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Unilever’s scientific expertise

Our people

We have a global team of around 5,000 experts who are innovators, scientists, engineers, chefs and technologists. They excel in a diverse range of fields, from chemistry and material science, biosciences, and processing and packaging, to digital and data science, regulatory and safety, and fragrance.

We’re incredibly proud that 60% of our R&D colleagues are female, and 55% of managerial roles are held by women.

Female R&D colleagues 60%

Female managerial roles 55%

Cutting-edge fields of science

We lead in cutting-edge fields of science as we pioneer future innovations:

  • Microbiome

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    For more than 20 years, Unilever has been at the forefront of microbiome research and development. Our advanced research, made possible through access to vast amounts of data, powerful machine learning and high-performance computing, is unlocking groundbreaking discoveries.

    With over 100 patents secured and over 30,000 samples analysed, we now hold one of the world’s largest collections of human microbiome data.

    Our deep understanding of the gut, skin and scalp microbiomes is driving world-class innovation and new product development designed to address evolving consumer needs.

    Innovation in action: POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE, one of Unilever’s Power Brands, has tested a groundbreaking beauty device, known as the Microbiome Analyzer, which can analyse your skin microbiome and deliver a personalised skincare regimes in just 60 minutes.

  • Biotechnology

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    Unilever has been a pioneer in biotechnology for almost three decades. Put in its simplest terms, biotechnology is about harnessing biology and nature to create new products that meet consumer needs and preferences.

    We’re using biotechnology today to create superior-performing and sustainably sourced ingredients for our beauty and wellbeing and home care products that can replace fossil-derived materials and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

    We work closely with academics, SMEs and global companies. From finding sustainable alternatives to diversify our feedstocks to engineering enzymes to help transform the sustainability and performance of cleaning and laundry products.

    Innovation in action: Unilever scientists have dedicated years to perfecting Sunlight’s dishwash liquid. Thanks to our patented RhamnoClean technology, the result is a product that not only delivers superior cleaning performance but also uses 100% plant-based, renewable and biodegradable ingredients. The new technology uses bacteria waste from the corn and maize industry to produce Rhamnolipid, a natural surfactant. This innovative ingredient was introduced to the market in summer 2024 in our Quix dishwashing liquid in Chile – the first time it has been used in a cleaning product anywhere in the world.

  • Next-generation packaging

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    Plastics is one of the four core sustainability priorities in our Growth Action Plan, and our ambition is an end to plastic pollution through reduction, circulation and collaboration.

    To help turn this ambition into a reality, we’re investing in the development of next-generation packaging materials and technologies.

    Our world-class team of material scientists, packaging experts and digital modellers at our global Packaging R&D Centre is dedicated to achieving this goal.

    Innovation in action: In 2024, we launched Knorr stock cubes in paper wrappers in the UK. Following years of innovation and development, these replace the existing individual multi-layer aluminium wrappers. This move means that both the boxes and wrappers can now be recycled while still protecting the freshness and quality of the product. The new paper wrappers will save an estimated eight tonnes of plastic annually.

  • Digital R&D

    A scientist in a white coat standing in a laboratory, surrounded by various scientific equipment.

    Digital tools are unlocking an unprecedented age of scientific discovery. Using advanced computing power and AI, we’re able to compress decades of lab work into days, accessing a level of insight we could not previously have imagined.

    To turn people’s needs into sustainable, cutting-edge innovations, we map, model and experiment virtually, designing and simulating all the steps involved in each process before these innovations go on to be manufactured at scale in our factories. At Unilever, we call this DataLab.

    This technological leap of AI and virtual simulation, coupled with our vast repository of proprietary data and a century of scientific expertise in personal and household care, ensures our scientists are leading the industry in developing the next generation of products.

    Find out more about DataLab

Our sites

Based in over 60 countries, our facilities are environments where cross-functional teams come together to collaborate and co-create.

We have six global R&D Innovation Centres located in the US, UK, Netherlands, India and China, along with 12 regional R&D Hubs.

Click the map below to find out more:

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Colworth, UK

Colworth is situated in the scientific heart of the UK, within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, which is home to many of our strategic suppliers and university partners. It’s where we develop world-class products for our ice cream and iced tea businesses. It also includes our Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), where teams ensure our innovations and products are safe and sustainable by design, and pioneer non-animal safety science.

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Port Sunlight, UK

Port Sunlight R&D Centre is a global hub for innovation in Beauty & Wellbeing, Home Care and Personal Care. The campus includes three world-class facilities: the Materials Innovation Factory, Product Innovation Lab and Advanced Manufacturing Centre, supported by an ecosystem of academic institutions, suppliers and start-ups.

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Hive, The Netherlands

Hive, Unilever’s global Foods Innovation Centre, is located on the Wageningen Campus in the Netherlands – a world-renowned and respected agri-food ecosystem. The site consists of collaboration spaces, a pilot plant, laboratories and kitchens. It has been designed so our R&D teams can co-create with partners, customers and consumers, while tapping into the campus’s network of start-ups, knowledge institutes and academics.

Find out more about Hive

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Trumbull, US

Trumbull is our global hub for skin care and cleansing, and serves as North America’s regional hub for Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care. It includes state-of-the-art labs, a pilot plant to put new ideas to the test, and even an in-house hair salon. It’s also home to our Polycultural Centre of Excellence, where over 50 scientists specialise in creating ingredients and products that address the unmet needs of millions of consumers.

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Bangalore, India

Bangalore, also known as Bengaluru, is the R&D centre for a number of our brands including Lifebuoy, POND’S and Radiant. It’s a hub for pioneering research in new areas like the microbiome and advanced materials, and plays a key role in India’s collaborative research community.

Find out more about the Bangalore R&D Centre

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Shanghai, China

Shanghai-U66 R&D, which is strategically located near the city’s top universities and research institutions, develops impactful innovations for all areas of our business. It’s also home to our AI Hub, where we’re using live-stream data, local insights and AI tools to transform the speed with which we bring products to market for Chinese consumers.

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A bottle of Persil Wonder Wash laundry detergent on a factory production line. The innovation has been designed specifically for quick washes.

Scaling innovation

Discover how Unilever is scaling innovation with Vaseline Gluta-Hya, Dove Body Wash, Hellmann’s Plant-Based Mayo, and more, delivering cutting-edge solutions globally.

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