Lever Brothers to become ‘Unilever’

LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS of some of the country’s major house care, personal products and food items, Lever Brothers West Indies Ltd, yesterday took journalists on an extensive tour of its refurbished facilities. The breakfast meeting and tour was held to make the national community more aware of the wide range of products being distributed by the company, as well as to highlight some of the company’s past and present achievements and  give an insight into future development. One such improvement is the Hamba machine, used for packaging tubs of margarine butter. With the Hamba, the company can now package 120 tubs of butter per minute, compared to the former 80 tubs per minute. The company is also in the final stages of upgrading its non-soapery detergent (NSD) plant at a cost of approximately $6 million, to make it fully automated.  Human resource manager George Bell said the company had been undergoing upgrades of equipment and personnel.

In addition, the company is preparing for a name change in January, in keeping with its parent company’s (Unilever) requirements — that the name should include Unilever. Another change is that all the company’s products must carry the logo effective July 1, and the logo would be imprinted on all the company’s brands by January next year. Managing director Pablo Garrido gave the assurance that the company’s capacity was intact, noting that while they were shifting products in case of outsourcing, they were upgrading other areas, like the NSD plant. Asked about the number of brands the company has on the market, Garrido said there were 50 brands locally, but close to 400 brands worldwide. The global reach of the company spans 151 countries, with over 247,000 employees worldwide. The company’s environmental responsibilities incorporate activities and organisations involved in fish conservation, clean water stewardship and sustainable agriculture. Bell said the company’s commitment was so strong they “do not do business with anyone who does not follow these guidelines.”