Unilever has kicked off a sale process for historic brands including Marmite, Bovril and Colman’s, as CEO Fernando Fernandez trims down the consumer giant’s food footprint.
A package of British food assets totalling around £200m in annual revenues will be up for grabs, according to a report by Reuters.
The move would accelerate Unilever’s disposals programme of non-core food assets, with the group estimated by Barclays to be looking to hive ff brands acounting for around €1bn-€1.5bn of revenues. It follows spin off of the ice cream division, with The Magnum Ice Cream Company formally separating in December, a sale of The Vegetarian Butcher earlier this year and a hoped-for divestment of troubled snacking brand Graze.
Unilever will hang on to Pot Noodle, people familar with the matter told Reuters.
Unilever concentrated production of condiments – including Hellmann’s, Marmite, Bovril and Colman’s – at its Burton factory, where it completed a £40m upgrade programme in 2024.
The latest move would represent Unilever’s largest disposal since Fernandez took on the top role in February 2025. Stepping up from CFO, he had impressed with his “ability to drive change at speed”, Unilever chairman Ian Meakins said at the time.
The company’s disposals mirror similar break-ups and divestments at groups across the fmcg sector, as major players search for better shareholder value and stronger margins. In the past two years, splits have included the break-up of Kellogg’s into Kellanova and WK Kellogg; Coca-Cola’s proposed sale of Costa Coffee; Keurig Dr Pepper’s planned split into pureplay coffee and drinks businesses; and Reckitt’s divestment of non-core brands.
Unilever’s upcoming ice cream scoop-out of The Magnum Ice Cream Company will shave off around 16% of total revenue at the group, as of Q3 2025 figures.
Unilever delivered better-than-expected quarterly sales results in October, as its refocus behind key brands – largely in beauty, wellbeing and personal care – paid off. Underlying sales grew 3.9% to €14.7bn, beating analysts’ expectations of 3.7%, with volumes up 1.5%.
The company expects growth of between 3%-5% in its full-year 2025 results.
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