In an interview with CNBC on March 10, GOJO Industries CEO Carey Jaros discussed how Purell is adapting to meet the growing demand for sanitation products amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Jaros told CNBC that as the demand for hand sanitizer skyrocketed a year ago, one of the first things the company did was to increase manufacturing to 24 hours a day. Jaros explained that GOJO had to implement creative outsourcing to support the rising production rate.
GOJO reportedly hired over 500 new employees as it tripled the number of manufacturing plants across North America. Jaros said that GOJO believes the new normal will be about visible hygiene and keeping trusted brands of sanitizing products in sight of consumers.
When asked if she believes current demand levels are sustainable, she said that while it may not be as high as it was last year, it will be much higher than in the past, adding that the company’s market share is now twice as high as it was pre-pandemic.
Addressing the rise of distilleries and beauty companies entering the sanitizer market, Jaros said that most of the opportunistic startups were chemical-based and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reportedly banned over 240 brands of sanitizer that were deemed unsafe or ineffective.
“Consumers know that we invented hand sanitizer in 1988. We’ve been in this business for over 30 years,” added Jaros. “We’ve been the market leader since our inception.”
Jaros concluded the interview by noting that the 75-year-old, family-owned company remains dedicated to its purpose of saving lives by providing effective sanitation products for any high contact surface areas.
