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Unilever CEO: Another rough year ahead but it won't stop innovation

Unilever expects to have to work just as hard as last year to hit expected financial this year and plans to keep innovating on the product side.

January 20, 2016

Describing himself in one media report as a 'realist,' Unilever's chief is more than a bit bearish about 2016, calling it a "volatile" year given global economic head winds. Yet it'' not stopping the second biggest personal care product seller from innovating on new products and revamping retail market strategy on successful brands.

Unilever CEO Paul Polman told the Telegraphglobal volatility will continue due to pressure on middle class segments worldwide and that his Anglo-Dutch company worked "twice as hard" last year to meet expectations.

"I am convinced that high market volatility will continue this year — if the start of 2016 is anything to go by. So we will have to set our bar even higher," he told the Telegraph.

While Unilever's sales enjoyed a 4.1-percent jump and total revenues increased by 10 percent, net profit dropped by 5 percent.

A good majority of Unilever's products and brands are targeted toward the upper lower and middle class segments with a few high-end brands. The company intends to expand the latter and is focused on increasing what Polman terms as "affordable luxury" products, such as Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

The company operates some of the best known global brands, including Dove, and intends to take more products to a premium level, which will allow for increased pricing on those product lines. Unilever bought four upmarkets skincare lines last year and is the second largest personal care conglomerate behind L'Oreal. Its business brands include Vaseline, Dove soap and Lipton Tea.

Unilever predicts sales growth to hit between 3 and 5 percent this year, according to a Reuters report published in Fortune.

"We are preparing ourselves for tougher market conditions and high volatility in 2016, as world events in recent weeks have highlighted," Polman said, according to Reuters.