It started with margarine
1872 – Butter merchants Antoon Jurgens and Simon van den Bergh both open margarine factories. They grow into major competitors.
1927 – The two competitors team up to form the Margarine Union.
1928 – The Margarine Unie buys the French-Dutch Calvé, which mainly produces salad oil.
1929 – The Margarine Unie and the British soap manufacturer Lever Brothers decide to work together and become Unilever together.
1937 – Unilever introduces the Unox brand for products from the acquired Hartog meat factory in Oss.
1948 – Calvé markets peanut butter for the first time.
1971 – Unilever buys tea maker Lipton and becomes one of the largest tea manufacturers in the world.
2001 – Unilever has expanded worldwide and cuts its number of brands from 1,600 to 900.
2017 – Kraft Heinz tries to acquire Unilever, but fails.
2017 – Unilever sells where it all started, the margarine branch.
2018 – Unilever says it wants to become a fully Dutch company. But the company is withdrawing this plan. Because the Netherlands will not abolish dividend tax anyway and British shareholders are opposed.
2020 – Unilever decides to become a UK company.
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