Hand Care Drives the U.S. Industrial and Institutional Cleaners Industry

Growing awareness of hand hygiene has been driving the market for industrial and institutional (I&I) hand care products in the United States. Moreover, sales of professional use hand care products surpass other professional cleaning chemicals, such as floor care and hard surface cleaners, growing at 3.6 percent in 2015 to nearly $1.5 billion at the end-user level, finds the recently published "Industrial and Institutional Hand Care: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities" report by global market research and management consulting firm Kline. Hospitals are the largest end-use segment of hand care products, as well as the fastest growing segment, driven by the need to prevent the spread of germs.
  
Due to their popularity among consumers, foam hand soaps is the fastest growing product type. Instant hand sanitizers continue to gain market share and experience healthy growth of over 5 percent due to the convenience they offer consumers in maintaining hand hygiene on-the-go where there is no access to soap and water. Instant hand sanitizers were once synonymous with alcohol as being the go-to ingredient in the formulation; however, many companies have begun manufacturing alcohol-free sanitizers with antimicrobials that provide long-lasting protection without causing dryness to the hands.
  
Bar soaps are losing market share due to the growing popularity of other product forms. However, there is still high demand for premium-priced bar soaps for use at lodging establishments where bar soaps are the primary form of hand soaps used.
  
GOJO Industries is the leading supplier of hand care products to the I&I cleaning industry with a nearly 18 percent market share. The company continues to gain sales due to its key focus on hand care products, as opposed to other companies that offer hand care products in addition to other cleaning products. Ecolab, the second-largest supplier of I&I hand care products, is the leading supplier of hand care products to the food service cleaning products industry, as well as the second-leading supplier of hand care products in the janitorial cleaning products segment. Zep, the third-leading supplier of I&I hand care products, was acquired by New Mountain Capital in 2015.
  
Sales of hand care products are projected to continue to increase at a compound annual growth rate of under 4 percent through 2020, driven by foam hand soaps and instant hand sanitizers, as well as the I&I wipes segment.
  
Hand care products are important growth drivers across the janitorial, food service, and cleaning wipes segments of the I&I market, according to the report.  

Source: Kline