More people should have the opportunity to develop and expand their business. We're making that happen – throughout our value chain.
Breaking down barriers to create opportunity
Creating economic opportunity is one of the most important ways to build an inclusive world. Becoming a supplier to Unilever can be a gateway for people to grow their own business and make a wider economic contribution – and we want more people to have that opportunity.
But we know socio-cultural, systemic or economic barriers too often stand in people's way – barriers such as stereotyping or prejudice, lack of access to training and skills, and financial exclusion.
We want to actively make our supply chain more diverse by reaching out to people from groups who’ve been under-represented up to now. At the same time, we'll unlock innovation, agility and opportunity – within our suppliers' businesses, and in ours.
We’re creating a more inclusive supply chain in three ways.
Building capacity
First, it means taking our ambitions for diversity across the world, building programmes in many markets where the infrastructure and systems for diverse supply chains are either in their early stages, or simply non-existent. In 2023, we spent €1.1 billion with diverse suppliers.
Building capabilities
Second, we want to address the barriers that have stood in the way of diverse suppliers in the past. That means building the capabilities of people running businesses now, and of people who could be the entrepreneurs of the future.
Building supplier partnerships
Third, we want our existing suppliers to be our partners in driving positive change. As part of our Partner with Purpose strategy, we'll encourage them to look at where they source their goods and services – and join our work to make their own supply chain more diverse. That way, we'll extend our reach and the impact we can achieve.
Taken together, these three actions do more than diversify our supply chain. We believe they unlock potential that has been marginalised for too long – potential that will contribute to stronger, fairer societies in the future, and help our business thrive. Because supplier diversity makes clear business sense: suppliers who reflect the demographics of our markets will help us find new approaches, make our supply chain more competitive, and contribute to the trust our consumers and customers place in our brands.
If all our suppliers commit to increasing their spend with diverse businesses, it could exponentially scale and accelerate positive social transformation of our value chain.
Willem Uijen, our Chief Procurement Officer
Expanding our supplier diversity programmes
We already have supplier diversity programmes in a number of markets – and we’re building on their success to drive the outcomes we’re seeking – innovation, growth and positive social impact.
Our North American programme, for example, identifies opportunities to partner with under-represented groups in businesses. Through initiatives like making sure every tender process includes at least one diverse supplier, our North American business doubled its spend with diverse suppliers between 2017 and 2020.
We've also taken action in South Africa, Kenya, the UK and Ireland, Brazil, Australia and India. And in Thailand, we've worked with the Thailand Office of SME Promotion Board (OSMEP) to design the country's first-ever diverse suppliers’ recruitment drive: in effect, launching a nationwide search for local and diverse small and medium-sized enterprises to join our supplier development programme.
We know that some countries are significantly more advanced when it comes to recognising and supporting diverse-owned businesses than others. Not all have expert organisations to support the development of the under-represented groups we’re focusing on. So we’re also partnering with expert organisations and creating the right enabling environment for diverse suppliers to grow their businesses, making sure our opportunities are more visible and accessible.
Pressing the accelerators: creating a platform for growth
One of the ways we're creating a more diverse supply chain is through 'accelerator' programmes such as MSDUK’s Accelerator programme which promotes minority supplier development by connecting them to opportunities in corporate supply chains. Another example is the 100+ Accelerator programme, which supports start-ups with ideas for sustainable businesses. Of the 35 start-ups so far on the programme, 49% are female-founded – and we’ve already invested in two diverse businesses through the initiative.
We're also changing some of the ways we search for new technology partners and new ideas – known as ‘scouting’ – and we’re putting artificial intelligence to work for diversity. For example, we've added diversity as a criterion in the searches conducted for us by scouting platforms yet2 and scoutbee.
Partnering with purpose boosts our impact
Our Partner with Purpose strategy aims to build relationships with suppliers based on shared purpose. It aims to drive what we call 4G growth – mutual growth that’s consistent, competitive, profitable and responsible. We want to use how we buy goods and services to increase the impact we have on the issues that matter to us and our suppliers, including equity, diversity and inclusion. If the people we buy from are in turn buying from diverse suppliers, it will scale up and accelerate our drive to transform our value chain.
Under our Partner with Purpose strategy, we've developed detailed plans to deliver on our social and environmental commitments: Our people plans, and Our planet plans. Both depend on us encouraging positive change throughout our supply chain, to create maximum impact on the issues that matter most. To help foster this change, we've launched three 'supplier promises' – voluntary commitments we encourage our suppliers to make to support our objectives on equity, diversity and inclusion, living wages and climate.
Unlocking potential by sharing resources more fairly
Running a successful business requires access to skills, training, finance and financial knowledge. And having access to resources such as networks, the skills of mentors and the inspiration of role models. But resources like this haven't always been shared equitably and we know that many people face barriers in acquiring them. We aim to lift these barriers. That means creating an enabling environment for diverse suppliers – one that fits their local context, and helps them thrive in it. It also means investing in their capability through our supplier development programme.
Our brands are also supporting diverse businesses
Some of our brands have their own capability-building programmes for small businesses and entrepreneurs, often focused on women. A number of our Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care and Home Care brands focus on enabling access to skills and training and building confidence. For instance, our Sunsilk brand campaigns to help girls gain the vision, support, skills and confidence needed to go beyond social limitations through its Explore More Possibilities educational programme which encourages them to imagine a new way forward.
In Indonesia, our Sunlight brand partners with UN Women on the WeLearn digital platform. This is improving equal learning opportunities to empower women who want to start or grow their business. The initiative equips current and aspiring women entrepreneurs with the necessary business and digital skills to adapt to the changing world of work.
are explained in championing inclusion through our brands
Through our Sundial Brands we’re dedicated to inclusive beauty, serving the unmet needs of people of colour in the US with brands such as Nubian Heritage and SheaMoisture. The New Voices Fund was initiated with funding from Sundial and Unilever and invests in businesses run by women of colour entrepreneurs. The New Voices Foundation offers them grants and support such as coaching and mentoring. SheaMoisture is one of Sundial’s brands that also invests in small, black-owned businesses as part of its community commerce model.
If we succeed in unlocking more potential, in more people, we'll be on our way to a more inclusive supply chain, and a more inclusive world.
This Notice applies to Unilever’s diverse suppliers who may share any personal data with us. It explains why and how we collect and process personal data worldwide.
As we work towards our goal, we need to be able to measure our progress. And to measure our progress, we need to collect particular data on our suppliers. This data will help us to understand, measure and promote diversity among our suppliers.
To reassure suppliers that we’re respecting the privacy of their personal data and handling it with the utmost care, in 2022 we created our Supplier Diversity Privacy Notice. It’s an important foundation of our approach and details the type of data we collect, what we will use it for and how we will handle it. It also explains suppliers’ rights regarding their data.
To ensure it’s widely accessible, we’ve translated the Notice into a number of languages.
