Unilever disappoints’ as shoppers switch brands

THE chief executive of household brands giant Unilever, responsible for a raft of products from Dove Soap to Hellmann's mayonnaise, slammed its "disappointing" performance today as hard pressed consumers switched to cheaper own-label alternatives.

- Michael Hunter

The frank assessment by boss Hein Schumacher came as the fourth-largest company on the FTSE-100, worth almost £100 billion, reported a drop in sales for 2023.

The ice cream division took much of the heat at the 95-year-old company as cost inflation fed through to higher prices for Unilever's range, which includes Ben & Jerry's and Magnum.

Unilever said: "Ice cream's underlying sales growth was disappointing at 2.3%, with price growth of 8.8% and a volume decline of 6.0%, reflecting the impact of downtrading". It was worse for the chilly sweet treats designed to be eaten at home, with sales in that category "down in the high single digits".