Checking In on Successes of Our Top Personal and Homecare Clients

2020 was a difficult year, and the effects of COVID-19 will be felt globally into 2021 and beyond. Every industry has found itself faced with unprecedented challenges during this time, including the Personal and Homecare Industry. With companies evolving with the times, many facilities are finding themselves with unneeded assets, and our Personal and Homecare Investment Recovery and Redeployment Solutions are there to help. However, some of our top clients in the industry found successes to celebrate among these trying times.

Unilever

Unilever is known for innovation, so it should be no surprise that the company is always looking to grow. Recently, the company announced plans to rethink its plastic packaging. After committing to decrease the use of virgin plastic in an effort to remove almost 100,000 tons of plastic from its processes, Unilever is rethinking how plastic factors into its packaging. Its Love Beauty and Planet brand has simplified bottle pump designs to remove components, including metal springs, that make it hard to recycle. Its Lipton brand is working to create biodegradable tea bags, and its Hellmann’s brand is using jars and bottles made from 100 percent recycled material. To read more on the efforts of Unilever’s different brands, click here.

The company is also making interesting strides towards creating self-cleaning surfaces, including a partnership with Innova Partnerships resulting in a newly-launched biotechnology company. Using Lactam, an organic compound derived from seaweed, the company hopes to prevent mold and bacteria growth on everyday surfaces. As a startling number of bacterial infections stem from biofilms on surfaces, this advancement could have lasting positive impacts. This new technology, which can be applied to a variety of surfaces and soft materials, not only aims to prevent bacteria growth but to keep surfaces cleaner for much longer.

Procter and Gamble

P&G has been active in the fight against COVID-19 to address issues laboratories and supply chains are facing. A backlog of samples and long wait times has hindered the testing process, but a new partnership hopes to fix that. Recently, P&G partnered with Rhinostics to launch a nasal swab created in response to testing supply shortages. The swab’s designs help reduce handling and laboratory processing time while increasing potential laboratory capacity, and are usable in both PCR and antigen tests. This development can help other tests requiring nasal swabs in the future. The complete announcement with more details can be found here.

As the virus spread, people desperately searched for household cleaners. P&G’s Microban 24 Sanitizing Spray quickly became popular, especially after it was announced that it was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and by Health Canada for use against the virus. After five minutes, the spray kills upwards of 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, and it protects surfaces for a full day after proper use. This is not only a success for P&G, but also a reassuring announcement for the general public as it maneuvers its way through the pandemic.

Fareva

Fareva is also doing its part in the fight against COVID-19. At the end of last year, it forged a partnership with CureVac to assist in the fill-and-finish manufacturing stage of CureVac’s COVID-19 vaccine. This new development will help increase the ultimate production of the COVID-19 vaccine, and will help increase supplies to help with more global distribution. This new partnership will also alleviate concerns of supply chain disruptions, for the increase in manufacturing capability will help eliminate potential risks that would come with other partners during the manufacturing process.

CureVac had also pledged to invest in sterile manufacturing, something that Fareva specializes in. At the start of December 2020, Fareva completed the acquisition of two sterile manufacturing facilities in France, continuing in its own pledge to invest in and expand its sterile manufacturing capabilities for the development and production of oncology products. One facility brings over 200 employees with years of experience manufacturing sterile injectables, while another focuses on the manufacturing and purification of monoclonal antibodies. By adding these capabilities to its portfolio, Fareva hopes to continue its innovative development of novel drug applications.

Beiersdorf

Beiersdorf has taken steps to slow or stop negative consequences of COVID-19 where it can. As the pandemic took hold, the company launched a “Care Before Aid” program, which involved responding to short-term and long-term consequences. In the short term, the company worked to manufacture and donate one million liters of disinfectant to health care settings globally. In the long term, it has vowed to donate money to communities impacted by the virus. Also, with Ashoka, Beiersdorf began the “Changemakers United” initiative, which strives to provide a platform and tools to up-and-coming entrepreneurs working to negate the impacts of COVID-19 in innovative ways. More details on the company’s efforts can be found here.

Priding itself on investing in innovation, Beiersdorf also constructed a state-of-the-art technology center in Hamburg, Germany. A main goal of the new center is to blur the lines between the Research and Development department and the Production department in its continued journey to discover new and innovative technologies. The company also believes that this new development will help it continue to claim the title of the leading skin care expert in the industry. Beiersdorf also hopes to use this center to work with external partners and other companies to continue driving the industry forward and making discoveries that may not have been possible before.

Henkel

Henkel had a successful 2020 despite the challenges of COVID-19. The company did experience a 0.7 percent decrease in sales, totaling 19.3 billion Euros, compared to the previous year, but still remained profitable. It also experienced a 2.3 billion Euro cash flow, nearly matching last year’s record. Certain sectors’ numbers, including Beauty Care, was below last year, but it was believed to be related to many end users limiting business during the pandemic. Other branches, including Laundry and Home Care, had strong sales because of the increase in demand for hygiene products. The trends seen during the pandemic lead officials to forecast growth in 2021. Complete details on the company’s 2020 performance can be found here.

Henkel also had more reason to celebrate in 2020. Four Henkel products were voted Product of the Year, the largest consumer-voted award for product innovation from a surveyed group of over 40,000 people. In the United States branch of the award, the company’s All Free Clean Pure laundry detergent won in the “Green Laundry” category, while Schwarzkopf Color Boost won in the “Hair Color” category and Snuggle SuperCare Scent Booster won in the “Laundry Enhancer” category.  In the Canada branch of the award, the company’s Persil ProClean OXI Power Discs won in the “Laundry Detergent” category.

The Personal and Homecare Industry is seeing growth and demand unlike before, and EquipNet is ready to help you find how your company fits into this trend. Whether you are looking to offload unneeded equipment or need to close an entire facility, we can help. We offer an extensive selection of Personal and Homecare Investment Recovery and Redeployment Solutions to fit any need. Regularly, we help companies sell idle assets to other companies who can make good use of the machinery while earning the seller extra cash, recycle unneeded equipment while guaranteeing complete compliance with local and federal safety and environmental regulations, and organize complete facility closures, among other services. Interested in how we can help your company recover investment or redeploy assets? Contact us today at 781-821-3482 or at [email protected]!

Categorias: Consumer Packaged Goods

Tags: beiersdorf cosmetics fareva henkel homecare personal care industry procter and gamble unilever,