

• These values are not negotiable and applicable to the whole world, including France.

– Public activities– The Environment– Innovation– Competition– Business Integrity– Conflicts of Interests– Compliance, Monitoring,

Reporting

– Standard of Conduct– Obeying the Law– Employees– Consumers– Shareholders– Business Partners– Community involvement

Unilever & Unilever BestfoodsReasons for an installation in France

1. Conquest of the market– Proximity of the market– Adaptation to local habits– Development of the products

(A branch of the European HQ in France)

2. Existing in European and French installations at merger

The French subsidiary of UBFCharacteristics

• Production and commercialization– HQ in Rueil-Malmaison– 11 Factories in France

The French subsidiary of UBFCharacteristics

• 2 types of status :– Local workers– Expatriates

• Presence of a branch of the European HQ

French subsidiary of UnileverFew 2002 key figures

• Sales of Unilever France– € 3.875 billion of which € 555 million

are exports

• 5250 Employees

• € 420 million in advertising

The French subsidiary of UBFWork process

• A strong guideline given by the European HQ :– Recruitment– Compensation– Planning– Evaluation and assessment– Training

• A free local implementation • The example of Bestfoods acquisition

An adaptation to FranceSpecific activities

• A complex business in France

• The strategic axes of Unilever

An adaptation to FranceConstraints

• Social laws

• Benchmarking as a consequence

• Example of an economic gathering

An adaptation to FranceAdvantages

• A firm adapted to the market

• UBF seems not to benefit from ‘’the French advantages’’

Conclusion

• First reason for being in France :– To be close to the market– It seems inconvenient to sell without producing in

France.

• Second reason :– Management of existing structures

But beware to the benchmark to capture future installations !

We Thank

• HR Director of the French branch : Mrs. Andrée Bosset01 41 96 50 56Andree.bosset@unilever.com

• Commercial Manager of Foodsolutions France: Mrs. Barbara Campos01 41 96 51 18barbara.campos@unilever.com

23 Rue Francois Jacob92500 Rueil-MalmaisonFrance

References

• Web sites :

www.unilever.com

www.you-unilever.com

• Questionnaire

Our Team

• Members :– Patricio Aylwin– Nicolas Chabut– Matthew Nolan– Björn Seidel

• Address :MBA / HEC

78351 JOUY-EN-JOSAS CEDEX