Christine Esposito, Associate Editor11.03.14
There’s nothing like a deadly disease—one that had previously been contained in far off places like the Republic of Congo—showing up in America to get consumers in a lather. While much of the hysteria in US at this point seems to driven by media reports, at press time, there was still only one confirmed death, which had resulted in two additional confirmed cases, here in the US, could Ebola push consumers to wash their hands more often, or at least with more effort?
Any visitor at the Centers for Disease Control website looking for Ebola information will come across the following statement under the “prevention” tab:
“If you travel to or are in an area affected by an Ebola outbreak, make sure to do the following: Practice careful hygiene. For example, wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and avoid contact with blood and body fluids.”
The guidance, by the way, is a protocol prescribed by medical personnel and public health officials (not to mention moms) to ward off all germs—not just Ebola or Enterovirus 68, a non-polio virus that’s been in the news lately too.
All of this news has been circulating during the Fall, the precursor to cold and flu season when industry-driven events such as International Infection Prevention Week, Inter-national Clean Hands Week and Global Hand Washing Day dot the calendar and companies herald their efforts to spread better hand hygiene practices to rural areas, poor nations and school age children.
But it seems that American adults could use a refresher course.
A national survey conducted by Bradley Corporation, an international manufacturer of commercial hand washing products, found that Americans don’t wash long enough, don’t always use soap and sometimes don’t wash at all after using a public restroom. The survey found that 55% of Americans are washing their hands for less than the minimum of 20 seconds recommended by CDC and 70% admitted that they’ve simply rinsed their hands with water instead of soaping up after using a public restroom. Plus, 81% said they frequently or occasionally see others leave a public restroom without washing their hands at all.
Are they washing more at home? According to IRI, liquid hand soap sales for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 7, 2014 rose less than 1% to $697.2 million at US multi-outlets, (supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains) while non-deodorant bar soap sales slid 1.7% to $1.15 billion.
Hand sanitizer sales tracked by IRI during the same period fell 2.75% to $207.5 million. However, certain brands and SKUs posted gains, including Gojo Industries, the Akron, OH-based maker of Purell. According to IRI data obtained by Happi, Gojo posted a 7.21% rise in sales in the sector (see chart below), trailing private label and Vi-Jon, maker of Germ-X. (Berkshire Partners, which owns Vi-Jon is looking to sell the company, according to industry sources).
“We offer superior products that are really worthy of the Purell brand name,” said Kathleen Leigh, marketing director for Purell, adding that the Gojo focus is to ensure its products meet consumer’s expectations for aesthetics and performance.
Among the brand’s newest rollouts is a special Purell Spring Bloom Hand Sanitizer package that will benefit City of Hope (now through June 30, 2015, Gojo will donate 30 cents for every bottle of the SKU sold to the Los Angeles-based research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and life-threatening diseases). In addition, Gojo now offers Purell Hand Sanitizer in wipes form.
“This allows us to play in a space that promotes overall hand hygiene, which is a basic form of health—and good hand hygiene comes in different forms. We try to remind people of the importance of hand hygiene, which is the single most important way to reduce the spread of germs.”
While Purell may be one of the best-known brands in the hand sanitizer aisle, private label options are popular. However, Leigh told Happi that Gojo’s R&D efforts centered on efficacy, skin feel and skin care set the Purell brand apart.
“Formulation matters,” she said.
Despite the fact alcohol-based sanitizers work well, not everyone likes the ingredient list.
Andrea Gancarz is one of them. She’s started M.A.S.S. (Moms Advocating Safe Sanitizers), an advocacy group designed to “bring awareness, focus and to call upon a concerned public to help ban dangerous alcohol-based hand sanitizers.”
In a wire release about her group, Gancarz cited 2012 National Poison Data System numbers that show 18,000-plus incidents of alcohol-based hand sanitizer poisonings. M.A.S.S. does not endorse a specific non-alcohol based product; rather it is looking for shed light on the percentage of alcohol used in the products.
Still, advocates stand behind alcohol’s ability to get the job done.
“There are sound reasons for ethyl alcohol—it kills quicker, it dries faster, and has the most credible and comprehensive body of evidence. That is the formula for a winning proposition,” said Leigh.
Soap Stars
While fighting grime and germs remains at the core of the category, in personal cleansing much of the focus has shifted to experiential attributes that both liquids and bars can deliver.
“Added performance benefits generate the highest level of interest among consumers, including long-lasting moisture and deodorizing benefits,” said Shannon Romanowski, a senior beauty and personal care analyst at Mintel. “Sensitive skincare is also a growing theme in the category, with increased consumer interest in products that are gentler for skin, less fragranced, and designed for specific skin conditions, such as eczema.
Scent trends continue to grow more complex ranging from exotic to culinary, as seen in brands such as Henkel-owned Dial. Among its newer SKUs are Dial Yogurt body wash (which comes in a “fro yo” variant) and Dial Coconut Mango body wash. The brand also sports a new line of deep cleansing hand soaps that feature beautiful fragrances and a premium formula for moisturizing and smoothing skin, all in a bottle design that Dial says consumers are proud to show off in their bathroom or kitchen. And in a nod to growing demand for SKUs designed for specific skin issues, Henkel has new Dial Acne Control Face Wash, Body Wash and Glycerin Body & Face Bar, which were developed hand-in-hand with dermatologists.
Method’s Fall personal cleanser rollouts have the hallmarks of the brand: stylish packaging and unique scents. The company’s limited edition fall collection includes preppy pattern packaging and autumnal scents like honey crisp apple hand soaps and foaming hand washes and body wash in white cranberry. For holiday, Method is selling shimmering ice and holiday spice gel and foaming hand washes.
Spa brand Repêchage’s Sea Spa Body Wash is billed as a soap-free means to cleanse and moisturize. It contains seven essential oils— including natural extracts of orange, lime, coriander and mint—as well as EcoCert Laminaria Digitata and Ascophyllum Nodosum seaweed that nourish the skin.
While scent, ease of use and added skin care benefits continue to fuel the overall shift to body washes, gender-specific products are swaying consumers too.
“Men continue to adopt liquid body wash thanks to scent variety, deodorizing benefits, and ease of use,” she said, noting that brands like Axe and Old Spice remain solid performers in the category.
Axe liquid body wash is a leader in the category, with tallying sales of nearly $132 million over the past year, according to IRI.
The newest variant from the Unilever powerhouse brand is Axe Gold Temptation Body Wash, which opens with green citrus fruity notes mixed with a spicy sparkling accord, followed by chocolate notes and hints of amber. If it sounds sophisticated, it is; the fragrance was developed by fragrance guru Ann Gottlieb and is based off Axe Dark Temptation, which is brand’s top selling fragrance globally.
Unilever’s Dove is gaining ground with its male-focused cleansers too. Sales of Dove Men+Care liquid body washes, for example, rose more than 20% to $94.1 million, according to IRI. On the women’s side, skin care benefits and a variety of scents—such as Dove’s Purely Pampering Coconut Milk and Jasmine Petals Body Wash—are driving sales.
Bars…For Some
According to Mintel, body wash is the largest segment in the soap, bath and shower category, at $2.35 billion of sales. This sector recorded 4% sales growth in 2013, with similar rates of growth predicted in 2014. Meanwhile, bar soap sales fell 1.5% last year to $1.78 billion. The category is expected to be flat in 2014.
“While bar soap is a declining segment, there is growth among niche, natural brands such as Dr. Bronner’s and Tom’s of Maine. These products appeal to a smaller, but engaged, consumer base that is looking for more eco-friendly product options,” said Romanowski.
Tom’s recently streamlined its beauty bar soap line based on consumer feedback and top sellers. The Daily Moisture bar (which has olive oil and vitamin E) and the Relaxing bar (which contains pure lavender oil) are the most popular SKUs in the collection, which also includes sensitive and deodorant variants formulated with chamomile and sage, respectively.
Natural ingredients are also a big part of the story at Dr. Bronner’s. A perennial best seller for this outspoken naturals brand is its castile liquid soap in peppermint, but consumers also gravitate toward its lavender variant as well, said company spokespeople.
The Dr. Bronner’s lineup also boasts USDA Organic Shikakai hand and body pump soap which is available in unscented baby mild, lemongrass lime, tea tree spearmint-peppermint and lavender.
Sales Bounce Ahead?
According to Mintel, the total soap, bath and shower category was valued at $5.38 billion in 2013, marking a 2.3% increase from 2012. And the market research firm has forecasted growth of 3% for 2014. But could that figure rise even more?
For now, the industry will have to wait and see if there’s an Ebola bounce.
Any visitor at the Centers for Disease Control website looking for Ebola information will come across the following statement under the “prevention” tab:
“If you travel to or are in an area affected by an Ebola outbreak, make sure to do the following: Practice careful hygiene. For example, wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and avoid contact with blood and body fluids.”
The guidance, by the way, is a protocol prescribed by medical personnel and public health officials (not to mention moms) to ward off all germs—not just Ebola or Enterovirus 68, a non-polio virus that’s been in the news lately too.
All of this news has been circulating during the Fall, the precursor to cold and flu season when industry-driven events such as International Infection Prevention Week, Inter-national Clean Hands Week and Global Hand Washing Day dot the calendar and companies herald their efforts to spread better hand hygiene practices to rural areas, poor nations and school age children.
But it seems that American adults could use a refresher course.
A national survey conducted by Bradley Corporation, an international manufacturer of commercial hand washing products, found that Americans don’t wash long enough, don’t always use soap and sometimes don’t wash at all after using a public restroom. The survey found that 55% of Americans are washing their hands for less than the minimum of 20 seconds recommended by CDC and 70% admitted that they’ve simply rinsed their hands with water instead of soaping up after using a public restroom. Plus, 81% said they frequently or occasionally see others leave a public restroom without washing their hands at all.
Are they washing more at home? According to IRI, liquid hand soap sales for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 7, 2014 rose less than 1% to $697.2 million at US multi-outlets, (supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains) while non-deodorant bar soap sales slid 1.7% to $1.15 billion.
Hand sanitizer sales tracked by IRI during the same period fell 2.75% to $207.5 million. However, certain brands and SKUs posted gains, including Gojo Industries, the Akron, OH-based maker of Purell. According to IRI data obtained by Happi, Gojo posted a 7.21% rise in sales in the sector (see chart below), trailing private label and Vi-Jon, maker of Germ-X. (Berkshire Partners, which owns Vi-Jon is looking to sell the company, according to industry sources).
“We offer superior products that are really worthy of the Purell brand name,” said Kathleen Leigh, marketing director for Purell, adding that the Gojo focus is to ensure its products meet consumer’s expectations for aesthetics and performance.
Among the brand’s newest rollouts is a special Purell Spring Bloom Hand Sanitizer package that will benefit City of Hope (now through June 30, 2015, Gojo will donate 30 cents for every bottle of the SKU sold to the Los Angeles-based research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and life-threatening diseases). In addition, Gojo now offers Purell Hand Sanitizer in wipes form.
“This allows us to play in a space that promotes overall hand hygiene, which is a basic form of health—and good hand hygiene comes in different forms. We try to remind people of the importance of hand hygiene, which is the single most important way to reduce the spread of germs.”
While Purell may be one of the best-known brands in the hand sanitizer aisle, private label options are popular. However, Leigh told Happi that Gojo’s R&D efforts centered on efficacy, skin feel and skin care set the Purell brand apart.
“Formulation matters,” she said.
Despite the fact alcohol-based sanitizers work well, not everyone likes the ingredient list.
Andrea Gancarz is one of them. She’s started M.A.S.S. (Moms Advocating Safe Sanitizers), an advocacy group designed to “bring awareness, focus and to call upon a concerned public to help ban dangerous alcohol-based hand sanitizers.”
In a wire release about her group, Gancarz cited 2012 National Poison Data System numbers that show 18,000-plus incidents of alcohol-based hand sanitizer poisonings. M.A.S.S. does not endorse a specific non-alcohol based product; rather it is looking for shed light on the percentage of alcohol used in the products.
Still, advocates stand behind alcohol’s ability to get the job done.
“There are sound reasons for ethyl alcohol—it kills quicker, it dries faster, and has the most credible and comprehensive body of evidence. That is the formula for a winning proposition,” said Leigh.
Soap Stars
While fighting grime and germs remains at the core of the category, in personal cleansing much of the focus has shifted to experiential attributes that both liquids and bars can deliver.
“Added performance benefits generate the highest level of interest among consumers, including long-lasting moisture and deodorizing benefits,” said Shannon Romanowski, a senior beauty and personal care analyst at Mintel. “Sensitive skincare is also a growing theme in the category, with increased consumer interest in products that are gentler for skin, less fragranced, and designed for specific skin conditions, such as eczema.
Scent trends continue to grow more complex ranging from exotic to culinary, as seen in brands such as Henkel-owned Dial. Among its newer SKUs are Dial Yogurt body wash (which comes in a “fro yo” variant) and Dial Coconut Mango body wash. The brand also sports a new line of deep cleansing hand soaps that feature beautiful fragrances and a premium formula for moisturizing and smoothing skin, all in a bottle design that Dial says consumers are proud to show off in their bathroom or kitchen. And in a nod to growing demand for SKUs designed for specific skin issues, Henkel has new Dial Acne Control Face Wash, Body Wash and Glycerin Body & Face Bar, which were developed hand-in-hand with dermatologists.
Method’s Fall personal cleanser rollouts have the hallmarks of the brand: stylish packaging and unique scents. The company’s limited edition fall collection includes preppy pattern packaging and autumnal scents like honey crisp apple hand soaps and foaming hand washes and body wash in white cranberry. For holiday, Method is selling shimmering ice and holiday spice gel and foaming hand washes.
Spa brand Repêchage’s Sea Spa Body Wash is billed as a soap-free means to cleanse and moisturize. It contains seven essential oils— including natural extracts of orange, lime, coriander and mint—as well as EcoCert Laminaria Digitata and Ascophyllum Nodosum seaweed that nourish the skin.
While scent, ease of use and added skin care benefits continue to fuel the overall shift to body washes, gender-specific products are swaying consumers too.
“Men continue to adopt liquid body wash thanks to scent variety, deodorizing benefits, and ease of use,” she said, noting that brands like Axe and Old Spice remain solid performers in the category.
Axe liquid body wash is a leader in the category, with tallying sales of nearly $132 million over the past year, according to IRI.
The newest variant from the Unilever powerhouse brand is Axe Gold Temptation Body Wash, which opens with green citrus fruity notes mixed with a spicy sparkling accord, followed by chocolate notes and hints of amber. If it sounds sophisticated, it is; the fragrance was developed by fragrance guru Ann Gottlieb and is based off Axe Dark Temptation, which is brand’s top selling fragrance globally.
Unilever’s Dove is gaining ground with its male-focused cleansers too. Sales of Dove Men+Care liquid body washes, for example, rose more than 20% to $94.1 million, according to IRI. On the women’s side, skin care benefits and a variety of scents—such as Dove’s Purely Pampering Coconut Milk and Jasmine Petals Body Wash—are driving sales.
Bars…For Some
According to Mintel, body wash is the largest segment in the soap, bath and shower category, at $2.35 billion of sales. This sector recorded 4% sales growth in 2013, with similar rates of growth predicted in 2014. Meanwhile, bar soap sales fell 1.5% last year to $1.78 billion. The category is expected to be flat in 2014.
“While bar soap is a declining segment, there is growth among niche, natural brands such as Dr. Bronner’s and Tom’s of Maine. These products appeal to a smaller, but engaged, consumer base that is looking for more eco-friendly product options,” said Romanowski.
Tom’s recently streamlined its beauty bar soap line based on consumer feedback and top sellers. The Daily Moisture bar (which has olive oil and vitamin E) and the Relaxing bar (which contains pure lavender oil) are the most popular SKUs in the collection, which also includes sensitive and deodorant variants formulated with chamomile and sage, respectively.
Natural ingredients are also a big part of the story at Dr. Bronner’s. A perennial best seller for this outspoken naturals brand is its castile liquid soap in peppermint, but consumers also gravitate toward its lavender variant as well, said company spokespeople.
The Dr. Bronner’s lineup also boasts USDA Organic Shikakai hand and body pump soap which is available in unscented baby mild, lemongrass lime, tea tree spearmint-peppermint and lavender.
Sales Bounce Ahead?
According to Mintel, the total soap, bath and shower category was valued at $5.38 billion in 2013, marking a 2.3% increase from 2012. And the market research firm has forecasted growth of 3% for 2014. But could that figure rise even more?
For now, the industry will have to wait and see if there’s an Ebola bounce.