Unilever to streamline product portfolio and cut 2,000 jobs

Unilever is considering plans to streamline product portfolio and cut around 2,000 jobs across its operations to ensure effective and efficient operations.

The Dutch multinational firm is set to reduce its number of stock-keeping units (SKUs) by 30% by 2014-end.

As part of the proposed job cuts, the company will slash marketing headcount by 12% globally, which represents more than 800 positions.

The plans are part of Unilever’s efforts to achieve cost savings of €500m in 2014, which would help it enhance its supply chain and operations.

The company intends to invest more in digital campaigns that currently account for 15% of ad spending, compared with 12% in 2011.

Unilever CEO Paul Polman was quoted by Reuters from a presentation in London.

"The global economy has calibrated down about 1%-1.5% and we probably should’ve done a better job seeing it coming," he said.

"We’re using that opportunity to step-up the performance and drive new energy into the organisation."

The company is striving to improve its spreads business, which has been suffering for years partly due to a consumer perception that margarine is less natural than butter.

For the third quarter, Unilever reported slower sales growth due to drop in demand for its products and slowdown in emerging markets.

Polman added that the company will divest non-core brands that have been underperforming and will takeover bolt-on brands in the future.

Unilever CFO Jean-Marc Huet said that the company will sell most of its food brands rather than those on the personal care side.

In recent years, Unilever has been positioning itself more as a personal care company than a food company.

Earlier this year, it sold its Wish-Bone and Western dressings brands to Pinnacle Foods for $575m and its oils and fats business in Turkey to Swedish-Danish firm AarhusKarlshamn (AAK).