---
title: "After 30 Years of Competing with P&G in China, Unilever Chooses Guangzhou"
description: "Unilever has officially established its largest full-category production base in China in Conghua, Guangzhou, with an investment of 1.6 billion yuan. The project will be built in phases, with a personal care factory completed by 2023, and food and ice cream factories by 2024 and 2025 respectively. Once fully operational, it is expected to generate an annual output value of about 10 billion yuan. The base will also be Unilever's first 'carbon neutral' production site and a world-class 'lighthouse factory'."
author: "古歌读舒"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2022-09-05"
language: "en"
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---

# After 30 Years of Competing with P&G in China, Unilever Chooses Guangzhou

> Unilever has officially established its largest full-category production base in China in Conghua, Guangzhou, with an investment of 1.6 billion yuan. The project will be built in phases, with a personal care factory completed by 2023, and food and ice cream factories by 2024 and 2025 respectively. Once fully operational, it is expected to generate an annual output value of about 10 billion yuan. The base will also be Unilever's first 'carbon neutral' production site and a world-class 'lighthouse factory'.

**These days, Unilever's largest full-category production base in China has officially settled in Conghua, Guangzhou.**
This is Unilever's largest investment in China in recent years, totaling 1.6 billion yuan.
It is reported that the project will be completed in phases. The personal care products factory is expected to be completed by 2023, with food and ice cream factories to be completed in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Once the entire project is completed, it will produce Unilever's full range of products, including personal care, food, and ice cream, with an estimated annual output value of about 10 billion yuan after reaching full production.
The project also boasts two "world's best" titles – it will be built as Unilever's first "carbon neutral" production base and a world-class "lighthouse factory."

Aerial view of the design for the Guangzhou full-category production base.

**Seeing this news, I really want to say to Unilever: Guangzhou, you're late!**
Look at P&G...

**However, everything is for the best; perhaps this is just the right time to come in!**
All the supporting supply chain enterprises that can meet Unilever's needs are also growing in tandem, such as "Baocai Bang," a group of nearly twenty top-tier packaging material companies.

When talking about Unilever, many people immediately think of it as a giant in the daily cosmetics and personal care sector.
Little do they know that Unilever, as one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, is also a giant in the food sector.
For example, although the weather is still hot and ice cream is still selling well, especially with the recent domestic trend of "ice cream刺客" (ice cream price shockers), did you know that the world's best-selling and most stable ice cream brand is not Häagen-Dazs, nor China's Chicecream, but Unilever?
Perhaps you haven't noticed, but "Wall's" and "Mendelin," which are sold in every small convenience store, are Unilever brands.
And as China is the largest consumer and exporter of tea, it is a pity that the world's largest tea brand, "Lipton," also comes from Unilever.

**In the household and personal care sector, when talking about Unilever, many people immediately think of its old rival: P&G.**
Yes, they have been competing in China for 34 years... No, that's not quite right! Writing "competing" doesn't capture the flavor; "fighting" is more apt.

**Since they fight, let's start from the "head."**
Unilever's entry into China can be traced back to the 1930s during the Republic of China era. In 1929, the multinational company was just formed by the merger of the Dutch Margarine Unie and the British Lever Brothers soap company, and it entered China in the 1930s, showing foresight about the Chinese market.
At that time, Unilever brought "Lux" to Shanghai, set up a joint venture factory, and later withdrew.
In 1986, after the founding of New China, Unilever re-entered China, again choosing Shanghai.
Two years later, in 1988, P&G chose Guangzhou, forming a joint venture with Guangzhou Soap Factory to create Guangzhou P&G.

**One based in East China, the other in South China, they then ignited the "daily chemical consumer goods war" that witnessed China's economic development!**
P&G's first shampoo was "Pantene," and Unilever sent out "Lux," but it felt like the former's name was feminine, while the latter became a very masculine and somewhat Russian-sounding strongman (like Alexander the Great)...
But in fact, "Lux" had already been popular in China, and was a luxury item for the upper class, though the background was different now!
Continuing, P&G's second shampoo was "Rejoice," and Unilever sent out "Sunsilk." In that era, these two brands were comparable "sister brands" in competition.
The slogan "Rejoice, so confident" still rings in my ears, but for Sunsilk, unfortunately, we couldn't remember what that summer looked like, nor that lotus flower, and now it has faded away...
P&G's third shampoo was "Head & Shoulders." Well, the shimmering strands flying in the ocean, charming! And Unilever sent out "Clear," a gust of wind clearing, you can fly, I can soar, both practicing their internal skills in the dandruff removal field, exchanging glances, wishing a single look could knock the opponent down.

**In the era from the 1990s to the 2010s, when supermarkets were the main channels and "channels were king," they were fighting fiercely, but little did they know, the fisherman got the benefit from the fight between the snipe and the clam—**
Time quietly brought them to the 2020s. Ma Yun's internet "Kung Fu" had caused a huge transformation in channels, and the new younger generation no longer cared about the hair care products of these two giants. Several domestic shampoo brands fiercely emerged, successfully pushing the market's shampoo from 1.0 to 2.0 era.
It's always difficult for a big ship to turn around; at least the speed is two beats slower.

**Every turn of a multinational giant may be the opportunity for rapid rise of private enterprises!**
Apart from Olay's "upgrade" to the fully English "OLAY," gradually shaking off the shadow of "that's the product my mom uses," and continuing to dominate the top 10, other shampoo brands are gradually aging. We'll see if they make big moves in the future...
Unilever has always been called "arrogant localization," meaning it also wants to achieve localization like P&G to capture Chinese consumers' minds, but it can't let go of its European aristocratic posture. This is evident from the Chinese translations of its brands, which are not localized at all. For example, "Pond's" – now almost no one knows it, truly "left aside" by Chinese consumers...
Of course, although P&G is hailed as the king of brand building, not all its brands have succeeded in the Chinese market. The floral-fruity hair care brand "Herbal Essences," which was comparable to "Sunsilk," has also disappeared from the Chinese market, leaving only the occasional memory of that floral scent...

**In the end, one undeniable reason P&G has achieved its current success, slightly ahead in the household and personal care sector, is that its headquarters is in Guangzhou!**
Guangzhou's exceptionally inclusive and mature business environment makes it the ideal choice for P&G's localization strategy in China, whether in terms of talent or supply chain support.
Is it bad that Unilever's headquarters is in Shanghai? Not necessarily. It's just that European arrogance meets Shanghai's elegance. These two layers of elegance have to descend to the "outside the Fifth Ring" third-tier to eighteenth-tier cities, which are more civilian, and that is clearly more difficult.
Look at talent: people only hear about professional managers hired by private enterprises being from the P&G system, but rarely from Unilever. In the daily chemical industry, everyone calls P&G the "Whampoa Military Academy" (coincidentally, P&G's headquarters is in Huangpu, Guangzhou, hehe), and there is some truth to that!
I often wonder, if Unilever had set up its headquarters in Guangzhou early on like P&G, would the situation today be different?
Actually, besides geography, the company's own decisions are more important. Perhaps it would still be the same Unilever. **But a Unilever with a bit of "Guangdong flavor" might better understand the Chinese people and the Chinese market, after all, Guangzhou is a city that embraces all!**
When a multinational company chooses a region to settle, it is influenced by local culture. Every city in China has its own characteristics and advantages. But for light industry FMCG, the entire Guangdong province has a relatively more mature and complete manufacturing system and industrial supply chain, closely related to the reform and opening up, where Guangdong took the lead in introducing "three-in-one" enterprises and its own active private enterprise genes.

**Taking daily chemicals as an example, with Guangzhou as the center, radiating to the entire Greater Bay Area (formerly the Pearl River Delta), there are "supply circles" with one-hour support everywhere.** And crucially, these supporting suppliers, taking packaging materials as an example, have gradually caught up with Japan and Germany over twenty years of competition, aiming to keep pace with Unilever, P&G, L'Oréal, and others as they incorporate them into their supplier systems in China.
At yesterday's "2022 Guangzhou First Global Unicorn CEO Conference," Unilever China President Qu Wei specifically mentioned that for the project's landing in Conghua, the Conghua District set up a special service team for the Unilever project, providing very professional and efficient guidance for the project's development, letting us deeply feel the 'warmth' and 'speed' of Guangzhou government services.
I really want to tell Unilever, compared to P&G, you are indeed late to Guangzhou.

**But there are benefits to being late! Perhaps you are not only attracted to Guangzhou's cultural atmosphere, but also to a large number of supporting supply chain enterprises that are more people-friendly, down-to-earth, and continuously pursuing mold innovation capabilities.**
Because in Conghua, and in the surrounding areas, whether in cost or quality, delivery time or customized innovation, there are now many suppliers that can meet your needs, even some you are already familiar with.
For example, whether it's your personal care products or food, for outer packaging cartons and printing, you can choose "Xian Jun Long Color Printing," which also serves food (like Arawana) and cosmetics (CHANEL, SEPHORA, etc.), with 62 Heidelberg presses ready to serve at any time; or you can also choose "Dashu Packaging Technology" in nearby Huadu to share the printing work.
In Conghua, you can also source materials locally – Hongzhi Soft Tubes, Dingmei UV Electroplating, and Kandar Eye Cream Packaging Technology are all within a 5-kilometer radius.
If you want to go a bit further? You can also choose Zheng Sheng Technology in Huadu, next door to Conghua.
As for functional flip caps, in Zengcheng, Conghua's "brother district," there is Shanggong, with whom you have cooperated before, the "cap gang" leader with a bald head; and for regular bottle caps, there is "Zhide" in Foshan, also a past partner.
Of course, there is also "Foshan Huihong," a leading functional packaging materials enterprise with whom you have happily cooperated. As an "old friend," they are just an hour's drive from Conghua. Coincidentally, Huihong's sales director is from Conghua. If you continue to cooperate with Huihong, consider it giving him more opportunities to go home...

With caps, you naturally need bottles, right?
For glass bottles, there is "Bai Minghao," a new player that can help you penetrate the youth market more easily;
For plastic bottles? Oh, right, as a global leader in environmental responsibility, Unilever certainly needs PLA. Then you should pay attention to Foshan Gaojieli, a high-end bottle manufacturer in the Pearl River Delta and even the country that focuses on degradable materials. I heard they are currently mass-producing plant-based PET...
As for shampoo and shower gel products, there is "Foshan Lianglai," which specializes in producing wash bottles, right next to Huihong, no, diagonally opposite...
If in the personal care field you need vacuum bottles, there are Dongguan's Jiaya and Shenzhen's Fengtai, two "mold masters" specializing in vacuum bottles. Although they are in two cities, they are separated by just one street, less than ten minutes apart.
If you want to be more localized and try some single-dose products, no problem, there is Yasheng, specializing in single-dose packaging for twelve years! Although still young compared to you, Chinese companies are all young; what matters is quality!

Well, that's enough packaging material companies for now. If I recommend more, you'll suspect I'm advertising. Although it is advertising, I have to make it valuable in front of you, even if it's a recommendation! (covering face)

**By the way, these packaging material companies are leaders or rising stars in their respective fields. If you don't believe me, that's fine; just trust "Baocai Bang."**
As a global pride, we are delighted to see today's Unilever, after joining hands with Guangzhou, usher in a broader consumer space and gain support from more and better supporting enterprises.
In Conghua, starting from a "new" starting point, "transform" into the power to enter consumers' hearts, and win a beautiful tomorrow!
Home is where Unilever is!
**Based in Guangzhou, we believe Unilever will reach more and more homes, farther and wider...**

Source: Guge Vision (ID: orangeguge) Author: Guge Dushu


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