Unilever could axe brands that fail to articulate a clear social or environmental purpose, according to comments made yesterday by new chief executive Alan Jope.

Jope took over from his predecessor Paul Polman in January, and his comments on a media call yesterday signal he intends to forge ahead with Polman's bold plans to make Unilever a sustainable business.

Unilever's purpose-led brands, such as Dove and Hellmann's, are growing almost 70 per cent faster than the rest of its business and Jope said other brands in its 400-strong portfolio that are unable to identify a clear "purpose" could eventually be sold.

"There will come a day when we say, 'you know what? This brand or this category is just not going to be able to find its purpose'," he told a media roundtable yesterday.

Jope said Unilever's marketing team is working on sustainable business plans for all its brands that give them a clear purpose for "how to make society better or the planet better".

Eventually any brands that fail in this exercise could be sold off, but that would be a move of last resort, Unilever stressed.

The company has been working hard in recent years to pivot its existing brands onto a more sustainable footing. As well as expanding its vegan and vegetarian offerings, it has cracked down on plastic use by launching refills for its Cif cleaner and removing the plastic wrappers from multipack Soleros.

The firm revealed yesterday it had missed profit estimates for the first half of this year, with operating profits clocking in at €4.6bn, short of the €5bn analyst estimates.