Although COVID-19 has been a household name since the outbreak was first reported in November 2019, the coronavirus only recently became a factor in the personal and home care industries.
It’s changed our day to day existence and magnified consumers’ perception of hand hygiene. Soap, as a result of the increased handwashing, and hand sanitisers have been front and centre of the global pandemic. Yet, the demand for hand sanitisers in South Africa and around the world continues to outstrip supply. It’s been amazing to see the personal care industry’s response to help in the fight against COVID-19, by stepping up to produce hand sanitiser products which are supplied free of charge to those in need.
At various manufacturing plants around the globe, including Kenya, L’Oréal’s teams have put in place new processes to produce hundreds of tonnes of hand sanitiser. Louis Vuitton owner LVMH, which produces perfumes by Dior and Givenchy as well as Moët & Chandon champagne, has been using its perfume production lines to produce 12t of free hydroalcoholic gel (hand sanitiser) for French hospitals.
On LinkedIn, Beiersdorf posted about its efforts in Thailand, where the personal care brand is producing medical-grade Nivea hand sanitisers, which will be delivered free of charge to more than 1 000 hospitals, various foundations, orphanages and underprivileged children in the region. Symrise also posted about its efforts on LinkedIn, saying the global producer of fragrances and flavours had received special permission from authorities to produce and distribute sanitiser for use in hospitals and federal institutions in Germany’s Hannover region. In a press release, Unilever stated it’s pledged €100 million to global health organisations and agencies in the form of donations of soap, sanitiser, bleach and food.
While South Africa is currently in lockdown, at New Media we are fortunate to remain operational with our teams working remotely. This makes it possible for us to bring you the April edition of P&C Review, first in digital format with the printed edition to follow as soon as lockdown ends.
This month, on page 12 the CTFA shares insight into the latest labelling requirements for personal care products and cosmetics. In our pharma focus on page 26, we look at how Peppina is driving profitable growth by installing SAP Business One and Zetes explains the ins and outs of serialisation and aggregation in the South African context.
In the home care feature on page 30, you can read about bleach systems to deliver hygiene benefits, how to use texture as a differentiator and two new bio-based cleaning technologies from international suppliers. The P C Review team wishes our valued readers and clients good health, safety, resilience and positivity during the uncertain times brought about by the spread of the coronavirus.
