Unilever blijft investeren in Zuid-Afrika om groeipotentieel te vergroten

UNILEVER CONTINUES TO INVEST IN SOUTH AFRICA TO INCREASE CAPACITY FOR GROWTH

Unilever opens state-of-the art Savoury Foods facility to drive growth

London/Rotterdam/Durban, 9 December 2011: Unilever today unveiled new manufacturing facilities in Riverhorse Valley in Durban, South Africa that will help drive sustainable growth for the company in the fast-growing developing and emerging markets.

The company has invested about R670 million (nearly €70 million) in the new, state-of-the-art savoury factory to increase Unilever’s capacity for growth and increasing demand for brands like Knorr, Robertson’s, Knorrox, Aromat and Rajah in South Africa and across the African continent. This development complements the additional capacity already being built elsewhere in the Unilever world – from Indonesia to Mexico – all utilising state of the art ‘green’ technology in line with the commitments stated in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Unilever intends to build 30 new factories by 2015, as part of a €5 billion investment programme.

Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever’s Chief Supply Chain Officer said, “This commitment is one of the largest private investments in South Africa since the 2010 World Cup. This new facility will enhance Unilever’s ambitious growth plans for South Africa, an important market in which we have strong category positions across our portfolio, as we do across the whole of Africa.”

“At Unilever, we consider ourselves to be the emerging markets consumer goods company and have set ourselves an ambitious goal – to double the size of our business whilst reducing our environmental impact. We currently generate 53% of our turnover from emerging markets and 75% of our future growth will come from these markets. We want to service this growth with facilities like those at Indonsa which will reduce CO2 emissions, water usage and waste.”

The new facility was officially unveiled at an opening ceremony by Dr. Rob Davies, Minister for Trade & Industry, in front of several distinguished guests.

“Unilever has made significant contributions to the advancement of South Africa and its people for over a century and government is encouraged by this large investment and its augmented environmental benefits. Future plans to expand local operations and Unilever’s pledge to create social benefits locally in a sustainable manner is laudable.”

Marijn van Tiggelen, Chairman Unilever South Africa added, “This investment is part of a €500million, 5-year investment programme in South Africa to enable Unilever to leverage its leading position in developing and emerging markets by driving sustainable and profitable growth.”

“The advanced technology in operation at Indonsa sets new global standards in responsible and sustainable food production. It embodies our resolve to simultaneously improve the lives of people and to entrench respect for the environment.”

The new plant is named Indonsa, meaning “Morning Star” in isiZulu, is in start-up phase and will be in full production by the first quarter of 2012. It will be Unilever’s fifth plant in South Africa.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

About Unilever

Unilever works to create a better future every day. We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong operations in over 100 countries and sales in more than 180. Consumers buy 170bn Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day.

Our portfolio includes some of the world’s best known and most loved brands including twelve €1 billion brands, and global leadership in most categories in which we operate. The portfolio features iconic brands such as: Knorr, Dove, Lipton, Becel/Flora, Blue Band/Rama/Country Crock, Wall’s/OLA/Langnese, Hellmann’s, Calvé, Unox, Pond’s, Lux, Axe/Lynx, Sunsilk, Vaseline, Rexona/Sure, Omo, Surf, Cif, Signal and Glorix/Domestos.

We have around 167,000 employees, and generated annual sales of €44.3 billion in 2010. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com

Unilever is Leader in the Food Producers sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for the 13th year running. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. We are also ranked 7th in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, a list compiled by Corporate Knights Magazine. We achieved Platinum Plus standard in the UK’s Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index 2009, and were named Company of the Year in 2010. In November 2010, we launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan aiming to halve our overall environmental footprint.