Unilever to invest 80 million pounds in new fragrance facility
Plans for the new facility in Port Sunlight are described as 'a significant step in Unilever's global investment to build world-class in-house fragrance capabilities,' as it looks to accelerate growth and productivity through fragrance design and ingredient buying, whilst continuing to work closely with key global fragrance house partners.
Fragrance, it states, plays a critical role in elevating the consumer experience and performance of everyday products, from shampoos and conditioners to skin moisturisers, body washes and deodorants, and in laundry and home cleaning. The new facility will include a fragrance research and innovation lab, a compounding facility where new fragrances are blended and developed, and evaluation suites where products are tested to assess performance and preference.
The site will also be digitally enabled end-to-end, including robotics to blend fragrance oils and real-time data capture, enabling digital modelling, analytics and the use of AI to drive fragrance development.
The move, subject to planning permission, will also integrate fragrance capabilities with consumer insights and product development processes. This will enable Unilever to bring fragrance innovation to their Home Care, Personal Care, and Beauty and Wellbeing brands, including Persil, Dove, Rexona (Sure in the UK) and TRESemmé, with 'greater speed and efficiency'.
Richard Slater, chief research and development officer at Unilever, said in a statement: 'We are delighted to announce this significant investment to build a world-class fragrance house within Unilever. The investment includes a new state-of-the-art facility in Port Sunlight, which further expands our leading-edge R&D capabilities in the UK and drives our ambitious plans to build expertise, partnerships and innovation at scale.
'Our new fragrance facility and expert perfumers will enable us to bring fragrance insight and innovation to our brands at speed and, working with our partners, to reinvent how fragrances are created for consumer products, leveraging cutting-edge science along with AI and robotics.'
It's part of a wider 300-million-pound investment package by Unilever in the UK across offices, research and development sites and factories in the next two years. Port Sunlight in the North West is Unilever's largest innovation site in the UK, where alongside two factories and two research and development labs, Unilever has also opened an Advanced Manufacturing Centre (AMC) and the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF), which was built in collaboration with the University of Liverpool.
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