Have you tried to find Clorox disinfectant wipes lately? Like toilet paper a few months ago, just not there.
Now Clorox, the world's biggest maker of disinfectant cleaning materials, said consumers will continue to see a shortage of its wipes and other products into 2021 because of overwhelming demand during the pandemic.
Clorox dominates the $1 billion disinfectant wipes market with a 45% market share, and said it has aggressively ramped up production for its cleaning products, but it still won't be enough.
"It will take the full year to get up to the supply levels that we need to be at," Clorox President and CEO-elect Linda Rendle said Monday in a call with analysts to discuss the company's earnings. "We're certainly not at all happy with our service levels for our retail customers on many products. We have a high sense of urgency on this with all hands on deck."
A shortage of materials used in making the sanitizing wipes has also caused a slowdown in production. The wipes are typically made with polyester spunlace, a material currently used to make personal protective equipment such as masks and medical gowns.
Still, the pandemic-fueled run on disinfectant products boosted overall company sales by 22% in the quarter.