The FMCG giant Unilever is taking steps to reduce palm oil composition in soaps by 25% and this new combination is claimed to have more functional benefits and better results than the previous versions. This change could bring in dramatic customer pull to various brands under Unilever like Lux, lifebuoy, etc. The two largest brands under Unilever’s Indian subsidiary namely Lux and Lifebuoy have debuted with the technology.
As per reports given by the chief employees of the company, both of these brands have now gone live with the change and technology has taken more than 5 years to get curated get it with top-notch quality by undergoing extensive tests not only with the lab but also in clinical ways and with thousands of consumers agreeing that the product is of a far better quality. This technology has debuted in India, which is the largest market for Unilever soap bars.
WHAT CALLS FOR THIS CHANGE TO REDUCE PALM OIL?
According to the firm, the efficiency and benefits of the new soap formation have been tested with thousands of Indian consumers in addition to independent clinical studies and as per the company’s reports, the results are unanimous while the research has been published and presented in top international journals and conferences. If we take up the case of a simple soap. Just 20 to 25% of a soap bar’s (TFM) is soluble; the remainder serves merely to give the bar its structure and is eventually washed down and disposed of, adding significantly to the environment. The soap mostly contains wasteful oil, that adds no customer value and just adds waste to the environment.
As far as the consumer is concerned this is not only great in terms of the product formulation but also the reduction in palm olive oil, which ultimately leads to less deforestation. The firm came up to ensure that it is working with palm oil to source the same was deforestation and peat-free.
This is done as a part of a strategy to offset the commodity price volatility and produce the environmental impact caused by various products. In a separate report a publication in Malaysia Road that the Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA), a not-for-profit association of the five Asian palm oil consuming countries sustainable palm oil, had urged Hindustan Unilever limited to reconsider its decision to reduce the palm oil content in its various soaps.
HUL is the country’s leading soap supplier with a 38% market share of India’s soap market and that’s the only reason why the company has chosen to implement the plan in its biggest market, India.
In conclusion, it is evident that the world is moving towards enabling goals and prioritizing sustainable ways of marketing manufacturing and production in order to capture customers who are moving towards a sustainability mindset from another point of you this could be viewed as a way to go hand in hand with Mother Earth and not disturbing the optimum proportion of resources.
