HOBOKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 22, 2026--
Today, Advantage Group International (AGI) named Unilever as the #1 Supplier in Core Non-Food, All Channels (excluding Pet) in the United States as part of the 2026 Advantage Awards.
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The Advantage Awards are based on AGI’s Advantage Report research, one of the industry’s most highly-recognized supplier assessments in the U.S., which captures feedback from retailers and recognizes suppliers that deliver meaningful value through strong partnerships, category leadership and effective execution. Retailers highlighted Unilever's category and consumer expertise, strategic approach to partnership, portfolio of brands, innovation capabilities and marketing as key strengths.
As consumer needs and desires continue to evolve, Unilever is focused on helping customers grow by meeting them wherever and however they choose to shop. Through a combination of category expertise, consumer insight, innovation and world-class execution, the company is helping retail partners capture demand across physical stores, digital commerce and emerging shopping channels. These efforts have helped drive unit volume growth at three times the market rate in the categories in which Unilever competes, demonstrating the power of strong collaboration and shared ambitions. Unilever is also helping customers navigate a rapidly changing commerce landscape where the lines between in-store, online and AI-assisted shopping continue to blur. With an omni-shelf approach, the company is making it easier for consumers to discover, shop and purchase its brands across every touchpoint.
"This recognition reflects the trust we're building with our customers and the impact of true partnership," said Matt Gregory, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, Unilever. "We're focused on helping retailers create value today while co-creating the future of retail through consumer understanding, category-making innovation and best-in-class execution."
The award underscores Unilever’s role as a strategic growth partner for America’s top retailers, reflecting the strength of its customer partnerships and the impact of ongoing investments in a more agile and resilient supply chain. Unilever remains focused on providing exceptional service, accelerating innovation, and creating shared growth with customers in an increasingly dynamic marketplace.
About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.7 billion people every day. We have 96,000 employees and generated sales of €50.5 billion in 2025.
Our leading brands in North America include Dove, Hellmann’s, Vaseline, Degree, Axe, TRESemmé, Knorr, Nutrafol, Liquid I.V., Paula’s Choice, and Dermalogica.
For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: https://www.unileverusa.com/
About Advantage Awards
The Advantage Awards, presented by Advantage Group International (AGI), recognize suppliers and retailers for leading performance and meaningful year-over-year improvement, based on feedback from their business partners collected through AGI's Advantage Report research.
Unilever Named #1 Core Non-Food Supplier Across All Channels in 2026 Advantage Awards
A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to halt investigations in nine states into whether noncitizens are registered to vote.
U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in Oakland found the government's effort is relying on data that is full of errors and that it's leading to intimidation of groups performing voter assistance efforts. She said it should be halted until polls close on Election Day, Nov. 3.
She put her ruling, which was made Wednesday, on hold until Friday to give the administration a chance to appeal.
The ruling applies to investigations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.
It comes as the Trump administration has been hunting for noncitizen voters throughout the country in the months leading into the midterm elections. The administration has signaled that it's a major problem, when in fact it's quite rare, as even its own investigations have shown.
The lawsuit was filed by the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, along with the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara County.
In response to the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security issued an email statement Thursday saying it's focused on “removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens,” while adding, “We have no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens.”
The judge based the decision to halt the investigation only on the unions’ assertion that the probe is harming voter assistance and mobilization efforts involving citizens. She did not find that union members' right to vote was being infringed because most of them do that by mail and not in person. She said investigations don’t need to target U.S. citizens, use armed agents or intimidate citizens who are urging others to vote.
According to legal filings in the case, investigators were told to target naturalized citizens to see whether they had voted before they became U.S. citizens. The lists of voters to check came from sources that included state and local governments and publicly available information. Martinez-Olguin called them “voluminous and unreliable.”
“Even under the best conditions, there is a high likelihood of error in review because there is no federal database containing citizenship status of U.S. residents,” Martinez-Olguin wrote in her ruling. “The time limitations implemented during the Surge further exacerbate the risk of error.”
The Department of Justice has been demanding detailed and unredacted voter roll data from the states and has sued the 30 states that have refused to turn it over, losing each of those cases so far. The judge noted that for states that refused to share their records, the administration was trying to obtain them through “unreliable commercial versions of voter roll data.”
She said during a “surge” phase of the investigation starting in late August, agents were ordered to complete reviews of flagged individuals taking no more than 12 minutes per person to assess whether they were legally qualified to vote.
In their challenge, the plaintiffs said some U.S. citizens felt they were wrongly identified and investigated as part of the probe. Martinez-Olguin said those fears “are well understood as intimidation” that has chilled people from attending campaign events and working as poll monitors during the election.
Beau Tremitiere, a lawyer representing the unions and voter group, said in a statement that the ruling affirms the groups’ position.
"It was clear from the start that DHS built its lists on bad data, never checked how often it was wrong, and recklessly sent agents to people’s homes weeks before an election," Tremitiere said.
Details of the investigation, known as the "Unlawful Voter Initiative,” came to light last month after Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California released a whistleblower report about it.
Homeland Security Investigations task force officers escort a suspect accused of illegally registering to vote during a federal operation in Commerce, Calif., Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
