Dove and Vaseline pull Unilever to 6.7% Q3 turnover rise

Unilever grew turnover 6.7% to €13.3bn in the third quarter, with Dove, Vaseline and prestige hair care brand K18 doing much of the pulling. Underlying sales rose 5.2%, split between 2.9% volume and 2.3% price — pricing that management tied directly to higher commodity costs.

For formulators and buyers, the notable detail is where the volume came from. The 'power brands' portfolio grew underlying sales 5.8% with 3.3% volume growth, meaning the biggest names, not the long tail, carried the quarter.

Beauty and wellbeing as a division grew 5.7%, with 3.6% volume and 2.1% price. Hair care turned in double-digit growth; skin care managed mid-single digits. Dove and Vaseline in body care, Sunsilk and Clear in hair care, and K18 in prestige all grew double digits, led by volume rather than price — a sign consumers are buying more units, not simply paying more for them.

Wellbeing was the exception. The segment, which includes Liquid I.V. and Nutrafol supplements, declined in the quarter and sits down 1% year-to-date. Unilever blamed shipment timings around Amazon Prime Day, which shifts revenue between quarters rather than destroying it. Still, a category down while its siblings post double digits invites scrutiny of the next quarter's print.

What drove personal care?

Personal care grew underlying sales 6.3%, with 3.8% volume and 2.4% price, and did so broadly across geographies. Emerging markets within the division grew high single digits; the US grew mid-single digits.

Skin cleansing grew high single digits. Deodorants grew mid-single digits, with accelerated price growth reflecting higher commodity costs — a quiet confirmation that input inflation in aluminium, oils and fragrances is still passing through to shelf prices.

Dr Squatch, the male grooming brand Unilever acquired in June 2025 for $1.5bn, grew double digits in the quarter. The brand entered underlying sales growth calculations from September, so its contribution is now visible in the reported numbers. For anyone tracking whether that price tag made sense, this is the first clean read.

Where is the growth coming from?

Emerging markets rose 9.5%, led by India, Latin America and South East Asia. Developed markets were largely flat, though personal care and beauty delivered volume share gains there, offsetting declines in wellbeing and foods.

CEO Fernando Fernandez framed the quarter as volume-led discipline. "We have delivered another quarter of competitive growth, led by continued strong volume delivery and a step up in price to offset the impact of higher commodity costs," he said. "Our 'power brands' continued to lead performance, with strong growth across home care, personal care, and beauty and wellbeing."

On geography, he said emerging markets were "again a key driver, with broad based growth across markets, led by India and continued strength in Latin America and South East Asia", while developed markets "reflected tougher prior year comparators and softer performance in foods."

What happens next?

The nine-month performance was strong enough for Unilever to upgrade its full-year outlook. "We are performing while transforming Unilever," Fernandez said. "We are becoming simpler and sharper, with greater focus and stronger execution as we drive desire at scale across our brands. This progress gives us confidence that we will now deliver at least 3% volume growth for the full year."

That 3% volume commitment is the number to hold the company to. It implies continued heavy lifting from beauty and personal care, further commodity-cost pass-through in deodorants and cleansing, and a rebound in wellbeing once the Prime Day timing washes out. The Q4 results will show whether Dr Squatch sustains its double-digit run and whether Liquid I.V. and Nutrafol recover the ground lost in the first nine months.