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Unilever

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company_profile Updated: 2025-12-17

Overview

Note: This is a stub profile for Unilever, focusing on its dietary supplement brands and acquisitions. Unilever is a massive multinational consumer goods company with 400+ brands across food, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products.

This profile documents only Unilever’s presence in the dietary supplement category as it relates to the DogTag system.

Key Facts

  • Legal Name: Unilever PLC (UK) / Unilever N.V. (Netherlands)
  • Structure: Dual-listed company
  • Founded: 1930 (merger of British and Dutch companies)
  • Headquarters:
    • London, United Kingdom
    • Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • Stock Exchanges:
    • London Stock Exchange (ULVR)
    • Euronext Amsterdam (UNA)
    • NYSE (UL)
  • Revenue: $60B+ (2024)
  • Employees: 127,000+
  • CEO: Hein Schumacher

Health & Wellness Division

Entry into Supplements

Unilever entered the dietary supplements category through strategic acquisitions between 2019-2020, targeting the fast-growing functional nutrition and wellness market.

OLLY Acquisition (2019): Unilever’s first acquisition in the dietary supplements category.

  • Acquired: April 2019
  • Brand: OLLY Nutrition
  • Deal Value: Undisclosed
  • Strategic Rationale:
    • Enter high-growth wellness/supplement market
    • Target millennial/Gen Z consumers
    • Leverage OLLY’s direct-to-consumer capabilities
    • Expand beyond traditional CPG categories

SmartyPants Acquisition (2020): Second supplement acquisition, complementing OLLY.

  • Acquired: December 23, 2020
  • Brand: SmartyPants Vitamins
  • Deal Value: Undisclosed
  • Strategic Rationale:
    • Expand into premium children’s/family vitamin market
    • Complement OLLY’s adult lifestyle positioning
    • Strengthen functional nutrition portfolio
    • Access to organic/allergen-free product expertise

Current Supplement Brands

As of 2025, Unilever’s dietary supplement portfolio includes:

  1. OLLY (acquired 2019)

    • Adult lifestyle gummy vitamins and supplements
    • Target: Millennials/Gen Z
    • Positioning: Wellness lifestyle brand
    • Products: ~150 SKUs

  2. SmartyPants (acquired 2020)

    • Premium children’s and family gummy vitamins
    • Target: Parents with children, families
    • Positioning: Premium comprehensive formulas
    • Products: 268 SKUs

Strategic Fit: The two brands complement each other perfectly:

  • OLLY: Adult lifestyle/wellness segment
  • SmartyPants: Children/family health segment
  • Combined: Full-family supplement portfolio

Corporate Structure (Supplements Only)

Unilever (Parent)
│   • Dual-listed: London (PLC) & Amsterdam (N.V.)
│   • Global CPG conglomerate (~$60B revenue)
│
└── Health & Wellness / Functional Nutrition Division
    │
    ├── OLLY Public Benefit Corp.
    │   • Acquired: April 2019
    │   • Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
    │   • CEO: Gerry Chesser
    │   • Chief Growth Officer: Eric Ryan
    │   • Focus: Adult lifestyle supplements
    │
    └── SmartyPants Vitamins
        • Acquired: December 23, 2020
        • Headquarters: Marina del Rey, CA
        • Founders: Courtney & Gordon Gould
        • Focus: Children's/family premium vitamins

Acquisition History (Supplements)

Year Brand Target Audience Products Strategic Value
2019 OLLY Nutrition Adults (Millennials/Gen Z) ~150 SKUs First supplement entry; DTC capabilities; B Corp
2020 SmartyPants Vitamins Children & families 268 SKUs Premium kids market; Complements OLLY; Organic expertise

Total Investment: Undisclosed (both acquisitions)

Market Coverage: Combined portfolio covers full family lifecycle from children to adults

Competitive Position in Supplements

vs. Other CPG Companies in Supplements

Company Supplement Brands Entry Method Market Focus
Unilever OLLY, SmartyPants Acquisition (2019-2020) Gummy vitamins, lifestyle wellness
Nestlé Nature’s Bounty, Sundown, Garden of Life, Solgar, etc. Acquisition (2021) Mass market + premium
Church & Dwight Vitafusion, L’il Critters Acquisition Gummy vitamins
Procter & Gamble Neurobion (international) Limited presence Specific markets only

Unilever’s Position:

  • Late entrant (2019) compared to Nestlé’s long presence
  • Focused strategy: Gummy format, lifestyle positioning
  • Smaller portfolio but well-defined market segmentation
  • Strong brand equity (OLLY and SmartyPants both premium)

Data Sources

This stub profile is based on:

  1. Unilever official website (www.unilever.com)
  2. Unilever USA press releases:
    • OLLY acquisition (2019)
    • SmartyPants acquisition (2020)
  3. DogTag brand profiles:
    • OLLY investigation report (20251217_olly_brand_investigation.md)
    • SmartyPants brand profile (smartypants.md)
    • Nordic Naturals brand profile (nordic_naturals.md)

Expansion Notes

This profile can be expanded with:

  • Full brand portfolio (400+ brands across all categories)
  • Complete corporate history
  • Detailed financial information
  • Global operations structure
  • Other Health & Wellness acquisitions
  • Sustainability initiatives

For now, this stub focuses on Unilever’s supplement brands only.

Generated by DogTag System | Stub Profile | Last updated: 2025-12-17 For full Unilever corporate information, see www.unilever.com

Live Data (Census)

Census data generated: 2025-12-20 09:29

Relationships

  • dual_listed Unilever PLC (UK)
  • dual_listed Unilever N.V. (Netherlands)
  • subsidiary OLLY Public Benefit Corp. since 2019
  • subsidiary SmartyPants Vitamins since 2020

References