LONDON— As commodities—from crude oil to sunflower oil—remain in short supply, Britain’s Unilever has changed the ingredient makeup for some of its products like deodorants and packaged food to cut costs and mitigate supply constraints.
The ability to switch ingredients and materials, something consumer goods manufacturers traditionally find difficult, became even more valuable after Ukraine’s war led to commodity prices hitting multi-year highs.
In April, Unilever boss Alan Jope said the company had begun altering some of its recipes so it could use grapeseed oil instead of sunflower oil, which had become scarce since the invasion. Ukraine typically produces about half the world’s exports of sunflower oil….