Soap & Toilet Preparation Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 2,100 soap and toilet preparation manufacturers in the US produce soap, detergent, polish, surface active agents, leather finishing agents, toilet preparations, and other cleaning and personal care products. Consumer soap and toilet preparation products are typically sold through distributors and retailers, such as mass merchandisers, grocery stores, warehouse clubs, and drugstores. Commercial products are sold directly to large customers or through distributors and wholesalers to smaller customers.
Mature Markets
In the US, many categories within the soap and toilet preparation industry are classified as low growth and mature.
Variability in Raw Materials Costs
The cost of raw materials can vary depending on global market conditions.
Industry size & Structure
The average soap and toilet preparation manufacturer operates out of a single location, employs about 52-53 workers, and generates $42 million annually.
- The soap and toilet preparation manufacturing industry includes about 2,100 companies that employ about 110,800 workers and generate $89 billion annually.
- The industry is highly concentrated; the top 50 companies account for 82% to 99% of industry revenue.
- Toilet preparation manufacturing accounts for about 45% of firms and 54% of industry revenue; soap and detergents manufacturing accounts for about 30% of firms and 29% of revenue; surfactant manufacturing accounts for about 5% of firms and 9% of revenue; and polish and other sanitation good manufacturing accounts for 20% of firms and 8% of revenue.
- Large companies with soap and toilet preparation manufacturing operations include Procter and Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Ecolab, and Clorox. Most large companies manufacture a variety of consumer and commercial products in addition to soaps and toilet preparations.
- Large companies may generate a significant percentage of business from foreign countries.
- The average American family washes about 300 loads of laundry per year, according to the EPA. Other sources estimate the average US household washes around 400-500 loads annually.
Industry Forecast
Soap & Toilet Preparation Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Nov 25, 2022 - “Tripledemic” Expected This Winter
- Sales of sanitizers, soaps, and disinfectants will likely get a boost this winter as the US braces for a “tripledemic” – defined by Yale Medicine as a “collision of RSV? (respiratory syncytial virus), flu, and COVID-19 to the extent that it might overwhelm hospital emergency departments.” Currently, all three respiratory viruses are present in the US population although they’re not peaking at the same time. While COVID spreads through the air, RSV and flu viruses can also spread by touching contaminated surfaces, which makes regular hand washing ?and cleaning contaminated surfaces really important, according to Yale Med’s Dr. Thomas Murphy. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on sales of hand sanitizer, which jumped 600% in 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- New research indicates the use of three topical antiseptic compounds used in soaps and detergents is unlikely to cause adverse ecological impacts, according to a study co-authored by the American Cleaning Institute, published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in November 2022. Use of the compounds – benzalkonium chloride (BAC), benzethonium chloride (BZT) and chloroxylenol (PCMX) – has increased following the phase-out of triclosan and other antimicrobial ingredients in products including antiseptic hand washes, disinfecting laundry detergents, and health care antiseptics. Neither BZT nor PCMX in any exposure media was found likely to cause adverse ecological effects under the triclosan replacement scenarios assessed in the present study. For BAC, evaluation of potential bioavailable exposures indicates that adverse ecological effects are unlikely based on the wastewater treatment plant loading estimates. Sanitizer use shot up during the coronavirus pandemic and is likely to again during this year's flu and respiratory virus season.
- A sustainable surfactant, Bio IOS, developed by Japan's Kao Corporation in 2019, is gaining recognition for its contribution to environmental sustainability, Forbes reported in August 2022. Highly soluble in water while retaining its high affinity to oils, Bio IOS contains “the residue of pressed palm oil collected from the fruit of the palm as a raw material, but it’s more soluble in water, and cleans better than conventional detergent bases, even in small amounts,” according to Bio IOS R&D leader Masato Nomura. “It’s also highly biodegradable and has low aquatic biotoxicity. Bio IOS products significantly reduce CO2 emissions and water pollution.” Vegetable oils and fats commonly used as raw ingredients in detergents have become increasingly scarce and expensive.
- Pressured by soaring costs for ingredients, packaging, labor and transportation but reluctant to raise prices, makers of soap and toilet preparations, along with other manufacturers, are quietly shrinking package sizes, an industry practice known as “shrinkflation,” according to Food Manufacturing magazine. While not a new phenomenon, shrinkflation typically increases during periods of high inflation. With prices of household staples up sharply this year and consumers feeling the pinch, more manufacturers are downsizing their package sizes and reducing weights to avoid having to hike prices, hoping shoppers won’t notice they’re getting less product for the same price. Procter & Gamble Co. downsized its Pantene Pro-V Curl Perfection conditioner from 12 fluid ounces to 10.4 fluid ounces but held the price at $3.99.
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