Hanneke Faber joined Unilever last May, in a time of flux at the consumer goods giant – it had recently sold its spreads business, including the Becel and Flora brands, to private equity firm KKR, and was investing in the meat alternatives and healthy snacking channels, with the acquisition of The Vegetarian Butcher and Graze respectively.
In its most recent full year, while Unilever saw group sales rise by 2.9%, underlying sales growth in food and refreshments was largely driven by price increases: pricing was up by 1.7%, while volumes were down by 0.2%.
“Obviously, developing markets are seeing faster growth – that’s the same for everyone in the consumer goods market,” says Faber.
