Consumer goods giant Unilever could cut around 7,500 jobs as it splits off its ice cream business.
Chief executive Hein Schumacher said the division, which owns brands including Ben & Jerry’s and Wall’s, could be set for a separate listing. The division makes up 16% of sales and is worth around €8 billion.
Schumacher said that “our overall idea is to do fewer things better, and with greater impact”, adding that a demerger would be “the most likely route we would take, though we cannot exclude other options, with a separate listing for this business”.
He said the ice cream business is already managed separately to other activities, and there is a lack of overlap in supply chains with Unilever’s other business lines.
He added: “Historically the company has been a Dutch-Anglo company. We are managing the food and ice-cream divisions currently in the Netherlands, and the remainder of the company here from London.
“That doesn’t mean that ice cream will be a Dutch company or a UK company. We’re looking at all options.”
Associated job losses would affect mainly global, office-based roles. The company has 6,000 staff in the UK, although only a fraction of these work on the ice cream business.
The decision to potentially sell off this division comes as part of a wider restructuring and turnaround plan, led by Schumacher, who joined last year.
The programme aims to save around €800 million in costs over the next three years.
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