More Than a Separation: Unilever’s Next Portfolio Move

Spreads, Tea, Ice Cream — and Now Food?

Unilever’s contemplation of a separation of its food assets does not come as a surprise.

It is one of those large corporates that proactively use carve-outs as a strategic tool for portfolio value creation. As a serial divestor, Unilever has industrialized carve-outs and built strong muscle memory — with repeatable playbooks and institutional carve-out capabilities at both leadership and executive levels.

Having worked closely on the Ice-Cream business divestment, where I was supporting Supply Chain and R&D separations, what stood out most was Unilever’s relentless focus on value creation, while understanding separation complexities and driving operational disentanglement.

The standalone Ice-Cream business was not just being separated — it was being built to be more cost-efficient from Day 1.

This translated into a dual-track strategy:

• Driving operational separation, while

• Identifying value-creation levers to build a fundamentally stronger business from the start
  
  

With the potential Food division exit now on the radar, it further emphasises Unilever’s agility and willingness to reshape the portfolio while the economics support it. An interesting space to watch out for.