Unilever has unveiled plans to develop a new Global Innovation Center in New Haven, Connecticut, representing a $270 million investment.
The facility, set to open by spring 2029, will serve as a hub for the company’s research and development (R&D) for its personal care, beauty and wellbeing businesses in the U.S. and globally.
The center will house all R&D capabilities – formulation, fragrance creation, packaging design and consumer insights – under one roof. It will be powered by AI and emerging quantum capabilities, positioning Unilever to accelerate advanced materials discovery and bring next‑generation products to market faster. The location in New Haven’s bioscience innovation cluster provides access to universities, companies and research talent.
“New Haven gets us to the future faster,” said Herrish Patel, president of Unilever USA and CEO of Personal Care North America. “Our Global Innovation Center is where we’ll innovate at the intersection of science, technology and culture — for the U.S. and for the world.”
The investment builds on nearly $15 billion Unilever has invested in its U.S. business over the past decade. The company’s brands – including Dove, Vaseline, Degree, Axe, TRESemmé, Nutrafol, Liquid I.V., Paula’s Choice and Dermalogica – serve 95 percent of U.S. households and 3.7 billion people globally each day.
“Behind every Unilever product is world‑leading science that delivers superior performance, combined with design, fragrance and sensory experiences that make our brands distinctive,” said Richard Slater, Unilever chief research and development officer.
“Our new Global Innovation Center will bring these capabilities together to develop new, category‑defining innovations in the U.S., and scale globally. The real shift here is integration and speed: science, design and sensorials working as one, with AI and partnerships accelerating every stage of innovation.”
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