Unilever Named in Top Spot on Dow Jones Sustainability Index

LONDON & ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Unilever has been named as the sustainability leader in the Food & Beverage super-sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI).

“exhibited exemplary performance aimed at integrating sustainability throughout its business model”

This year, the company reached an overall score of 86%, five percentage points higher than its 2011 score, and substantially ahead of the average Food Producers industry score of 46%.

The result also marks the 14th consecutive year that Unilever has led the Food Producers sector of the DJSI.

Unilever scored 100% for its record on health & nutrition, environmental policy & management system, and packaging. It also scored over 90% in five criteria: strategy for emerging markets, supply chain management, environmental reporting, operational eco-efficiency and social reporting.

The performance scores are the result of an annual review of a broad range of sustainability issues. Analysts assess areas such as corporate governance, risk management, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labour practices - with a strong focus on long-term shareholder value.

The super-sector leader report said that Unilever has “exhibited exemplary performance aimed at integrating sustainability throughout its business model” and that “the company’s philosophy of sustainable living is backed by its consistent efforts to address its consumers’ needs in the areas of health and hygiene, nutrition and access to safe drinking water”.

Gail Klintworth, Chief Sustainability Officer, Unilever said: “This is a great testament to the hard work and dedication of our people at Unilever who are working every day to help us achieve our ambition of doubling the size of our business while reducing our environmental impact and increasing our positive social impact in the world.

“The SAM / Dow Jones report also reminds us that while we are above the average industry scores in all of the criteria set, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. We won’t be resting on our laurels as we work in partnership with our stakeholders to achieve our sustainable growth mission, as set out in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.”

The 2012 assessment was conducted by SAM, a Swiss investment company focused on sustainability investing, in partnership with the Dow Jones Indexes.

http://www.sustainability-indexes.com

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with operations in over 100 countries and sales in 190. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day. We have more than 171,000 employees, and generated annual sales of €46.5 billion in 2011.

Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. Our portfolio includes some of the world’s best known and most loved brands including thirteen €1 billion brands, and global leadership in most categories in which we operate. The portfolio features iconic brands such as: Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Omo, Cif, Signal and Domestos.

Unilever’s ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with a target to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. All of these goals are itemised in more than 50 time-based targets in our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Unilever has led the Food Producers sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 14 consecutive years. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2011 Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard and was named #1 in the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders according to the latest survey findings from GlobeScan Inc. and SustainAbility Ltd.

For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.