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Unilever started operations within South Africa (SA) in 1891 when the company registered the Sunlight trademark. The green bar was still being imported from England at the time due to high costs of imported raw materials like vegetable oil.<\/p>\n
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Unilever came to South Africa in 1887 when William Lever, the founder of Lever Brothers, registered the Sunlight trademark.<\/p>\n
His first visit to South Africa in 1895 was to an under-developed country crippled by drought with poor communications and few skills. However, he believed products would ultimately be manufactured locally.<\/p>\n
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Initially, this was not viable as tariffs on imported vegetable oils were considerably higher than those on imported soaps. As a result, consignments of Sunlight, the first wrapped and branded soap, were shipped to South Africa.<\/p>\n
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