Church & Dwight

Last updated
Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
Company type Public
Industry
  • Dental
  • Medical
Founded
  • 1847: as John Dwight and Company
  • 1896: as Church & Dwight, Co.
Founders John Dwight
Austin Church
Headquarters,
U.S.
Key people
Matthew T. Farrell (CEO)
Products
Revenue US$5.4 billion (2022) [1]
Number of employees
5,100 [2]  (2023)
Divisions
Website churchdwight.com
Footnotes /references
[3]

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is an American consumer goods company focusing on personal care, household products, and specialty products. The company was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey. It is the parent company of well-known brands such as Arm & Hammer, Trojan, OxiClean, and First Response. In 2022, Church & Dwight reported annual revenue of $5.4 billion. The company's products and services include a wide range of consumer goods, including laundry detergent, air fresheners, baking soda, condoms, pregnancy tests, and oral hygiene products.

Contents

History

The company was founded in 1847 to unify two companies created by John Dwight of Massachusetts and his brother-in-law, Austin Church of Connecticut. Their partnership had begun in 1846 with the two founders selling sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda) that they refined in Dwight's kitchen. [4]

The Arm & Hammer name and logo, which dates back to the 1860s, [5] is often incorrectly claimed to have originated with tycoon Armand Hammer. Hammer was so often asked about the Church & Dwight brand that he attempted to buy the company. While this attempt was unsuccessful, Hammer's Occidental Petroleum in 1986 acquired enough stock for him to join the Church & Dwight board of directors until he died in 1990. [6]

In 1970, the Arm & Hammer brand introduced the market's first nationally distributed, phosphate-free detergent: Arm & Hammer Powder Laundry Detergent. [4]

2000s

In 2001, Church & Dwight acquired the consumer product line of Carter-Wallace, and MedPointe bought the diagnostics and drug businesses. [7] The same year, Church & Dwight expanded its business into laundry detergent products by acquiring small detergent company USA Detergents, the original owner of Xtra detergent. [8]

In 2003, Church & Dwight bought the U.S. and Canadian rights to Unilever's oral health business, which includes Pepsodent, Mentadent, Close-Up, and Aim. Unilever still owns the brands outside of North America. [8] [9]

In 2006, Church & Dwight expanded its household brand portfolio with the acquisition of Denver-based Orange Glo International, which included such brands as OxiClean in the laundry pre-wash additive category, Kaboom bathroom cleaners, and Orange Glo household cleaning products. [10]

In 2008, Church & Dwight acquired the Orajel business from Del Labs, including pain relievers for toothache, mouth sore, teething, and non-fluoride toothpaste. [8]

2010s

Church & Dwight was ranked 723 in the Fortune 500 listing of companies in 2010. The same year, Church & Dwight acquired Simply Saline and Feline Pine. [11]

In 2016, Church & Dwight acquired Spencer Forrest, Inc., the maker of Toppik hair care products. [12]

In 2017, MidOcean Partners agreed to sell Water Pik to Church & Dwight for $1 billion. At the time of the sale announcement, it was reported that Water Pik had "$265 million of revenue in the fiscal year ended June 30, about 70% of which came from its water flosser products". [13]

Notable brands

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arm & Hammer</span> Brand of baking soda products

Arm & Hammer is a brand of baking soda-based consumer products marketed by Church & Dwight, a major American manufacturer of household products. The logo of the brand depicts the ancient symbol of a muscular arm holding a hammer inside a red circle with the brand name and slogan. Originally associated solely with baking soda and washing soda, the company began to expand the brand to other products in the 1970s by using baking soda as a deodorizing ingredient. The new products included toothpaste, laundry detergent, underarm deodorant, and cat litter.

Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor that is derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights to the brand in the North American market to Church & Dwight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persil</span> German brand of laundry detergent

Persil is a German brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Henkel around the world except in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Latin America, China, Australia and New Zealand, where it is manufactured and marketed by Unilever. Persil was introduced in 1907 by Henkel. It was the first commercially available laundry detergent that combined bleach with the detergent. The name was derived from two of its original ingredients, sodium perborate and sodium silicate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OxiClean</span> American brand of household cleaners

OxiClean is an American brand of household cleaners, including OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover, which is a laundry additive, spot stain remover, and household cleaner marketed by Church & Dwight. It was formerly owned by Orange Glo International from its introduction in 1997 until it was acquired in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunlight (cleaning product)</span> Brand of laundry soap and detergent

Sunlight is a brand of laundry soap, laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent manufactured and marketed around the world by Unilever, except in the United States and Canada, where it has been owned by Sun Products since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snuggle</span> Brand of fabric softener

Snuggle is a brand of fabric softener sold by Henkel North American Consumer Goods in the United States and Canada. The brand was introduced in 1983 by Unilever. The product is available in sheets or liquid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henkel</span> German consumer goods company

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organized into two globally operating business units and is known for brands such as Loctite, Persil, Fa, Pritt, Dial and Purex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henkel North American Consumer Goods</span> American company

Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufacturer of personal care and household cleaning products and is a subsidiary of multinational company Henkel AG & Co. KGaA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mentadent</span> Toothpaste brand of Unilever

Mentadent is a brand name for a line of dental products manufactured by Unilever for its home and international markets excluding the United States and Canada where the company sold its rights to the brand to Church & Dwight Company in 2003.

Lilleborg AS is a major hygiene and cleaning article company in Norway, owned by the Orkla Group. It was established in 1833, and was one of the first companies in Norway to start manufacturing brand name products. It currently operates three factories in Norway, and employs a total working staff of 595.

Unilever Pakistan Limited, formerly Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited, is a Pakistani fast-moving consumer goods company based in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of the British multinational company Unilever.

Wisk was an American brand of laundry detergent manufactured in the United States by Unilever and Sun Products.

The Sun Products Corporation was a United States-based manufacturer of laundry detergent, fabric softeners, and other household cleaning products. With annual sales of $2.0 billion, the company's brands included All, Wisk (discontinued), Snuggle, Sun, Surf, and Sunlight. Sun Products holds the second largest market share in the $10 billion North American fabric care market as of 2010. In addition, Sun Products was the manufacturing partner for many retailer brand laundry and dish products in North America.

Fantastik is an American trademarked brand of cleaning products produced by S. C. Johnson & Son. The company acquired Fantastik as part of a package of products acquired in 1998. These products include: Antibacterial Heavy Duty, Bleach, Antibacterial Lemon Power, Orange Action, Oxy Power, Orange Action Wipes, and Multi-Surface Wipes.

Carter-Wallace was a personal care company headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of Carter Products and Wallace Laboratories. The company had a research facility in Cranbury, New Jersey.

Unilever Philippines, Inc. is the Philippine subsidiary of British multinational consumer goods company Unilever. It is based in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig since 2016. It is a manufacturer of laundry detergents and soaps, shampoos and hair conditioners, toothpastes, deodorants, skin care products, household cleaners, and toilet soaps with an annual sales of over 40 billion pesos. It employs over 1,000 people nationally. It is the largest polluter in the Philippines.

Austin Church (January 8, 1799 – August 7, 1879) was an American medical doctor and a pioneer of bicarbonate of soda manufacturing. He was a co-founder of the company that first developed the product in America from chemical compound salts. His company was the first to use the Arm & Hammer trademark to sell the product as a baking soda. He was a businessman involved with merchandising the soda product in a variety of uses from cooking and cleaning ingredients to health product supplements. As a philanthropist Church was involved with charities across the United States.

References

  1. "Profile: Church & Dwight", NASDAQ
  2. "Employees". churchdwight.com. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  3. "CHURCH & DWIGHT CO., INC". Church & Dwight Co., Inc. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-12-15. Annual report which provides a comprehensive overview of the company for the past year.
  4. 1 2 "History". churchdwight.com. Church & Dwight.
  5. "History of Product Names & Trademarks: Arm & Hammer Baking Soda". trivia-library.com. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  6. Adams, Cecil (May 21, 1982). "Did tycoon Armand Hammer have anything to do with Arm & Hammer baking soda?". The Straight Dope . Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  7. "Carter-Wallace's brands will be sold to 2 different companies for a total of $1.12 billion". Los Angeles Times . May 9, 2001. Retrieved 2011-09-26. Carter-Wallace, ending a yearlong process to find buyers for its many brands, will split its consumer brands—including Trojan condoms and Arrid deodorant—from its health business, after failing to attract a better offer for the entire company. For Church & Dwight, which owns the Arm & Hammer baking soda product line, the purchase of Carter-Wallace's deodorant and pet-care lines will help the firm expand internationally, it said. A 50–50 venture Church has formed with Kelso and will take the other consumer lines. MedPointe will get Carter-Wallace's diagnostics and drug businesses, which make the allergy medicine Astelin, the muscle relaxant Soma, and Rynatan/Tussi cough and cold products. ...[ dead link ]
  8. 1 2 3 Caplan, Harrison (2017-10-31). "Keys to Success: Church and Dwight Have Them". Seeking Alpha . Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  9. Food Business Mergers & Acquisitions: 2003. The Food Institute. 2003. p.  19 . Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  10. Moore, Paula (2004-05-02). "OxiClean breathes new life into cleaning line". Denver Business Journal . American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  11. "Fortune 500 listings". CNNMoney. 2010.
  12. Wischhover, Cheryl (2018-12-17). "How spray-on hair does (and doesn't) work". Vox . Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  13. Vasquez, Justina (July 17, 2017). "Church & Dwight to Buy Water Pik for $1 Billion" . Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 17 July 2017.

Further reading