en.Wedoany.com Reported - Unilever plans to open a $270 million global innovation center in New Haven, Connecticut, by spring 2029, integrating packaging innovation with other R&D processes at a single location to streamline collaboration and accelerate product development. The company claims to serve 3.7 billion people daily worldwide.
The center is envisioned as a "leading hub" for the company's R&D processes in personal care, beauty, and health, located in what Unilever describes as one of the fastest-growing bioscience innovation clusters globally. All R&D capabilities will be consolidated in one place, including formulation and fragrance creation, packaging design, and consumer insights. These co-located operations are expected to achieve end-to-end integration, helping business units collaborate more easily and improving the turnover efficiency of new products. Specifically, its packaging innovation studio will incorporate real-time consumer feedback into the physical and digital development of prototypes, potentially helping designers achieve desired functionalities faster.
The center is expected to be driven by artificial intelligence and emerging quantum capabilities. As a digital-first facility, it will provide deeper insights and help the company differentiate product categories through aesthetic redesign, scientific and sensory formula improvements, and other means. The location will also unlock access to leading bioscience and emerging quantum ecosystems and foster collaboration with experts, academia, technology partners, and consumers.
This move aims to boost Unilever's growth strategy in the US market and is expected to enhance the global appeal of its brands. Unilever plans to invest $260 million in the project over the long term, including $50 million in capital expenditure, with total public and private funding expected to exceed $300 million. This is the latest step in Unilever's $15 billion investment in the US market over the past decade and is expected to drive the company's domestic and international growth. Approximately 300 employees will work at the new center, which will replace Unilever's existing R&D facility in Trumbull, Connecticut.
Herish Patel, President of Unilever USA and CEO of North America Personal Care, said that New Haven allows the company to move faster into the future, and the global innovation center is where the company innovates at the intersection of science, technology, and culture, leveraging a deep innovation heritage to develop the next generation of beloved brands and products. Richard Slater, Unilever's Chief R&D Officer, stated that behind every Unilever product is a combination of world-leading science and design, fragrance, and sensory experience, and the new center will bring these capabilities together to develop products that define category innovation and roll them out globally, with the real transformation lying in integration and speed.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont added that Unilever's investment in New Haven confirms the state's reputation as a global leader in innovation, R&D, and exploration, and this innovation center will become a key cornerstone of an emerging hub, driving the innovation ecosystem across the state.
Around the same time, the LEGO Group officially opened its first dedicated global manufacturing center for the development, testing, and scaling of processes and technologies. The center includes a hub for testing and innovating new LEGO packaging and molds, a materials lab for researching more sustainable raw materials, and an additive manufacturing center for experimentation and development using advanced 3D manufacturing capabilities.
Previously, Unilever announced the merger of its food business with McCormick & Company, forming a global portfolio with an estimated revenue of $20 billion. The company believes this move is in the best interests of Unilever shareholders and has now set its sights on becoming a leading pure-play home and personal care company, citing fiscal year 2025 revenue of €39 billion.
