Clorox plans more flat wipes packs after boom year

Clorox Co. is planning an additional way to keep shelves stocked in the new year: rolling out more pocket-sized packs of disinfecting wipes.

The bleach maker — whose plastic tubs of 35 to 75 wet wipes have become a coveted item during the COVID-19 pandemic — will be adding more flat packets of disinfecting wipes to its lineup. That could include “new packaging, new product counts and more,” the company said in an email.

With staple-hoarding North Americans still snatching up canisters of disinfecting wipes as fast as Clorox can make them, making more low-count packs could help keep product on the shelves after a year when soaring demand put the company's shares on track for their best return since 1998.

To contend with demand, Clorox already cut its range of wipes products to 14 from more than 100 earlier this year, jettisoning lower-priority items like compostable wipes.

The company has added more than 10 new third-party manufacturers and is building a new wipes line that will help it ramp up inhouse capacity in early 2021 and double it by mid-year.

“We have a comprehensive effort underway to get as much product out to consumers as possible,” the company said.

The expanded production of flat packs will work better for on-thego customers who've resorted to bringing bulky cans of wipes with them outside their homes, according to Chief Financial Officer Kevin Jacobsen. Most existing products — think large, hard-sided tubs made for household use — weren't designed to be carried in a purse or pocket, leaving consumers “looking for solutions,” he told investors earlier this month.