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Persil Tablets were the result of 7 years' development.

The average Briton eats 8,568 peas a year -and in 2000 Birds Eye Wall's planted 33,000 acres of peas to help feed this hunger for peas.

To make its brands, Elida Faberg� buys 4,000 different raw and packaging materials a year from some 117 different suppliers.

Persil was launched in 1909 - making it the longest - established washing powder brand in the UK - and was the first detergent to advertised on TV in 1955.

Jif was the first cream cleaner on the market in the UK in 1974, and the first bathroom mousse on the market in the UK in 1992.

Birds Eye grew its first peas in the UK in 1946, planting 404 acres of peas at the end of the Second World War.

Unilever is committing �250,000 a year until 2004 to enable the Tate to commission new works of art.

The PG Tips chimps family advertising campaign was first screened at Christmas in 1956. The chimp adverts are now the longest - running TV advertising campaign of any brand, having featured in over 100 commercials.

Surf is the fastest growing detergent brand in the UK, and the 'Birds of a Feather' campaign is the longest running detergent TV campaign.

Each Slim.Fast meal contains one third of everything you need to eat in a day - protein, carbohydrate, essential fatty acids, fibre, vitamins and minerals - an ideal food in around only 200 calories.

The maximum diameter for a Birds Eye pea is 10.4mm.

The total UK deodorants market (both male & female) is worth �391 million a year - of which Lever Faberg� has a 60 per cent share, and Lynx alone a 17.6 per cent share.

Birds Eye Wall's makes enough burgers every year to stretch from London to Moscow, and it would take a barbecue the size of the City of London to cook them all at once.

50 million sticks of Peperami are sold each year, enough to stretch from Plymouth to Aberdeen

The average household spends �42 per year on fabric cleaning and conditioners.

We make one million tubs of margarine a day, equating to 250,000 tonnes a year.

The UK male toiletries market is worth �322 million a year - of which Lever Faberg� has a 40 per cent share, and the Lynx brand alone a 31.8 per cent share.

The name 'Persil' is derived from its original ingredients - perborate and silicate.

In 1999 UK consumers spent almost �160m on frozen peas, with almost 40 per cent of this accounted for by Birds Eye.

Slim.Fast has the longest clinical trials running of any slimming programme - in Pound, Wisconsin the population using Slim.Fast for weight control for the past five years is now an average 11.5kg lighter than the population in a nearby town

Lever Brothers (now Lever Faberg�) were originally appointed soapmakers to Queen Victoria in 1892.

It takes the milk of 21,000 cows to match Elmlea's weekly cream production.

In 1969, a commercial for Birds Eye frozen peas became the first TV advert to be broadcast in colour.

Formula slimming foods like Slim.Fast were first developed by nutritionists for astronauts on their first voyages into outer space.

Over 2.7 million people have tried Comfort Easy Iron since its launch in June 1999.

Domestos has been protecting families in the UK for over 70 years - and originally came in brown glass bottles.

Ambrosia was the first company to market rice pudding in a can.

Comfort was the first fabric conditioner in the UK, and now accounts for over 40 per cent of the fabric conditioners market.

Over 35 million cups of PG Tips are drunk in this country every day.

The Lever Carelines handle over 120,000 enquiries every year.

The average household spent �13.37 on household cleaning products in 1998.

Unilever Bestfoods UK spends almost �100 million a year on advertising.

80% of all Pot Noodles sold are eaten by under 30's.

One in every four UK residents buys Knorr Soups at least once a year.

Around 30% of all MARMITE is eaten with sandwiches at lunchtime.

25 million consumers regularly buy Knorr Soups.

158 million Pot Noodles are sold every year