In 1997, when Purell was introduced to the commercial marketplace, there wasn’t much demand for hand sanitizer. In fact, it took five years before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended alcohol-based hand sanitizers when soap and water weren’t readily available and 12 years before the World Health Organization followed suit.
Health authority suggestions aside, everyday consumers have become poignantly aware of the value of hand sanitizers owing to a steady stream of viral outbreaks across the last couple decades. These include SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2002, H1NI swine flu in 2009 and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) in 2012.
Fast-forward to December 2019 in Wuhan, China and there is the genesis of the latest coronavirus strain now known as Covid-19. In just three months, there are more than 700,000 diagnosed cases of Covid-19 worldwide accounting for over 32,000 deaths.
Governments across the planet have taken unprecedented actions to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, issuing “shelter-in-place” orders and shutting down anything that commands groups of people (schools, businesses, parks, sporting events, concerts, churches, etc.). Yet, new cases of the resilient virus crop up every day, now in nearly 200 countries, with no definitive end in sight yet.
One of the CDC suggestions to avoid getting sick or transmitting Covid-19: “Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.”
Armed with the knowledge of the seriousness of Covid-19 and the importance of simple disinfectants in killing pathogens, a global run on hand sanitizers has left physical and digital shelves barren everywhere from local bodegas to grocery behemoths like Kroger (NYSE: KR) to pharmacy giant CVS (NYSE: CVS) and online juggernaut Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Companies have gotten creative, with the likes of water technology and spirits makers brute forcing production lines into hand sanitizer production systems to try and supplement income lost with business closures.
Empty Supply Chain
“Demand certainly is not the issue today, supply is, and anyone that can get a quality hand sanitizer approved and available to the public should not have an issue moving product in this crisis environment,” said Penny White, CEO of The Yield Growth Corp. (CSE: BOSS)(OTCQB: BOSQF) in a phone conversation on the subject.
Fior Markets data points to the market opportunity, showing the hand sanitizer market is expected to reach US$2.14 billion by 2027. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a spike of 1,400% in hand sanitizer demand from December 2019 to February 2020.
To that point, companies and health authorities are moving in concert and with a purpose to get new products approved and out to market to combat the disease. Yield Growth, whose expertise is in plant-based therapeutics and marketing, received approval from Health Canada for its Urban Juve Hand Sanitizer Liquid only about one week after application submission, demonstrating the agency’s desire to expeditiously vet products to fill a huge unmet medical need today.
New Urban Juve Hand Sanitizer Will Be Available Soon
With the green light from Health Canada, Yield Growth expects to complete manufacturing of its first run of the Urban Juve Hand Sanitizer perhaps in as little as 30 days. All the packaging and raw materials have already been procured for the inaugural production run. The spray consists of 65% alcohol, in line with Health Canada guidelines, with a blend of peppermint, lavender and orange peel oils.
With any hand sanitizer of high alcohol content (necessary to kill pathogens), frequent use as advised can result in dry skin. To maintain proper skin health, Urban Juve also has a line of moisturizing creams and oils to offset the effects of the alcohol.
A second Urban Juve product, a gel, is in development as part of a broader hand sanitizer line. Management expects to soon be filing an application with Health Canada for the gel, with applications to the FDA in the U.S. to follow.
This is About Humanity
White said that she is heartened by the government cracking down hard on price gouging, companies like Amazon pulling in-demand products that are being sold at many multiples of what is typical and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) yanking ads that support predatory sales behavior.
“Business is business, but this is about humanity too and those price gouging deserve the full weight of the judicial system,” said White. “The absolute best way to come out the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic is through a unified effort. I think we are seeing that on many fronts across the complete spectrum of people, businesses and regulatory bodies. It feels good to see a crisis bringing out the best in many people.”
“Life is an exciting business, and all the more so when it is lived helping others,” the company said in a press release on Tuesday.
In that lane, Yield Growth intends to donate a portion of the Urban Juve hand sanitizers it manufactures to workers on the front line of the pandemic. So far, the company has stepped up and delivered hundreds of of its self-care products to front line workers at senior centers.
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