CMM – Archives • May 2010 • 24

Hand Sanitizer Alcohol-free hand sanitizers are an emerging trend in the JanSan market. By: Jay Berkman Not Your Mother’s F For years, the health care industry — along with government, municipal and corporate professionals — has been indoctrinated with the notion that alcohol gels and rubs are the “rec-ommended” hand sanitizing alternative when washing with soap and water is not readily con-venient. And, as anyone in the JanSan industry will appreciate, the 2009 pandemic influenza A (swine flu) virus inspired not only an unprecedent-ed focus on hand hygiene, but a massive spike in hand sanitizer product sales. According to a recent Nielsen Company report, retail market sales of hand sanitizer for the 52-week period ending in October 2009 generated as much as $180 million — a staggering 70 percent increase from the prior year. While Nielsen does not include sales figures from institutional markets, those sales are equivalent to, if not greater than, consumer-market figures. This revitalized focus on hand hygiene and the related surge in hand sanitizer product sales included a game-changing headline: Non-alcohol hand sanitizer manufacturers reported as much as 10-fold sales increases from 2008. Up until recently, alcohol-free alternatives have been considered a nascent and “still emerging” product category, and thanks to the U.S. Centers Jay Berkman is a principal of JLC Group, a Westport, Connecticut-based consult-ing firm that advises man-ufacturers of consumer and institutional products, as well as professional service firms. Within the hand sanitizer market, JLC Group has provided guid-ance and market analysis to MGS Brands Inc., the makers of “Hy5 ® ,” DEB SBS, Soapopular Inc., Paragon Marketing and Woodward Labs. Berkman can be contacted at [email protected]. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Skincare . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Hand Sanitizer . Alcohol-free hand sanitizers minimize the drying, cracking and peeling of skin, vastly reducing avenues for germs and bacteria to enter the body. 24 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • May 2010 Image courtesy of GOJO Industries Inc.