Unilever PR: Shedding Food and Ice Cream for Beauty

Unilever's public relations job in 2026 is to explain a company that is shrinking on purpose. Unilever reported €50.5 billion in 2025 turnover, demerged its ice cream business in December 2025, and agreed in March 2026 to merge most of its food business with McCormick. What remains is a beauty, personal care and home care company led by CEO Fernando Fernandez.

Facts current as of October 8, 2026.

What is Unilever in 2026?

Unilever is a London-headquartered consumer goods company that reports four business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Foods.

Unilever's Power Brands made up 78% of 2025 turnover and grew underlying sales 4.3%, while the whole group grew 3.5% with a 20.0% underlying operating margin, according to Unilever's full-year 2025 results.

For 2026, Unilever guided to underlying sales growth of 4% to 6%.

Who runs Unilever, and who pushed for change?

Fernando Fernandez became Unilever CEO on March 1, 2025, replacing Hein Schumacher, who stepped down by mutual agreement after less than two years, according to a Unilever filing with the SEC.

Fernandez joined Unilever in 1988 and was its chief financial officer before taking the top job. Activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian fund took a stake in 2022, and Peltz later joined the board, AFP reported.

What happened to Unilever's ice cream business?

Unilever completed the demerger of its ice cream business on December 6, 2025, and The Magnum Ice Cream Company began trading in Amsterdam, London and New York on December 8, 2025, Reuters reported.

Magnum Ice Cream Company generated about €8 billion in turnover in 2024 under brands including Magnum, Cornetto and Ben & Jerry's, according to PwC. Unilever kept about 19.9% of the new company and plans to sell that stake over time.

What is the McCormick food deal?

The McCormick deal combines most of Unilever Foods, including Hellmann's and Knorr, with McCormick in a transaction that implies an enterprise value of about $44.8 billion, announced March 31, 2026.

Quartz reported that McCormick will pay $15.7 billion in cash, keep its name and headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and keep Brendan Foley as CEO. The deal is expected to close by mid-2027, pending approvals. Powder & Bulk Solids reported that the deal excludes the food business in India, Nepal and Portugal, plus the Lifestyle & Nutrition unit and Lipton ready-to-drink.

What happened to Ben & Jerry's after the demerger?

Ben & Jerry's now belongs to The Magnum Ice Cream Company, not Unilever, and its fight over independence has moved into court.

Sources: Just Food, CFO Brew and Bloomberg via Insurance Journal. Bloomberg also reported that a federal judge dismissed large parts of the independent board members' complaint in August 2026. Magnum says Ben & Jerry's is not for sale.

EPR's earlier case study on Ben & Jerry's brand activism covers how the brand built its following.

How does Dove anchor Unilever's brand story?

Dove anchors Unilever's brand story through the Campaign for Real Beauty, which began in 2004 and kept producing work for two decades.

The campaign started with an exhibition and research project, then moved into billboards of non-professional women, according to Luerzer's Archive. The 2006 film Evolution showed makeup and retouching changing a woman's face. The 2013 Real Beauty Sketches film came from Ogilvy Brazil. In 2025, Dove delivered double-digit growth, per Unilever's results.

How visible is Unilever in AI answers?

Unilever's brands are uneven in AI answers: 5W's CPG Citation Index 2026 found Dove cited in 68% of tested answers, while Vaseline sat at 8%, Lipton at 12% and Hellmann's at 8%.

EPR published those figures in its analysis of Unilever brands in AI answers, and the full study is in the CPG Citation Share Index 2026. Hellmann's and Knorr are moving into the McCormick combination, so their AI visibility work will sit with a different owner after closing.

What should communications teams take from Unilever's reset?

Each Unilever portfolio move creates a communications task with a date attached.

Audit your own brand pages after any separation: run the brand name through ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and list which answers still name the old parent. For the first-half 2026 growth numbers and brand spend behind this reset, see EPR's Unilever marketing strategy. EPR's Procter & Gamble and General Mills profiles show how the other large consumer goods houses handle the same pressure, and EPR's Unilever and the digital PR paradox covers purpose-led branding under scrutiny.

Related EPR coverage

• Unilever Marketing Strategy: Power Brands Lead 4.8% Growth, the first-half 2026 results and brand spend.
• Tatcha, the Unilever-owned prestige brand, the prestige beauty side of the portfolio.
• How Unilever uses AI for social media, the marketing technology side.
• CPG citation index: Unilever in AI answers, the AI visibility research.