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
Mar 27, 2023 - Time for Spring Cleaning
- Nearly three-quarters (74%) of US households undertake spring cleaning at least once a year, according to the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) 2023 Spring Cleaning Survey. Of all 2023 survey participants who spring clean, 47% said they anticipate cleaning or organizing to be the same as in previous years, while 45% anticipate cleaning or organizing more than usual in 2023. Window washing, cleaning behind furniture, cleaning appliances, laundering bedding and linens, and scrubbing floors were the top five spring cleaning activities. When surveyed about what is most important in choosing spring cleaning products, 28% said effectiveness is the most important quality, 20% found multi-purpose the most important quality, and 16% cited cost as top of mind. The survey, conducted in February by Wakefield Research for ACI, polled 1,000 nationally representative US adults ages 18 and older.
- Sales of artificial nails are projected to top nail polish sales for the first time this year, according to NielsenIQ’s Beaut-facts report. The growing market for artificial nails is being driven by Gen Z consumers with help from Millennials and GenXers. In Q4 2022, sales of artificial nails surpassed nail polish sales by $6 million ($160 million vs $154 million). Overall in 2022, in-store nail polish sales totaled $649 million while artificial nail sales totaled $581 million, according to the NielsenIQ report. Convenience, the shift toward do-it-yourself beauty treatments during the pandemic, and promotion on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are supporting the growing trend and market for artificial nails like press-on, Cosmetics Design reported in March.
- The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) unveiled an initiative to increase the number of cleaning products that use sustainable ingredients at its 2023 Annual Meeting & Industry Convention in January. The ACI program aims to create a definition of sustainable feedstocks and develop a roadmap to increase the number of cleaning products on the market that use more sustainable ingredients. To that end, ACI and sustainability consultancy Anthesis Group created a series of guidance documents to assist members in understanding current risks and trends with common cleaning ingredient feedstocks, selecting feedstocks relevant to their company, and developing a roadmap with clear goals that can be met in a three-to-five-year timeframe. ACI defines a sustainable feedstock as a raw or recycled material available to meet the requirements of the cleaning product industry today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
- Colgate-Palmolive in February recalled nearly 5 million bottles of Fabuloso multipurpose cleaning products due to the risk of exposure to bacteria, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the company announced. Fabuloso is a staple in many Latino households and one of Colgate’s mainstay home-cleaning products, The Wall Street Journal reported. The CPSC said the recalled products may contain Pseudomonas species bacteria, which pose a risk of serious infection for people with weakened immune systems. (People with healthy immune systems aren’t usually affected by the bacteria, which are environmental organisms found widely in soil and water.) The same bacteria was also linked to the December recall of 8 million laundry and cleaning products manufactured by The Laundress. Colgate blamed the Fabuloso recall on a preservative that wasn't added at the intended levels during manufacturing, an error it said could allow bacteria growth in the products, according to WSJ.
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