Coronavirus leads to huge increase in demand for cleaning supplies

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Increase in demand for cleaning supplies amid coronavirus outbreak

People are clearing out cleaning supplies aisles in stores across the country to protect themselves from the coronavirus, spiking an increase in demand for companies which sell cleaning products.

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FOLCROFT, Pa.— People are clearing out cleaning supplies in stores across the country to protect themselves from coronavirus, spiking an increase in demand for companies manufacturing the products.

“We saw a spike in sales in some areas almost 40 percent,” said Aaron Krause, president and CEO of Scrub Daddy, a Pennsylvania-based sponge maker.

Krause thinks orders are soaring because people are buying household cleaning supplies in bulk.

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Aaron Krause, the President and CEO of Scrub Daddy.

“They are selling out of every cleaning product and that includes sponges that clean and help to disinfect,” Krause said.

Shoppers can usually find Scrub Daddy sponges in the same aisle as disinfectants like Clorox and Lysol. According to a report from Nielsen, sales for aerosol products like those are nearly 100 percent higher than they were in 2019.

A spokesperson for Clorox says the company stepped up production and is prepared for a surge in demand.

“Clorox has increased production of our disinfecting products, and we’re monitoring the issue closely in order to be prepared to meet the needs of people, retailers, health care facilities and communities," a spokesperson for Clorox told FOX Business.

Lysol's parent company, Reckitt Benckiser Group, released a report on its performance in 2019 but says it's too soon to assess its financial performance in response to COVID-19. In the report, the group said: "We are seeing some increased demand for Dettol and Lysol products and are working to support the relevant health care authorities and agencies, including through donations, information and education."

“What we are seeing is a lot of panic buying,” said Morris Cohen, a panasonic professor of manufacturing and logistics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“Suppliers, no matter where they are, are being disrupted and demand is being stimulated by panic buying everywhere,” said Cohen.

Cohen says businesses are facing a global supply-chain disruption like we’ve never seen before.

“The system was never designed to handle these kinds of demand spikes. So, there will be shortages. But overall, there isn’t a shortage. It’s just, we don’t have it available in the right place at the right time,” said Cohen.

Experts say businesses are facing a global supply-chain disruption like we’ve never seen before.

Still, Cohen says he has faith in modern supply-chains and believes balance will be restored.

“I feel that the companies that manage them will figure out how to adjust and it won’t take them that long,” said Cohen.

In order to keep up and keep staff safe, companies facing a higher demand like Scrub Daddy are making adjustments, too.

Much of their Delaware County team is working from home. People who work in the packaging facility are spaced out 6 feet apart, wearing masks and gloves.

Scrub Daddy employees are spaced out six feet apart, wearing masks and gloves.

“We’ve actually taken everything down to a four day, 10-hour shift,” said Krause.

Fridays are spent disinfecting the whole facility.

Krause says they are also donating products to health care industries in need of cleaning supplies.

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“We’re all scared of getting it. But we also realize that we have to meet our customers’ demands. And at this point in time, those demands are skyrocketing,” said Krause.