Unilever Vietnam reports Sustainable Living Plan progress

When Unilever launched its Compass in 2010, it committed to developing new ways of doing business that will allow Unilever to double the size of the company while reducing its environmental impact and increasing its social impacts. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, which was first announced by Unilever CEO Paul Polman at the end of 2010, is the roadmap to how Unilever will deliver its Compass commitment. In other words, it is Unilever's plan to drive the company's virtuous circle of growth for competitive advantage.

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan is a ground-breaking company-wide action plan, spanning its entire supply chain and involving every part of the company. The plan will result in three significant outcomes by 2020, namely doubling the company's growth whilst halving the environmental impact of its products, sourcing 100 per cent of its agricultural raw materials sustainably and helping more than one billion people take action to improve their health and well-being.

With the launch of Unilever Sustainable Living Plan in Vietnam in September 2011, Unilever Vietnam officially announced its USLP ambition for 2012-2020, furthering its strong commitments to make Vietnamese lives better though the specific commitments which are making more than 20 million Vietnamese lives better by improving their health and well-being, halving the environmental impact of our business activities and product consumption and enhancing the livelihoods of millions of Vietnamese as we grow our business.

Focusing on three key pillars (i) improving health, hygiene and well-being, (ii) reducing waste and saving water and (iii) supporting micro entrepreneurs, Unilever Vietnam has proactively expanded its long-term partnerships with the government agencies, NGOs and community organisations, as well as leveraging joint collaboration with its customers in order to deliver its USLP commitments.

After one year of the USLP’s launch in Vietnam, the company has achieved great initial success in delivering the plan commitments across the three key pillars above mentioned. These achievements have helped the company grow its business and increase its social impacts.

JV Raman, chairman of Unilever Vietnam, said: "We are very excited of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan journey that we have started in Vietnam, and are very much encouraged by the initial success that we have achieved in this regard one year on. We look forward to working more closely with the government, with our customers and partners, and with our people for the  common goal of making Vietnamese lives better."

Unilever is one of the world’s leading multinational consumer goods manufacturers specialising in foods and home and personal care products.  Since its operation in Vietnam in 1995, Unilever Vietnam has continuously achieved strong and solid growth, averaging at double digit figure and resulting in total revenues of nearly 1 per cent of the country’s GDP as of 2010.