USA TODAY International Edition
Clorox setting records in production of disinfectants
Clorox said it’s churning out more disinfectant wipes than ever before to keep up with increasing demand during the pandemic.
The company’s president, Linda Rendle, said Monday that it is “making wipes in record numbers and shipping to stores in record numbers” as consumers continue to scour grocery store aisles for Clorox and Lysol products, which health agencies say may help curb the spread of COVID- 19.
“In terms of wipes, we are making more disinfectant products than we ever have before. Since January, we’re able to make 100 million more disinfecting products than we did before, that’s a 50% increase,” Rendle said on “Good Morning America.”
“We are making nearly 1 million packages of wipes every day and shipping them to stores.”
The company had acknowledged that there is a shortage of its products. It also said the shortage will likely last until next year.
“Given the fact that cold and flu ( season) sits in the middle of the ( fiscal) year, and we expect the pandemic to be with us for the entirety of the year, it will take the full year to get up to the supply levels that we need to be at,” Rendle said during the company’s fourth- quarter earnings call.
Sales at Clorox’s health and wellness division, which includes cleaning products and supplements, rose 33%, and made up more than 40% of total sales between April and June. Officials said the growth was fueled by demand related to the pandemic.
Clorox Disinfectant Wipes have not been tested on the coronavirus, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Yet wipes are “expected to be effective against COVID- 19 based on data for harder- to- kill viruses.”