Unilever's $6M Durban expansion makes one African plant 80% of global Vaseline jelly
A fourth packing line at Unilever's century-old Maydon Wharf plant lifts Durban's share of global Vaseline petroleum jelly supply from about 60% to roughly 80%.
What was changed
On October 2, 2026, Unilever commissioned a new Vaseline Petroleum Jelly production line at its Maydon Wharf facility in Durban, South Africa, after an investment of approximately $6 million. The expansion — a fourth packing line plus a new process plant and additional bulk storage — is expected to lift the factory's contribution from about 60% of Unilever's worldwide petroleum jelly supply to roughly 80%, making a single African site the source of four-fifths of the global volume of one of the world's most recognisable skincare products.
Maydon Wharf has been scaling for more than a century: established in 1912 to make Sunlight bar soap, it now produces several categories of household and personal-care products, around 139,000 tonnes a year across more than 20 lines. The new installation combined equipment from Germany and Italy with South African engineering, and its position beside the Port of Durban connects the site to export markets across Africa and beyond.
The capacity bet rides on a brand finding new demand: Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez told a June investor conference that Vaseline had recorded 12% volume growth over the preceding three years. Through the Vaseline Verified campaign, the company's scientists tested consumer beauty tips circulating online and validated some into products — a primer and highlighter jelly and an eyebrow-taming product launched via TikTok Shop in Thailand sold out within minutes, with an April restock also selling out. Unilever credits the campaign with double-digit brand growth.
Why it worked
Unilever concentrated global production of a signature product into an existing 114-year-old site rather than building new capacity, using equipment its South African engineers could integrate.
The expansion follows demand rather than hoping for it: Vaseline's 12% three-year volume growth and sold-out social-commerce launches gave the $6 million a measurable case.
Locating four-fifths of supply beside the Port of Durban turns an African manufacturing cost base into an export advantage for a global brand.
What can be applied
Consolidating almost an entire global product line into one exported-competent plant turns a legacy site into strategic leverage — if the demand is actually there to fill it.
Aftermath
The line was commissioned on October 2, 2026; the expanded operation is set to supply about 80% of global petroleum jelly volume, though Unilever has not disclosed how much of the brand's wider growth demand the Durban plant will serve. Southern Africa CEO Stefan Cloete called the site 'the very best of Unilever's heritage, capability and ambition'.