Unilever is investing US$270 million in a new global innovation centre in New Haven, Connecticut, strengthening its focus on beauty, wellbeing and personal care.
The site is expected to open in spring 2029 and will employ around 300 people. It will replace Unilever’s long-standing research and development facility in Trumbull, Connecticut, which has operated since 1972. The company says the new centre will support faster product development for its Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care Power Brands.
Beauty and personal care products rely heavily on consumer trends, scientific claims, packaging, fragrance and product experience. A larger, more advanced R&D base should give Unilever more capacity to develop products that can stand out in competitive markets.
The New Haven centre will bring together teams working on skin care, cleansing, hair, wellbeing, fragrance, packaging and consumer insight. Planned facilities include a global centre for skin care and cleansing, a polycultural skin and hair centre of excellence, a human performance lab, a fragrance house and a packaging innovation studio.
Unilever also plans to use artificial intelligence and explore the potential of quantum computing to support product discovery and testing. The aim is to move ideas from research to market more quickly, while improving the quality and relevance of new products.
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc (LON:FGT) invests in the shares of predominantly UK-listed companies, with the objective of achieving capital and income growth.
