Unilever's Woes in Indonesia Carry a Warning for Its New CEO
Fernando Fernandez, who takes over Saturday as the new CEO of Unilever Plc, has a track record in emerging markets that have driven the expansion in recent years of what's one of the world's biggest consumer goods groups. The 37-year company veteran will need all the skills he can muster for a market where the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream faces some of its most-entrenched problems: Indonesia.
Consider what he's up against: At Aeon supermarket on the outskirts of Jakarta, Unilever's Rinso detergent was recently priced at 75,500 rupiah ($4.60) against a discounted 29,800 rupiah for local rival Wings Group's SoKlin. The capital's food stalls that use sweet soy sauce — a staple of dishes from chicken satay to 'nasi goreng' — buy Wings' Kecap Sedaap label that's 3,000 rupiah cheaper than Unilever's Bango brand. Some of the corner stores sprouting across the country say they can't directly stock Unilever goods because the company doesn't take small orders.
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'Unfortunately, that was not the experience that I had.' Under the watch of Whiting and her co-founder, Lindsey Boyd, The Laundress had scaled deliberately. Once owned by Unilever, the company boomed in scope and scale — with disastrous results. In November 2022, Unilever had to issue an eight million-item recall of Laundress products due to bacterial contamination; the company told customers to stop using all detergents and cleaning products and pulled items from store shelves. 7 Because The Fill's products come in refillable pouches, Whiting prefers to use decanters as opposed to the plastic bottles most cleaning products are stored in. The ethos of The Fill is rooted in Whiting's conviction that cleaning can be a lifestyle. Emmy Park for NY Post. 7 Whiting has a 'smell station,' showcasing the different scents bottled inside The Fill's products. 'The beauty of aromatherapy,' Whiting said, 'is you don't have to do anything to get the benefits.' Emmy Park for NY Post. The following March, there was a second recall due to a carcinogen in some products. The Laundress temporarily shuttered, and wouldn't relaunch until July of 2023. 'It was very painful,' Whiting said. 'My whole life and identity were so intertwined with The Laundress.' Her legal agreements made it worse. 'There were a lot of people reaching out to me and I had that five-year non-compete, non-disparaging agreement — I couldn't say anything,' she said. (The Post has reached out to Unilever for comment.) 7 Whiting sold The Laundress to Unilever for a reported $100 million in 2019. Emmy Park for NY Post. Whiting had stayed aboard for two more years after The Laundress' sale, but unbeknownst to many of her followers, her contract had expired in 2021. 'It wasn't exactly public that I was not part of [it anymore],' she said. In the wake of the fallout, Whiting didn't immediately plot a return; in fact, she actively resisted one. 'I never wanted to make products again,' she said. 'My work was done.' 7 Whiting told NYNext's Lydia Moynihan that her experience with Unilever left her burned out and disenfranchised. 'I never wanted to make products again,' she said. 'My work was done, I could move on to something else.' Emmy Park for NY Post. But friends and longtime customers kept calling — asking what she was using now, asking what they should clean with — and Whiting felt pulled back in. 'I couldn't leave my community hung to dry,' Whiting said. Last June, she launched The Fill, a line of eco-friendly cleaning products and a private member's community that is based out of the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park. 7 Whiting's work with The Fill is a natural evolution from the work she began with The Laundress in the early 2000s. Back then, she was pioneering 'neat cleaning,' a fabric-specific, design-forward approach. Emmy Park for NY Post. Memberships start at $40 per year and include access to The Fill's line of home and laundry care products, direct advice from Whiting via her 'cleaning concierge' service, and admission to 'the Circle,' a digital and in-person hub for workshops, Q&As, and community programming. Past events have included in-person fitness classes, online breathing workshops and Zoom reading sessions — and it's all tied to Whiting's belief that cleaning isn't just a chore, but a lifestyle. 'I gave my know-how, cleaning help and resources openly for 20 years,' said Whiting, who studied fiber science and apparel design at Cornell and later worked as a designer at Ralph Lauren Home. 'Now, that's mine to share with the members of my community. And there's value in community.' 7 The Fill's products come in reusable pouches, which Whiting said use 80% less plastic than traditional bottles. Emmy Park for NY Post. While The Laundress trafficked in traditional notions of luxury with $50 bottles of detergent perfumed with Le Labo scents, The Fill is more sustainability focused and discrete, but still skews upscale. Many products come in eco-conscious pouches, and refillable glass bottles are sold separately. Traditional perfume has been swapped for functional aromatherapy blends designed to calm, energize, or restore. Labels have a handwritten-look. This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC's power players (and those who aspire to be). It's a deliberate return to the intimacy Whiting had spent years cultivating — then lost. 'My goals are very different [this time around],' she said. 'It is a completely different way of doing business. A different sensibility. The second chapter.' Send NYNext a tip: nynextlydia@
