Why Is It So Hard To Find Clorox Wipes?
When you go to the store, do you head straight for the cleaning supplies to find Clorox wipes? There is a good reason they are so hard to find lately.
Clorox CEO Benno Dorer told Reuters on Monday, (8/3) that they are struggling with overwhelming pandemic-led demand for its top product.
Since the start of global lockdowns, makers of hygiene goods have seen a sustained boom in sales. While Clorox typically holds aside excess supply for flu seasons, it says it has been unable to keep up with a six-fold increase in demand for many of its disinfectants. Especially those popular wipes.
Dorer said, “Disinfecting wipes, which are the hottest commodity in the business right now, will probably take longer because it’s a very complex supply chain to make them. That entire supply chain is stressed… We feel like it’s probably going to take until 2021 before we’re able to meet all the demand that we have.”
He added that many wipes are made from polyester spunlace, a material currently in short supply as it is also used to make personal protective equipment like masks, medical gowns and medical wipes.
Meanwhile, Dorer said that Clorox has made “major” capital investments so it can ramp up output each quarter, including simplifying its disinfectant product line-up at factories that run 24/7 every day of the year. Clorox began outsourcing some manufacturing this year to 10 third-party supplies and plans to keep looking for more.
