Consumer goods manufacturer Unilever has implemented a number of measures to protect the lives and livelihoods of its consumers and communities, customers and suppliers, and workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Globally, the company will contribute €100m ($108,390,000) in donations of soap, sanitizer, bleach and food to support those impacted by the pandemic, including a €50m ($54,200,000) donation in soaps and sanitizers to the COVID Action Platform of the World Economic Forum. Unilever is also adapting its current manufacturing lines to produce sanitizer for use in hospitals, schools and other institutional settings. In addition to donation efforts, the company is offering €500m ($541,950,000) in cash flow relief to support livelihoods across its extended value chain, through early payment to vulnerable small and medium sized suppliers and extending credit to select small-scale retail customers. Unilever is also committed to protecting its workforce from sudden drops in pay, as a result of market disruption or being unable to perform their role, for up to three months.
Additionally, Unilever is working with the United Kingdom Department for International Development to fund the development and implementation of a global hygiene campaign to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Reaching up to 1 billion people, the campaign aims to increase behavior around handwashing with soap and disinfecting surfaces. In addition to a £50m ($50,000,000) investment from each partner, Unilever will also contribute more than 20 million hygiene products for areas where there is little or no access to sanitation.
In conjunction with these efforts, Unilever United States has committed $20m in donations of personal care and hygiene products, home cleaning and sanitation supplies, and food products. $8m in products have been donated to-date and will be distributed through national partner Feeding America. In May, Unilever United States will hold a Day of Service during which every essential item produced at its 14 U.S. factories will be donated to provide an additional estimated $12m of support to those most in need. Finally, the company has also donated more than 200,000 masks to local hospitals in New Jersey to help protect the lives of health care professionals.