Unilever in Africa: Targeting the Bottom of the Pyramid

In the mid-1880s, William Lever (Lever), who ran a successful family grocery business in the north of England, began selling a new soap called ‘Sunlight’ that he had developed from pine kernel oil . ‘Sunlight’ was sold in a distinctive pack, which was a rarity for that time. The soap went on to become a massive success, prompting Lever to build a factory to mass manufacture it.

In 1890, a limited company called ‘Lever Brothers Ltd.’ was established and in 1894, it became a public company. Gradually, the company expanded operations to Australia, Canada, the US, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1930, Lever Brothers Ltd. was merged with Margarine Unie (MU) to form Unilever Ltd. (Unilever). The merger made Unilever the market leader in soap and margarine products.