Janitorial and Housekeeping Cleaning Products Market is Robust, Report Says

Consumption of janitorial and housekeeping cleaning products by commercial and institutional facilities in the United States have reached an estimated $3.6 billion in end-user dollars in 2010. The market has been affected by the economic recession, but is forecasted to grow by an average annual rate of 3.5 percent, to reach more than $4.2 billion in 2015, according to a recent study, "Janitorial and Housekeeping Cleaning Products USA 2010: Market Analysis and Opportunities," from worldwide consulting and research firm Kline & Company.

Reduced cleaning and maintenance budgets challenged facilities into cutting costs and services. The floor care business has flattened as facilities economize by reducing the frequency of waxing and stripping floors. More durable coatings and new low-maintenance floor substrates allowing fewer floor-maintenance requirements have reinforced the trend.

High sales in the hand care category have helped carry the industry during the past couple of years. Stoked by health concerns following the H1N1 influenza virus outbreak, and by the heightened awareness of the importance of effective hand hygiene, the market has seen a surge in demand for instant hand sanitizers. Hand care is projected to continue in a steady growth over the next five years, however, at rates lower than those of peak growth in 2009.

Sustainability is a preoccupying theme in the industry, leading to increased marketing of environmental lines. Nowadays, end users demand that products be cleaner, greener, and safer, as well as affordable. More than half of the respondents in Kline's study reported having green cleaning programs, indicating that green cleaning is a widely embraced practice. Many of these programs utilize dilution and dispensing systems. Regarded as environmentally friendly, and ensuring that chemical manufacturers' ship concentrates, not water, in the right sized packages, these programs have been on the market for decades.

Contract cleaners are the leading end-use segment on the market. Other major segments are retail hosts, industrial facilities, healthcare, education, and lodging.

There is notable merger and acquisition activity in the market. However, despite advancing consolidation, the market remains less contracted than other related cleaning chemicals markets.

"The market for janitorial chemicals is large, and the supplier and distributor bases are variegated, which infuses the market with strong competitive dynamics," says Bruce Boynick, senior associate at Kline. There are major suppliers like Diversey, Ecolab, GOJO and Spartan, but the industry overall exhibits only moderate concentration, affording ample opportunities for a broad array of competitors, including full-line suppliers, commercial marketers of household brands, and private brands of distributors.