Unilever looks to emerging markets for growth

“Europe and the US will be, for the next 10 years, low growth territories, I’m afraid. So, soon we will have 75 per cent of our turnover in emerging markets. 70-75 per cent by the end of decade,” chief executive Paul Polman said.

At 55 per cent now, Unilever and its brands like Knorr, Hellmann’s, Dove and Sunsilk already derive a higher proportion of sales in emerging markets than key rivals Procter & Gamble and Nestle.

The Anglo-Dutch group’s growth is driven by its big presence in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with Brazil, India, China and Turkey among its fastest growing markets.

“So we are by any standards the emerging market company,” added Mr Polman.

“We are growing by 10 per cent or more now consistently in the emerging markets and that’s a very healthy growth.

“We can continue to grow at a 4 to 6 per cent range overall. It’s a healthy growth,” he said.

Unilever raised its prices sharply in the second quarter to offset higher commodity costs, helping it beat forecasts with a 7.1 per cent increase in quarterly underlying sales.

Mr Polman said the group should be able to grow underlying sales at 4-6 per cent annually into the future.

He added: “Broadly as a company we think we have priced ahead of our competitors in some cases and we now need to see our competitors moving their prices before we would look at other things.

“That is happening right now and we feel more or less happy with our pricing,” he added

The company plans to divide Unilever to eight mega regions.

Unilever can trace its roots back to Warrington in Victorian England when brothers William and James Lever set up a soap-making business.

This merged with Dutch company Margarine Unie to become Unilever.