• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Thursday, March 22, 2007 12 PM

Unilever CEO Patrick Cescau is taking resources, people and projects away from the company's home base of Western Europe and shifting them to markets in the developing world it considers more promising.

For years, Unilever has been losing consumers to rivals like Procter & Gamble, which have proved more creative in introducing new products. The company is also getting squeezed by giant retailers like Wal-Mart, which sets exacting standards for suppliers to place and keep their products on its shelves.

Brands like Bertolli olive oil--once a jewel in the consumer giant's Italian pantry--have seen their budgets slashed, while basics like Sunlight laundry detergent, popular in South Africa, are getting new attention. Poor countries could make up more than half of Unilever's sales within five years. "When I visit consumers in their homes in these countries, you can smell the growth opportunity," Cescau says.

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