The importance of chemistry was apparent throughout the pandemic. As consumers clamored for cleaners, formulators and their suppliers struggled to keep up with demand. But as pandemic panic subsided, suppliers and their partners faced new challenges: bloated inventory levels, soaring inflation and shipping issues caused by drought in the Panama Canal and tension in the Strait of Hormuz. All contributed to a down year for many players in the global household and personal products industry. Many raw material suppliers reported double-digit sales declines. Sales were down for some finished product companies, too. Henkel’s sales fell 3.9% and Unilever’s home care sales declined 1.8%.

“The chemical industry recorded declining volumes for 18 months due to destocking,” explained Mary Kurian, president, global operating, division, Care Chemicals, BASF. “Last year, we were expecting destocking issues to subside, but volumes are only up slightly.”

As reported in Happi (January 2024), laundry detergent unit sales declined 1.3% last year, according to Circana. Meanwhile, laundry care unit sales, including prewash, fine washable formulas and the like, were off 1.4%. Fabric softener unit sales fell hardest, down 7.9%. Even that pandemic darling, bleach, suffered a 5.3% decline in unit sales.

“From a market demand, it was a challenging year,” noted Brad Pearson, VP-cleaning goods, Nouryon. “For the first part of the year, there was a focus on destocking. But we still saw a lot of interest in innovation and new, sustainable solutions.”

After a tough 2023, suppliers and marketers expect the homecare market to improve this year. They may be waiting, but they’re not idling. Innovations continue to flow from suppliers and their partners in laundry, dish and other categories. That was apparent during the American Cleaning Institute’s Convention Week, where more than 1000 industry executives descended on Orlando, FL to launch products, make new contacts, discuss new and old business, and collaborate to create next-generation cleaning formulations.

“It’s not a stagnant industry,” observed Brandon Beyer, global manager, application development, Univar Solutions. “Biobased and sustainability have been driving trends for years; now there’s bioengineering. AI is next.”

New from Suppliers

Michal Benmayor, head of innovation and sustainability, DSM-Firmenich agrees.

“Customer priorities are on product performance and sustainability. There is no compromise; one plus one must equal three,” she told Happi.

As an example, she pointed to the launch of EcoMax, the newest addition to the Popscent range, which uses core shell polymeric capsules containing fragrances that are deposited and retained on surfaces such as clothes, skin and hair during use. Upon drying, the capsules become brittle and break, due to naturally occurring physical forces, such as movement, rubbing and combing. New PopScent EcoMax is DSM-Firmench’s first capsule made exclusively with 100% biodegradable ingredients.

Haloscent Berry is the newest addition to DSM-Firmench’s Haloscent profragrance  system, which consists of two bonded fragrance molecules. One is more substantive to substrates, the other is more volatile. Once delivered to a substrate during product use and then exposed to a specific natural trigger such as oxygen, heat or enzymes, the molecular bond breaks and the volatile perfume molecule gradually releases over time. According to DSM-Firmenich chemists, the technology delivers a new experience by releasing two perfume molecules. This “halo effect” enables the entire fragrance to last longer for a more rounded olfactive experience.

“Different triggers make the technology so interesting,” explained Benmayor. “We can create fragrances that last longer—even weeks—on clean laundry.”

Bio-based Solutions

Lygos, Berkeley, CA, produces bio-inspired solutions at scale. Co-founder and CEO Eric Steen PhD explained Lygos starts with sustainable inputs and uses fermentation, biotechnology and some chemistry to create innovative solutions.

“We’re solving customers’ problems and helping them accelerate to sustainable solutions,” explained Steen.

For home care applications, new Soltellus polymer is sustainable, biodegradable and water-soluble. According to Lygos, Soltellus improves the soil- and stain-fighting power of laundry detergents and the anti-spotting and anti-film properties of dishwasher detergents.

In household fragrances, new Ecoteria malonates offer safety, sustainability, performance and supply resiliency benefits. Traditionally, malonates are produced in China using cyanide, explained Steen. In contrast, Lygos’ fermentation method involves carbon dioxide and sugar. Ecoteria is manufactured entirely in the US, too, providing a resilient and robust supply chain.

“Lygos is a go-to partner for high performance, sustainable solutions,” said Steen. “We have a great team, a great platform and a great process.”

BASF, too, has a robust supply chain. Parthiv Amin, SVP, Care Chemicals, North America, noted that his company has more than eight manufacturing sites in North America.

“Companies want a reliable supply chain. We have that kind of ability.”

That ability extends beyond the US. BASF continues to expand with an alkylpolyglucoside (APG) expansion in Cincinnati, OH and Thailand. Last year, BASF expanded ethoxylate production capacity in Europe. And a new site will be onstream in China next year.

“Across our home care and personal care portfolio we have made consistent investments in the past year. We have the right footprint,” said Kurian.

Univar Solutions launched a nonionic NP9 replacement blend. It was specifically developed in collaboration with an existing customer. This new blend provides similar performance with existing chemistry, but with an improved ecological profile relative to NP9, according to Univar Solutions. Furthermore, according to Beyer, the new blend is cost-effective, thanks to collaboration between Univar’s technical and sales teams and the customer. In tests, the NPE Replacement blend matched or exceeded the NPE-based control on specific stains.

“We start with the problem rather than push the product,” explained James Peterson, global VP-care, Univar Solutions. “As a distributor, we don’t drive one set of ingredients from a supplier. We solve the problem with the solution. It is a powerful message.”

Univar executives explained the company has a powerful network, too.

Eric Zeigler, Univar Solutions’ Senior Director of CARE, Americas, explained Univar Solutions has a global network of HI&I solutions centers in Houston, Mexico City, São Paolo, Essen and Madrid.

“At every location, we’re working together, sharing ideas,” he said. “We see trends from all over the world and we are more agile in meeting customer needs.”

At each center, Univar Solutions helps customers find the right ingredients, develop and formulate products, perform benchmark prototypes and test product performance.

During the ACI annual meeting, Nouryon launched Berol Nexus surfactant. The company calls it a next-generation, multifunctional hydrotrope. It is available in a 70% concentrated aqueous liquid form, has a low-color and a low-viscosity profile, making it easily formulated into a variety of cleaning applications. It also addresses challenging, greasy soils in laundry and auto-dish applications, particularly useful where lower wash temperatures are trending.

In addition to Berol Nexus, Nouryon recently broadened its portfolio with Berol Nexxt, which it describes as a “next-generation surfactant and multifunctional hydrotrope.” Also new is Dissolvine GL Premium, which Nouryon calls the industry’s most concentrated GLDA-based chelating agent.

Stuart Holt, strategic marketing manager, cleaning goods, told Happi that additional green chelates will be launched in 2024—perhaps as soon as the second quarter.

Nouryon executives insist their company offers the broadest portfolio of green chelates. Anna Gripp, strategic marketing manager, cleaning goods, added that Nouryon can help customers get to market faster with products that deliver on consumer demands.
“We are the market leader in chelates, and offer a wide variety of surfactants and other materials,” said Gripp. “There are many opportunities for collaboration.”

In December 2023, Nouryon announced it was certified to the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification standard ISCC PLUS for the production of green monochloroacetic acid (MCA) at its site in Delfzijl, the Netherlands.

When Will It End?

Most suppliers couldn’t provide a deadline for when consumer demand would increase and sales would pick up. The most optimistic among them suggested the decline could bottom out in the second or third quarter of 2024.

“Volumes will recover, but we don’t know how fast,” admitted Kurian.

In the meantime, suppliers will keep innovating all in an effort to improve the consumer experience. For example, DSM-Firmenich’s ScentMove emotion evaluation model scans subjects’ brain activity while they smell different perfumes. Emotions program that takes advantage of the wellbeing trend. ScentMove reveals patterns that correspond to different emotional profiles. However, to develop relevant solutions, DSM-Firmenich takes into account the effects of learning and memory; as cultural background, life experiences and encountered smells shape emotions.

“We can create fragrances that match the brand’s intent,” explained Benmayor. “We can develop formulas that help consumers improve focus or sleep, or boost confidence and happiness.”

After the events of the past several years, that sounds like a technology we all can use! 

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