Unilever Joins PaperFlex Consortium

Unilever is racing to premiumize its core businesses, but pressure is mounting on all sides. The company just joined forces with Nestlé, PepsiCo, and others in the PaperFlex consortium to accelerate a real alternative to flexible plastic packaging, aiming to make billions of sachets recyclable or compostable. The stakes are high—regulators are hovering, and if Unilever can’t get paper to perform for products like shampoo and detergents, rivals may seize the advantage. The big bet: sharing R&D and trials to finally move the needle, with pilot runs expected within 18 months that could reshape packaging rules in emerging markets.

But here’s the catch: even perfect packaging won’t matter if the rest of the system can’t keep up. Unilever is doubling down on India as its next growth engine, channeling billions into M&A and mapping a sprawling influencer network across 19,000 ZIP codes. AI is slashing product development timelines, getting new beauty launches to shelves fast. Yet, supply chains and contract packaging aren’t always ready to match that speed, and the looming spin-off of Unilever’s Foods business with McCormick faces fresh antitrust scrutiny in the UK. If regulators or execution stumble, the grand plan could unravel.

Featuring insights from Pablo Costa, Unilever’s global head of packaging, and CEO Fernando Fernandez. Based on reporting from WWD and local sources in Greece.

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