Unilever takes sustainable road to growth

Unilever Plc, the global consumer goods giant, is expanding its work with a leading agricultural producer in Shanghai to develop more sustainable items for export.

The Anglo-Dutch company already buys about 80 metric tons of dried mushrooms annually from the supplier, Shundi Foods, which grows one of the world's most widely used varieties of mushroom, the common cultivatea mushroom.

It first started developing a sustainable mushrooms program with Unilever in 2007 as part of the multinational's plan to localize its production in China. The company's mushrooms are already exported to the United States, Europe, Australia and South Africa.