verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message hindustan unilever limited type public traded as bse 500696 bse sensex constituent industry consumer goods predecessor hindustan vanaspati manufacturing company 1931 1956 lever brothers india limited 1933 1956 united traders limited 1935 1956 hindustan lever limited 1956 2007 founded 1933 headquarters mumbai maharashtra india area served india key people harish manwani non executive chairman sanjiv mehta ceo and md 1 products foods beverages cleaning agents personal care products and water purifiers . revenue 30 170 crore us 4.5 billion 2014 15 net income 4 315 crore us 640 million 2014 15 number of employees 18 000 2014 parent unilever website www.hul.co.in hindustan unilever limited hul is an indian consumer goods company based in mumbai maharashtra . it is owned by anglo dutch company unilever which owns a 67 % controlling share in hul as of march 2015 and is the holding company of hul . 2 hul s products include foods beverages cleaning agents personal care products and water purifiers . hul was established in 1933 as lever brothers and in 1956 became known as hindustan lever limited as a result of a merger between lever brothers hindustan vanaspati mfg. co. ltd. and united traders ltd. it is headquartered in mumbai india and employs over 16 000 workers 2 whilst also indirectly helping to facilitate the employment of over 65 000 people . 3 the company was renamed in june 2007 as hindustan unilever limited . 4 hindustan unilever s distribution covers over 2 million retail outlets across india directly and its products are available in over 6.4 million outlets in the country . as per nielsen market research data two out of three indians use hul products . contents 1 brands 2 leadership 3 awards 4 research facilities 5 sustainable living 6 headquarters 7 direct selling division 8 controversy 8.1 mercury pollution 8.2 skin lightening creams 8.3 triclosan 9 see also 10 notes 11 external links brands edit hul is the market leader in indian consumer products with presence in over 20 consumer categories such as soaps tea detergents and shampoos amongst others with over 700 million indian consumers using its products . sixteen of hul s brands featured in the acnielsen brand equity list of 100 most trusted brands annual survey 2014 carried out by brand equity a supplement of the economic times . 5 the most trusted brands from hul in the top 100 list their rankings in brackets are lux 6 surf excel 7 clinic plus 8 rin 13 lifebuoy 15 close up 21 pond s 22 pepsodent 24 fair & lovely 29 dove 30 sunsilk 34 vim 48 wheel 67 vaseline 70 pears 78 lakme 91 . 5 the latest launches for hindustan unilever include knorr chinese noodles schezwan and hot & spicy lakme absolute sculpt range lakme lip love magnum choco cappuccino and axe gold temptation . 6 its brands include food brands annapurna salt and atta bru coffee brooke bond 3 roses taj mahal taaza red label tea kissan squashes ketchups juices and jams lipton tea knorr soups & meal makers and soupy noodles kwality wall s frozen dessert modern bread ready to eat chapattis and other bakery items now sold to everstone capital magnum ice cream 7 homecare brands 8 active wheel detergent cif cream cleaner comfort fabric softeners domex disinfectant toilet cleaner rin detergents and bleach sunlight detergent and colour care surf excel detergent and gentle wash vim dishwash magic water saver 9 10 personal care brands 11 aviance beauty solutions axe deodorant and aftershaving lotion and soap lever ayush therapy ayurvedic health care and personal care products breeze beauty soap clear anti dandruff hair products clinic plus shampoo and oil close up toothpaste dove skin cleansing & hair care range bar lotions creams and anti perspirant deodorants denim shaving products fair & lovely skin lightening products hamam lakm beauty products and salons lifebuoy soaps and handwash range liril 2000 soap lux soap body wash and deodorant pears soap pepsodent toothpaste pond s talcs and creams rexona soap sunsilk shampoo sure anti perspirant vaseline petroleum jelly skin care lotions tresemm 12 tigi water purifier brand pureit water purifier leadership edit hul has produced many business leaders for corporate india including harish manwani 13 the non executive chairman of hul and the former chief operating officer of unilever . he was also a member of unilever leadership executive team ule which comprises the company s top management and is responsible for managing unilever s profit and loss and delivering growth across its regions categories and functions . 14 sanjiv mehta was appointed as the managing director and chief executive officer of hul with effect from 10 october 2013 . he has also been appointed as executive vice president south asia unilever and is also the executive head of the south asia cluster for unilever . 15 hindustan unilever limited earned the highest recognition of leadership in hr excellence across industries at the 5th confederation of indian industry cii national hr excellence awards 2014 . 16 with a ranking of three in the 2014 global aon hewitt top companies for leaders survey hul was the highest ranked indian company to feature on the list . 17 hul was ranked 4th in the hewitt global leadership survey 2007 with only ge p & g and nokia ranking ahead of hul in the ability to produce leaders . 18 19 20 a study conducted by aon hewitt the rbl group and fortune in 2011 ranked the company number six in the list of top companies for leaders 2011 study results . 21 the company was awarded the cii prize for leadership in hr excellence at the 2nd cii national hr conclave 2011 held on october 2011 . 22 awards edit the institute of competitiveness india has recognized hindustan unilever limited s project shakti for creating shared value and bestowed upon the company the porter prize for 2014 . 23 hul was the 1 highest ranked indian company on the forbes list of most innovative companies across the globe for 2014 24 was ranked number three on fortune india s list of india s most admired companies . in the list compiled with the help of global management consultancy hay group . 25 hul was recognized as top fmcg company in india by dun & bradstreet corporate awards 2014 . 26 hul is client of the year at effies 2013 2014 . 27 hindustan unilever limited was recognised as the conscious capitalist of the year at the 2013 forbes india leadership awards . 28 hul won 12 awards overall with 4 golds 4 silvers and 4 bronzes at the 2013 emvies awards . 29 hul ranks number two on the on fortune india s 2013 50 most admired companies list . 30 hindustan unilever limited has emerged as the no. 4 most respected company in india in a survey conducted by business world in 2013 . 31 as per the latest nielsen campus track business school survey released in march 2015 hindustan unilever has emerged as the no. 1 employer of choice for b school students who will graduate in 2013 across functions . hul also retained the dream employer status for the 6th year running and continues to be the top company considered for application by b school student in india . 32 33 34 35 36 in 2012 hul was recognised as one of the world s most innovative companies by forbes . with a ranking of number 6 it was the highest ranked fmcg company . 37 hindustan unilever limited hul won the first prize at ficci water awards 2012 under the category of community initiatives by industry for gundar basin project a water conservation initiative . 38 hindustan unilever limited won 13 awards at the emvies 2012 media awards organised by the advertising club bombay in september 2012 . 39 the company received four awards at the spikes asia awards 2012 held in september . the awards included one grand prix one gold award and two silver awards . 40 hul s chhindwara unit won the national safety award for outstanding performance in industrial safety . these awards were instituted by the union ministry of labour and employment in 1965 . 41 hul was one of the eight indian companies to be featured on the forbes list of world s most reputed companies in 2007 . 42 in july 2012 hindustan unilever limited won the golden peacock occupational health and safety award for 2012 in the fmcg category for its safety and health initiatives and continuous improvement on key metrics . 43 hindustan unilever limited is rated as best 3ci company which is registered with national industrial classification code 15140 . 44 pond s talcum powder s packaging innovation has secured a silver award at the prestigious 24th dupont global packaging award in may 2012 . the brand was recognized for cost and waste reduction . 45 in may 2012 hul & star bazaar received the silver award for creating consumer value through joint promotional and event forecasting at the 13th ecr efficient consumer response asia pacific conference . 46 in 2011 hul was named the most innovative company in india by forbes and ranked 6th in the top 10 list of most innovative companies in the world . 47 hindustan unilever ltd received the national award for excellence in corporate governance 2011 of the institute of company secretaries of india icsi for excellence in corporate governance 48 in 2012 hindustan unilever emerged as the no. 1 employer of choice for b school students who will graduate in 2012 . in addition hul also retained the dream employer status for the 3rd year running 49 hindustan unilever ranked no. 2 in fortune india s most admired companies list which was released by fortune india in partnership with the hay group . the company received the highest scores for endurance and financial soundness 50 hul was ranked 47th in the brand trust report 2014 published by trust research advisory . 36 hul brands also featured in the list including lux dove lipton vim kissan bru rexona close up clinic plus pond s knorr and pepsodent among others . 51 hul emerged as the top dream employer as well as the top company considered for application in the annual b school survey conducted by nielsen in november 2010 . this was the second successive year that hul has been rated as the top dream employer in india . 52 hul has also emerged as the top employer of choice among the top six indian institutes of management iima b c l k and i . hul won three awards at the cnbc awaaz storyboard consumer awards in 2011 most recommended fmcg company of the year ; most consumer conscious company of the year and digital marketer of the year . 53 the company was felicitated in april 2010 for receiving the highest number of patents in the year 2009 at annual intellectual property awards 2010 . 54 55 in 2007 hindustan unilever was rated as the most respected company in india for the past 25 years by businessworld one of india s leading business magazines . 56 the rating was based on a compilation of the magazine s annual survey of india s most reputed companies over the past 25 years . hul is one of the country s largest exporters ; it has been recognised as a golden super star trading house by the government of india . 57 58 research facilities edit unilever r & d centre in bangalore the hindustan unilever research centre hurc was set up in 1966 in mumbai and unilever research india in bangalore in 1997 . staff at these centres developed many innovations in products and manufacturing processes . in 2006 the company s