The frank assessment by boss Hein Schumacher came as the fourth-largest company on the FTSE-100, worth almost £100 billion, reported a drop in sales for 2023.
The ice cream division took much of the heat at the 95-year-old company as cost inflation fed through to higher prices for Unilever's range, which includes Ben & Jerry's and Magnum.
Unilever said: "Ice cream's underlying sales growth was disappointing at 2.3%, with price growth of 8.8% and a volume decline of 6.0%, reflecting the impact of downtrading". It was worse for the chilly sweet treats designed to be eaten at home, with sales in that category "down in the high single digits".
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Denne historien er fra February 08, 2024-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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