Lifetime of Achievement: Willem Uijen
Willem Uijen was appointed Chief Procurement Officer in September 2022. His career in Unilever spans over 24 years, having joined in 1999 as a trainee engineer in the Netherlands. Since then, he has worked in many parts of the world and across numerous supply chain disciplines.
In his lifetime rise to the role of Chief Procurement Officer at Unilever, Willem Uijen has been focused on making value chains run smoothly across the world.
But running a supply chain is second nature to Willem, having had roles in supply chain operations since 2012, before he became the Vice President Home Care Supply Chain Latin America in January 2015. There, he had responsibilities for the network of Home Care factories on the continent. Unilever Home Care is the maker of some of the world's biggest and much-loved brands across laundry, household cleaning, plus water and air purification.
He was in this role for 18 months before becoming the Vice President Home Care Supply Chain in July 2016.
Speaking on the Strong Source Podcast, hosted by Martijn Bron and Alexander Sterk, Willem revealed that his time working in supply chain helped with his transition in procurement: "I've spent most of my career in Unilever's supply chain, working in markets across Latin America and Asia, including Mexico and India. About two years ago, I transitioned into procurement and it's been an exciting journey. Supply chain management is deeply integrated with procurement, especially in categories like home care, where commodity exposure plays a critical role in keeping factories running and supporting product innovation.
"I've always enjoyed the close interaction between supply chain and procurement, so this move felt like a natural progression."
Sustainability at the heart
Unilever and Willem put sustainable practice at the heart of what they do. This includes its own commitments, from reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 74% in its operations since 2015, to its Supplier Climate Programme, a groundbreaking initiative which has garnered significant momentum, with a focus on the most impactful sectors of its supply chain.
Unilever is tackling the Scope 3 emissions from around 300 of its suppliers. By 2030, the plan aims to slash Scope 3 GHG emissions significantly. Given that 63% of Unilever's total emissions come from its raw materials, ingredient and packaging sectors, the programme's focus is clear: help suppliers understand, calculate and reduce their environmental footprint.
Speaking to Procurement Magazine last year, on how important sustainability is when it comes to procurement decisions, Willem said: "Sustainability – in terms of people and planet – is integral to the decisions we make on who we work with and what we buy.
"Let's say we find that a partner isn't complying with our policies – and the standards we expect – we will first work with them to try and find a solution. But if we can't, we will end the relationship and find a better, as well as competitive, partner to work with.
"Another element is about innovating to improve our value chain. For example, our commitment to be net zero by 2039 requires innovation between us and our partners. We need to find new ways of sourcing and alternative materials to achieve that objective."
This sustainable practice-first approach will continue to lead Willem and his team.
Recently, via his LinkedIn profile, he called on governments to set ambitious national climate targets and plans that can help unlock barriers to faster decarbonisation in our value chain, writing: "One example of this is around regenerative agriculture. This way of farming can reduce emissions at the farm level and help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing it in the ground as soil organic carbon – while also building resilience into global supply chains.
"Working with partners and suppliers, we now have 25 regenerative agriculture projects in progress, with contracts covering 350,000 hectares (as of August 2024). Farmer capacity and capability to implement is a key dependency for our success, so we're investing in programme management and training."
When concluding his interview with Procurement Magazine in 2023, he made it clear that there is still work to be done, adding: "The key challenges will be around climate change and social cohesion. These are threats to society and therefore also to our business.
"We're doing a lot of work in regenerative agriculture. This will help us both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that our sourcing becomes ever more resilient.
"These are big changes that need to be made to tick all the boxes – sustainability, quality, cost, social aspects – coming together into one transformative system."
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