Consumer brands giant Unilever NZ becomes certified B-Corp

Unilever NZ managing director Cameron Heath. Photos / Supplied

Consumer brands company Unilever has become a certified B-Corporation.

The global manufacturer of a wide range of household brands including food, personal care and household staples Continental, Magnum, TRESemmé, Surf, Persil and Dove, has undergone an operational audit and joined a growing list of Kiwi firms committed to meeting high standards of social and environmental performance.

The New Zealand and Australian arm of Unilever is one of 460 businesses in Australasia to receive the certification, and more than 5000 globally. The B-Corp movement promotes transparency and accountability within commercial operations, along with inclusive and equitable workplaces.

Unilever's laundry business is by far its biggest earner, driven by sales of Persil products. Dove is its highest-selling brand within its beauty and care category and Magnum within its Streets ice cream business.

Unilever first began importing into New Zealand 140 years ago in 1880 and employs about 85 people across the local business, most based in its Auckland head office.

Last year it began piloting a four-day work week paid at full salary for its workforce, an initiative that was assessed as part of the B-Corp certification process.

Unilever NZ managing director Cameron Heath said the company had been working towards its B-corp status over the past 18 months with not for profit certification company B Lab.

As part of the process, it had to disclose information on how it governs the business, its impacts on both the environment and society and the policies in place for its staff.

To be certified as a B-Corp, firms need to score a minimum of 80 points out of 200.

"It has been an 18-month process and a lot of rigour has gone behind it and we're really happy to see what we can contribute to the B-Corp movement today but also how we can continue to progress in the future," Heath told the Herald.

The head of the market said inflation and the rising cost of living was on most people's minds at present, and Unilever was mindful of this.

However, he could not guarantee that Unilever would commit to no price increases on consumer goods over the next few months.

"Future guarantees are not something that we would be able to offer up at the moment. It is a dynamic environment and we know over the last two years or so just how quickly things change," Heath said.

"Like most businesses, the times right now are quite ambiguous and fluctuating a lot so we are constantly keeping an eye on input costs; on shipping costs and the costs of doing business, thinking throughout our operation whether that feeds through efficiency in the way in which we run better buying of materials or the way we bring goods into the country, and our wholesale prices to kind of manage that."

Unilever had so far taken a "multi-faceted approach" to deal with the situation, he said.

"We're [working to make sure] we can continue to bring affordable, reliable and quality brands to market to help New Zealanders in their day-to-day lives."

Heath said New Zealand had been a high-performing market for Unilever, particularly within the grocery sector.

"Our business is performing really well and we continue to work on ways in which we can grow the business further and invest further into the New Zealand market.

"In terms of acquisitions or future plans for brand expansion, that's not something that I am able to talk about at this point in time, but we are focused on leveraging the broad range of brands we have available and continue to meet our consumers' needs."

Unilever is a multinational with a market capitalisation of over US$100b ($160b).