Dove, Vaseline and K18 lift Unilever’s Q3 2026 growth

By Tom Whitfield

Unilever reported third-quarter 2026 turnover of €13.3bn, up 6.7%. Underlying sales rose 5.2%, comprising 2.9% volume growth and 2.3% price growth as higher commodity costs prompted a step-up in prices.

The result was volume-led. Unilever’s “power brands” portfolio generated 5.8% underlying sales growth and 3.3% volume growth, outperforming the group’s 5.2% underlying increase.

What does this change for salons and brand partners?

For salons and brand partners, the practical signal is stronger volume demand across named beauty and personal care brands. The disclosure does not show formulations, salon sell-through, professional availability, pricing by SKU, or demand by hair type and texture. It supports a category read, not a product-level forecast.

Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing division grew underlying sales 5.7%, with 3.6% volume growth and 2.1% price growth. Hair care posted double-digit growth, while skin care delivered mid-single-digit growth.

Dove and Vaseline posted double-digit growth in body care. Sunsilk and Clear, both hair care brands, also achieved double-digit growth, as did prestige hair care brand K18. Volume led each gain.

The company did not disclose K18’s product mix, channel mix, geographic split, or consumer drivers behind its performance. For professional buyers, those missing details limit any product-level reading of the double-digit headline.

Unilever’s personal care division recorded 6.3% underlying sales growth, including 3.8% volume growth and 2.4% price growth. Performance was broad-based geographically, with high-single-digit growth in emerging markets and mid-single-digit growth in the US.

Skin cleansing grew at a high-single-digit rate, and deodorants grew at a mid-single-digit rate. Unilever linked accelerated price growth to higher commodity costs.

Dr. Squatch, the male grooming brand acquired in June 2025 for $1.5bn, grew at a double-digit rate. Unilever included the brand in underlying sales growth from September, so its results now enter that comparative reporting.

Unilever’s wellbeing brands, including Liquid I.V. and Nutrafol supplements, declined during the quarter and were down 1% year to date. Shipment timings for Amazon Prime Day partly caused the weakness, according to the company.

Emerging markets rose 9.5%, led by strong growth in India, Latin America and South East Asia. Unilever’s developed-market business was largely flat, though volume share gains in personal care and beauty offset declines in wellbeing and food. Fernandez attributed the developed-market result to tougher prior-year comparators and softer foods performance.

Fernando Fernandez, CEO of Unilever, said: “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 the power brands continued to lead performance across home care, personal care, and beauty and wellbeing. He described the group as “performing while transforming,” becoming simpler and sharper through greater focus, stronger execution and an effort to drive desire at scale across its brands.

Based on performance in the first nine months, Unilever upgraded its full-year outlook.

“This progress gives us confidence that we will now deliver at least 3% volume growth for the full year,” Fernandez said.

The upgraded forecast rests on nine months of volume delivery and management confidence. The announcement provides no revised full-year sales or margin target, no category guidance, and no independent test of whether its pricing can absorb continuing commodity costs.

For salons and brand partners, watch whether hair-care volume growth persists and whether price growth continues to offset higher commodity costs. Unilever has set the near-term benchmark: at least 3% full-year volume growth.