Chapter 1

1.1 Company history

Unilever NAME represents the entire North Africa and Middle East region. Unilever’s corporate mission is to add vitality to life everywhere.

Unilever has been present in North Africa and the Middle East since 1933, the year that saw the family Binzagar appointment as an agent for the company in Saudi Arabia, while Unilever is also in the same year entered in the Egyptian market. In 1954 Unilever made its first foray into the market, “Maghreb” with the launch of Omo in Algeria, from France, through a local partner, followed by access to Morocco in 1960 and Tunisia in 1961.

In 1992, Unilever came on the beach in the Arabian Peninsula with the establishment of an office in Dubai in the same year Lever Egypt was formed as a joint venture with Fine Foods Inc., a member of the group in Rashid. In 1999 it merged to flee Egypt and Fine Food Group to form a company Unilever Egypt.

A leading FMCG in the region

Unilever is amongst the leading FMCG companies of the region and also the regions single largest TV advertiser.

In 2007, with the aim of driving the harmonization of operations as well as to take advantage of a concerted effort on the scale and achieve cost-benefit balance, the three groups of Arab, East and the West, which until then had been working independently, were combined to create the Unilever North Africa and the Middle East (NAME ). Unilever name is today operates through four business units. Maghreb (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya), Mashreq (Egypt and the Levant countries: Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Sudan, Syria), Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen) and the Gulf (United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain , Kuwait and Qatar) with headquarters areas located in Dubai, Jebel Ali.

Unilever is the market leader, holding the leading position, in most of the categories within which it operates in the region.

With many factories dotted across the landscape Unilever North Africa and the Middle East, and thus produces almost all products sold locally in the region. Located production for household care in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia facilities; Food in Morocco, Egypt, tea factories in – Jebel Ali, Dubai, Egypt, and production facilities Personal Care in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt.

Unilever has the name of a unified leadership team whose role is to harmonize and coordinate and take advantage of the companies’ operations across the four business units. All the main functions required to run a business competitive and located in the four business units in the region; brand building and brand development, human resources, supply chain, finance and information technology market research and communications.

1.2 Mission