With cases of novel coronavirus COVID-19 still on the rise, we wanted to see how it may be impacting our industry/readership specifically. Earlier this week we conducted an anonymous poll to gauge how companies are handling myriad issues—from travel to sales to supply chain—related to the spread of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
 
Happi’s readership is involved in a wide scope of products—from disinfectants to deodorants. By product line, poll respondents were comprised of those who make/sell cosmetic/toiletries/fragrances (55%); soap/detergents (30%); chemical specialties, which includes waxes/polishes, disinfectants/sanitizers and all-purpose cleaners (26%); pharmaceuticals (9%); and other (27%), which includes consultants, academia, etc. (Respondents were allowed to select more than one product category) By job function, 34% are in R&D/formulations; 29% are in corporate management; 21% in sales/marketing management; 12% in other (includes consultants, academia, etc.); 3% in production/plant management; and remainder in purchasing and packaging.
 
Here are results from the poll…

•  How has the current coronavirus epidemic affected your business?








• We asked the following open-ended question: “What specific aspect of your service, if any, have been affected?”

Responses fell mainly into a few key categories, such as supply issues and concerns about raw material and packaging, decreased interaction with customers and greater sales of specific products that help in the mitigation of the spread of COVID-19, among others. Here is a sampling of the responses:

• “Lead times from Asia suppliers.”
• “Companies ability to obtain information from China.”
• “Increased demand for disinfectant-sanitizing products.”
• “Importation of ingredients has been disrupted.”
• “No one wants anything sourced from China.”
• “Travel and cancellation of big trade shows, where we meet customers.”
• “None.”
• “An awareness of personal space issues, necessary versus unnecessary business travel, and including work from home options for those functions where practical.”
• “Lack of raw materials and packaging.” 
• “Supply chain.”
• “Availability of products and lead time.”
• “Development has been restricted due to producing commercialized product to meet demand.”
• “Packaging shortages.”
• “Increased demand of hard surface disinfectant wipes.”
• “Trade shows cancelled, travel curtailed, Chinese manufacture is severely impacted.”
• “Production scheduling, availability of raw materials.”
• “Deliveries from China are postponed.”
• “Don’t have enough capacity.”
• “Many employees cannot come to work: holidays in a risky zone --> quarantine kids cannot go to school --> home office ... many employees start to panic when in group.”
• “Exchange rate vs euro has fallen badly so pricing will increase. Trade shows cancelled where new agencies were to be signed up.”
• “Delays in delivery of packaging.”
• “Fear”
• “Sales are in high demand for detergents and disinfectant cleaners and hand sanitizers.”
• “Production and sourcing from China.”
• “Disinfectant quaternary compounds.”
• “Supply chain especially related to packaging components.”
• “Supply chain disruptions in raw materials, strained manufacturing capacity.” 
• “Customer asking a lot for the source of origin of the raw materials. Corona Virus Statement. Fear of China origin.”
• “It has not hit my market yet. That being said, shoppers may stay away from stores, not get services and shortage of products will be a challenge soon.”
• “We see more alcohol-containing products being purchased. so while sales might be down, they're up on those specific products, so we're about the same.” 
• “Operation in China under special precautions (bihourly temperature checks, enhanced sanitation practices), also recently implemented in our Italian operation as well.”
• “Our Chinese manufacturer not only shut down, but was silent. They are back at about 50%...this is a real difficulty.”
• “Delays in sourcing components from Asia.”
• “No service affected, but several inquiries about supply concerns have come from customers.”
• “Trade shows cancelled, customer visits truncated, suppliers not travelling, China operations constrained but operational.”
• “We are seeing decreases in sales from selected retailer markets and getting warning notices about ‘potential’ raw material components—primarily for product vessels/containers manufactured in China.”
• “Business has increased due to demand for hand sanitizers.”
• “Packaging materials shortages such as bottles and pumps.”
• “As a distributor of ethanol and IPA, inquiries and sales are up. Other ingredients which we import are currently under Force Majeure status as the production facilities in Italy were forced to close by gov't decree.”
• “More disinfectant orders…some packaging delays”
• “Material coming in from China/japan/Italy halted”
• “PANIC buying by customers”
• “None. Business as usual.”
• “Fear in management and talking about salary reductions, social distancing, working from home, cutting expenses.”

• What kinds of actions are you considering as a result?










• We asked another open-ended question: “What is your exposure to China for raw materials/packaging/services? And what impact has COVID-19 had on your China business?” 
 
Here is a sampling of the responses:

• “We use numerous raw materials and packaging from China and this has caused a significant increase in lead-times.”
• “Minimal.”
• “No impact from our imports from China.”
• “Not good. Having to locate alternatives not from China”
• “No raw ingredients from China. Too early to tell”
• “More domestic packaging.”
• “Significant. We are prioritizing our strategic product lines for production first to eliminate significant out of stocks in the market.”
• “Major delays in launches due to supply chain issues and lack of raw materials.”
• “None that I am aware of.”
• “No exposure to China.”
• “We were lucky in that we saw a surplus overstock to compensate for the Chinese New Year. These stocks are being depleted as manufacturing continues. If shipments do not regularize we will have to reduce production. Also if shipments do not become more regular we will be in the must airship materials scenario.” 
• “Raw materials and manufacturing. Finished goods imported has seen restrictions.”
• “Compromising product launches.”
• “None. Have extended increased credit terms to Chinese customer and expect at least one quarter of suspended sales due to factory shut/slowdown in China.”
• “MANY APIs WERE DELAYED FROM SHIPPING”
• “We buy a lot of our materials from China, at this stage it hasn't affected us too much.”
• “Packaging supply is hit. Designing alternates now.” 
• “10% of packaging comes from China. These have been unavailable for 2 months and now have a doubled lead time.”
• “Import of raw materials and packaging have been greatly affected. Purchasing from local suppliers have higher production cost.”
• “Limited exposure/impact on business.”
• “Some of the raws are a concern as they are sourced from China, but the Blue Skies initiative have been more impactful thus far.”
• “Each of our regional operations (US/EU/Asia) standalone for their respective areas, but the Chinese have had orders delayed, volumes reduced, and raw materials delayed, as well as costs increased across the board (from raw materials to freight to supplies).”
• “We only source a few materials from China, but have many raw ingredients (shea butter, MCT oil, & other essential oils) that come from other overseas countries.”
• “Zero impact.”
• “So far, and per our suppliers, we've been assured there's no delays at this time, however we're to be notified should that change. The majority of any impact is a clients' ability to get their pkg delivered to us timely as much of it comes out of China or surrounding area. (many of our clients provide their own pkg).”
• “We have candle vessels and packaging that are delays because our maker in China is closed. It is pushing manufacturing out 3-4 months. If it becomes later than that, orders will be canceled.”
• “One key product, all other products (and assembly) are from North American sources.”
• “0%.”
• “Procure packaging and some formulations from China. Long lead-times following CNY may impact inventory levels and risk backorders.”
• “We buy a great deal from China but so far have had no negative impact.”
• “Somewhat. however, these are generally second sources of material. We are ordering domestically in these cases.”
• “Very little, we are a wholesaler with most cbd products made here in the USA.”
 
• If you are in the HI&I sector, has the coronavirus impacted sales of disinfectants and cleaning chemicals?/If you are in the personal care business, have you seen an increase in interest for antibacterial products?











• Have you limited travel? 


• How has the coronavirus impacted your tradeshow plans?






• What measures have you taken to protect employees?




We asked “What efforts have you made to improve the overall cleanliness of your workplace?” Here is a sampling of those responses:
 
• “We have instituted an hourly cleansing and sanitization schedule of all handles, doors and bathrooms.”
• “None.”
• “Yes, cleaning keyboards and desks more frequently.”
• “Clean air with use of antiviral essential oils.”
• “Hand disinfectants are stationed through the building. Constantly washing hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water. etc.” 
•“Posting CDC developed hand washing posters in all bathrooms and corporate-wide emails with updates to company policies.”
•“Disinfecting wipes, additional cleaning, self isolation, hand sanitation stations and additional hand washing instructions.”
•“Cleanliness is of utmost importance in the first place. We are a manufacturing company.” 
• “Conducted a deep clean of the offices utilizing antibacterial cleaners. Added additional hand sanitization units at employee entrances.”
• “Import boxes/pallets are not touched for 48 hours. Drivers directly from Europe are not contacted too close and extra hand washings are required.” 
• “Lysol everything.”
• “Increased cleaning/disinfecting frequency of multi touch surfaces. Reiterated flu prevention protocols training (e.g. hand washing, cough, stay home sick), which are annually emphasized in Oct-Dec.”
• “Clorox wipes to clean work space.”
• “Signs about Covid-19 and hand washing are posted prominently, and we've increased the hand sanitizing stations as well as made sure all dispensers are full and dispensing well. Gloves, bonnets and masks are being worn but guarded carefully due to the global shortages of additional supplies.”

 
Happi’s online poll was conducted between March 9-11, 2020.