Unilever’s scientific expertise

For more than 20 years, Unilever has been at the forefront of microbiome research and development. Our advanced research, made possible through access to vast amounts of data, powerful machine learning and high-performance computing, is unlocking groundbreaking discoveries.

With over 100 patents secured and over 30,000 samples analysed, we now hold one of the world’s largest collections of human microbiome data.

Our deep understanding of the gut, skin and scalp microbiomes is driving world-class innovation and new product development designed to address evolving consumer needs.

Innovation in action: Vim’s Ultra Pro floor cleaners incorporate probiotics in a floor-cleaner for 100% clean floors with a long-lasting fragrance.

The Pond’s Hydra Miracle Range was designed to answer the most common skin needs of hydration, barrier support, and microbiome balance. At its core is the exclusive Cera-Hyamino™ technology, a combination of Pro-Ceramides, Hyaluronic Boosters, and GAP Amino.

Unilever has been a pioneer in biotechnology for almost three decades. Put in its simplest terms, biotechnology is about harnessing biology and nature to create new products that meet consumer needs and preferences.

We’re using biotechnology today to create superior-performing and sustainably sourced ingredients for our Beauty and Wellbeing and Home Care products that can replace fossil-derived materials and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Innovation in action: With TRESemmé Silk Press we offer a revolutionary heatless hair straightening innovation that delivers salon-sleek results without the damage of heat styling. Powered by Amino Press 20 Technology, it works both inside and outside the hair fibre to progressively smooth, align, and strengthen strands with every use.

Plastics is one of the four core sustainability priorities in our business strategy and our ambition is to help end plastic pollution through reduction, circulation and collaboration.

To turn this ambition into a reality, we’re investing in the development of next-generation packaging materials and technologies.

Our world-class team of material scientists, packaging experts and digital modelers at our global Packaging R&D Centre are dedicated to achieving this goal.

Digital tools are unlocking an unprecedented age of scientific discovery. Using advanced computing power and AI, we’re able to compress decades of lab work into days, accessing a level of insight we could not previously have imagined.

To turn people’s needs into sustainable, cutting-edge innovations, we map, model and experiment virtually, designing and simulating all the steps involved in each process before these innovations go on to be manufactured at scale in our factories. At Unilever, we call this DataLab.

This technological leap of AI and virtual simulation, coupled with our vast repository of proprietary data and a century of scientific expertise in personal and household care, ensures our scientists are leading the industry in developing the next generation of products.