ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. -- Unilever said it is integrating its North American ice cream business into the company's existing U.S. and Canadian operating units. This move will enable the company to leverage the full resources and expertise of the combined organization and drive competitive advantage, it said. Specifics of the integration are a result of a comprehensive study that Unilever announced on August 2, 2007.
Under the company's One Unilever agenda, this integration is consistent with the move to one operating company per geography and Unilever's [image-nocss] goal to maximize go-to-market opportunities. It is also the next logical step in the evolution of the business, following the successful integration of the foods and home and personal care teams in the fall of 2005.
As a result of the integration, Unilever will close its Green Bay, Wis., and Oakville, Ont., offices and relocate the ice cream business to its U.S. headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and to its Canadian headquarters in Toronto. The integration affects some 275 employees working in Green Bay and Oakville. Operations and jobs at the ice cream manufacturing plants are not affected. Ben & Jerry's will continue to be run out of Vermont.
Ice cream is one of the most important categories in Unilever's global portfolio and our North American ice cream team has done an incredible job over the last 10 years building our business, said Michael B. Polk, president of Unilever Americas. Our decision to integrate this team into Unilever's U.S. and Canadian operations will further strengthen the business' competitiveness by leveraging the power and scale of Unilever's large U.S. and Canadian organizations. Additionally, this change will enable us to more easily access ice cream insight and experience from around the world by more directly linking our brand innovation agenda to our global Ice Cream capability. We realize that change is not easy and we are committed to working closely with our people to help them with this transition.
Unilever's U.S. brands include Axe, all, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Country Crock, Degree, Dove, Good Humor, Hellmann's, Klondike, Knorr, Lipton, Popsicle, Promise, Q-Tips, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Snuggle, Suave, Sunsilk and Vaseline.
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