Managing Innovation, Design and Creativity

Chapter 32. Innovation beyond the comfort zone?

CASE STUDY 11: UNILEVER^[122]

Can we spread this far?

"Spreads such as margarines are a major contributor to our turnover and profit but the market is shrinking by about 2% per year. We need something to get off that slippery slope."

—Kevin Povey, Global Project Leader, Unilever

"I really believe we should push on with this, I am sure that there is a market." This was the view of a small but determined group within Unilever's 'yellow fat' business. Unilever had been working on developing a spread with serious cholesterol-reducing properties for some time but so far they had not been able to get the price point to a level that would convince senior management to commit the necessary resources. There had been development activities around a 'heart health' platform, and Unilever's existing product did already have some positive effect on cholesterol levels, but the desire was to develop a product that would have a significant impact on cholesterol – at the existing price point.

Unilever and margarine

The company, with such brands as Flora in the UK and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter in the US, is already the world's leading margarine manufacturer and it dominates the global margarine sector. "We practically invented margarine", said a Unilever spokesman. The Dutch companies that later formed Unilever, Jurgens and Van den Bergh, invented the commercial manufacturing of butter in Holland in 1872.

The fact that market research on whether or not ...