Leading US sanitizer manufacturer bets on continued pandemic demand

The US company Gojo, which produces one of the most famous brands of sanitizers Purell, has decided to expand production in the hope that the hygiene habits formed during the pandemic will remain after the coronavirus, writes The Wall Street Journal.

Over the past year, U.S. sales of hand sanitizers have grown almost sevenfold, to $1.3 billion, according to Nielsen data. This growth, excluding sales of antiseptics to companies and various institutions, significantly exceeds the increase in sales of other products popular during the pandemic, the WSJ notes. : Sales of toilet paper over the past 52 weeks have risen only 20% compared to a year earlier.

Gojo Industries expects that with the decline of the pandemic due to vaccination, the demand for sanitizer and its sales will remain at a high level. Therefore, the company, to the surprise of other players who decided not to expand production for the sake of demand that soared during the pandemic, opened a second factory and a second warehouse.

The company spent $400 million on capital investments in 2020, about 10 times more than usual, according to Gojo CEO Cary Jaros. During the pandemic, the company, which already employed 2,500 people, hired another 500. Gojo generated $370 million in revenue in 2018, according to the latest available data.

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At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Gojo Industries held about 25% of the US sanitizer market. The success story of a family business that began in 1946 selling basement-brewed soap from the trunk of the family's pickup truck can be read here .