Overview of Research Centres

Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up in the year 1967 at Mumbai (then known as Bombay). The primary challenge, at that time was to find suitable alternatives to the edible oils and fats that were being used as raw materials for soaps. Later, import substitution and export obligations directed the focus towards non-edible oil seeds, infant foods, perfumery chemicals, fine chemicals, polymers and nickel catalyst. This facilitated creation of new brands which helped build new businesses. There were also significant improvements made to manufacturing processes.

Over the years many break through innovations, such as structured bar soap, fairness cream, zero alcohol soap, poly-coated scouring bar for dishwashing, fortified salt, instant tea, critical components for a water purifying device, and value-added (nature care) tea, led to significant successes in the marketplace. At the same time, Hindustan Unilever Research gained eminence within Unilever Global R&D and became recognized as one of the six global R&D Centres of Unilever with the creation of Unilever Research India in Bangalore in 1997. Towards the end of 2006, with the construction of an additional set of world class laboratories, all the research programs in India were integrated into a single research establishment of Unilever Research Bangalore in India.

Unilever Research Bangalore - India, in addition to its highly qualified and talented people, has world class infrastructure and facilities for conducting world class research. These include:

• State-of-art instruments, such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer (NMR), Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), etc., essential for carrying out world-class research, with objectives of direct business interest to the Unilever Group of Companies.
• Pilot plants to test out feasibility and scalability of various parameters of our lab-scale experiments at a larger scale to test feasibility and scalability.
• A well-stocked Information Centre with all the latest, relevant books, journals, and numerous e-resources having desktop connectivity; accessible on a 24x7 basis.

In the true spirit of environmental sustainability, the research campus has been built around a natural setting, in harmony with rare flora and fauna. The work environment is enlivened by a modern cafeteria, well-equipped gymnasium, and an auditorium. The vitality of the work environment, besides promoting creativity, also gives a high priority to the safety of the people working with us, by providing the necessary tools and training to ensure adherence to stringent safety norms.