HUL opens India's first Unilever Fragrance Hub at IIT Bombay.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) recently inaugurated the Unilever Fragrance Hub (UFH) at the IIT Bombay campus in Mumbai, making India the third country after the United Kingdom and the United States to host such a facility under Unilever’s global fragrance innovation network.

The new hub forms part of Unilever’s €100 million investment aimed at building in-house, digitally enabled fragrance creation capabilities across key markets. The facility is designed to strengthen the company’s ability to develop fragrances tailored to local consumer preferences while accelerating innovation across product categories.

Equipped with proprietary fragrance creation software, real-time evaluation data capture systems and advanced compounding technologies, the Mumbai-based hub enables end-to-end fragrance design, testing and refinement. The facility is expected to support product development across categories such as shampoos, body washes, deodorants and laundry detergents.

The co-location of the hub at IIT Bombay is intended to deepen collaboration between industry and academia, particularly in the areas of science, technology and data-driven fragrance innovation. HUL said the partnership would help foster research and talent development while strengthening India’s role in the company’s global innovation ecosystem.

Speaking on the occasion, Vivek Sirohi, Head of the Unilever Fragrance House, said India has emerged as a critical engine of innovation for Unilever’s global business. He noted that the new hub would enable the company to develop fragrances rooted in local consumer insights and scale them across international markets.

According to the company, the facility will enhance self-reliance in fragrance application and evaluation while improving responsiveness to evolving consumer preferences. Fragrance has become an increasingly important driver of brand choice and product desirability, particularly as consumers seek more premium and differentiated experiences.

The launch aligns with HUL’s broader premiumisation strategy as the company looks to strengthen its product portfolio through innovation-led growth.

On the market front, HUL shares were trading at ₹2,073.60 on the NSE on Tuesday, down 0.51 per cent from the previous close of ₹2,084.30. The company’s market capitalisation stood at approximately ₹4.87 lakh crore.

Despite its market leadership in the FMCG sector, HUL’s stock has lagged the benchmark Nifty 50 index across several timeframes. The stock has declined around 12.5 per cent over the past year compared with a 5.76 per cent fall in the Nifty 50. Over the last three years, HUL shares have fallen more than 23 per cent, while the benchmark index has gained nearly 25 per cent during the same period.