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One of the most popular brands of hygiene products in Europe, North America and the countries of the former CIS is, of course, a company known to the general consumer as Colgate. Its full current name is the Colgate-Palmolive Company, which it has been wearing since 1953. The history of the company’s development is a story of marketing success and the development of mass production from one modest shop, opened more than 2 centuries ago.
Brand history: how the world saw Colgate products
It all started in 1806 in the USA. Then the American dentist William Colgate opened a small shop in the Manhattan area, New York. The assortment of the store included some hygiene products, starch, candles. William’s first business partner was Francis Smith, so the two young businessmen named their brainchild “Smith and Colgate”.
The first difficulties associated with doing business contributed to the fact that the partner quickly retreated, leaving Colgate alone with all the financial difficulties. However, not for long – soon his brother-in-law, John Gilbert, joined William, and the company was named William Colgate and Company.
Literally 10 years was enough for the businessmen to put their affairs in order and open their first own starch production in Jersey City. The plant mainly produced granular starch and toilet soap.
In the 50s of the 19th century, the development of toothpaste began in the form that the modern consumer is accustomed to – it was at this time that the idea of releasing the product in tubes was first proposed, which at that time were more associated with artistic paints. Unfortunately, the founder of the Colgate brand did not live to see the world when the finalized tubes of pasta saw the world – he died in 1857. However, his business lived – the company worked on expanding the range, and his son Semuel stood at the helm.
Flavored essences, perfumes, and toilet soaps produced by the company begin to go on sale. In 1972, Colgate registered a new brand name for Cashmere Bouquet toilet soap.
In 1873, the first flavored toothpaste in tubes appeared – the idea belonged to the American dentist Sheffield, and Colgate, in turn, became interested in the idea of u1886buXNUMXbmass production of such a product, since Sheffield’s idea looked very promising. Against the background of commonly used tooth powders, which erase enamel with constant use, the toothpaste was more gentle. Initially, Colgate produced toothpaste in small glass jars. Colgate toothpaste in tubes was introduced in XNUMX. It was the Colgate Company that first filed a patent for the production of toothpaste in such a package. By its centenary, the company was at the peak of popularity and success around the world.
In 1908, Colgate is registered as a joint-stock company, the shares of which are distributed among the five sons of Samuel Colgate. In addition to technical and production changes and innovations, the company paid a lot of attention to marketing and advertising. So, for example, in 1911, the brand distributes about 2 million tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes in educational institutions for children, provides hygienists to demonstrate proper brushing.
1914 – that’s when the company opens its first subsidiary in Canada, gradually spreading to the entire continent. Since the beginning of the 20s, production facilities have been opened in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia.
By the end of the 20s of the 20th century, the Colgate brand decides to merge with Palmolive, founded in 1864. Palmolive soap, like peeled scented toilet soap, could compete with Colgate products in demand, which is probably why the merger of the two giants was justified.
Since 1928, the company has been reformed into the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet brand. This move was clearly successful, and allowed the company to become the largest in the industry, to enter the international level. Representations and branches opened in Italy, Great Britain, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, France.
Since 1947, the history of the company’s development has taken a new turn, and Colgate launch two legendary products – Ajax cleaning agent and Fab washing powder. And to this day, these products are in the top of sales in the Western market. At the same time, Palmolive dishwashing detergent appeared.
The 50s were devoted to working on the brand’s toothpaste, to improve its cleaning and healing properties. In 1956, the company’s headquarters moved to Park Avenue in New York – before that, it had been based in Jersey City for quite a long time.
Later, in 1976, Colgate-Palmolive-Peet became interested in the pet food business and it was time to think about a new expansion. As a result, the brand merged with Hill’s Pet Products, which has become known to the mass consumer since 1939. This is how Colgate got into pet products.
1983 is the year of the legendary Colgate Plus toothbrush.
Since the 90s, the company has been actively expanding, covering more areas, buying more brands – Mennen deodorants and antiperspirants, Javex bleach, Murphy Oil Soap wood finish. During this period, the brand moved into the Chinese and Eastern European markets. Since 1994, the company has been opening factories for the production of mouth rinses.
To this day, the Colgate-Palmolive Company is a huge corporation that provides many areas of consumer life with its product.
The range of the company presented on the world market
The list of goods produced by the brand can be divided into three main groups:
- oral care products;
- personal care products;
- products for animals.
Products for maintaining the cleanliness and health of the oral cavity are produced for both children and adults. Among them:
- toothbrushes of various types (mechanical, battery-powered, electric brushes, as well as having a variety of innovative bristles – with silk threads, charcoal for polishing and cleaning, with polishing cups for the tongue and cheeks, with natural extracts in the bristle material);
- strengthening toothpastes designed to combat various problems of the oral cavity: caries, bad breath, plaque, yellowness of enamel, gum disease;
- mouth rinses: therapeutic, refreshing, with firming and medicinal components in the composition, as well as whitening products to eliminate yellowness and plaque;
- aids intended for the care of teeth and gums: dental floss, tapes, mini-brushes for cleaning the space between the teeth.
From products for body care, hygiene and home cleanliness, Colgate-Palmolive Company offers the buyer:
- bath foam;
- shampoos;
- soap;
- shower gels;
- shaving products;
- deodorants and antiperspirants;
- washing powders;
- cleaners.
As a manufacturer of pet products, the Colgate-Palmolive Company produces a variety of pet food lines, including:
- diet food Prescription Diet;
- everyday balanced feed Science Plan;
- feed Ideal balance.
In addition, in 2017 news spread throughout the business world that the Colgate-Palmolive Company was set to acquire professional skin care companies PCA and EltaMD. Probably, the Colgate brand also expects to cover the cosmetic niche of the market.
Colgate Manufacturing Features
Today, the brand is actively expanding and buying up medium, small, and even fairly large companies in the production of hygiene products, soaps, powders, various household goods, skin care products, and already owns an impressive list of brands, including:
- Ajax;
- Chlorix;
- Hill’s Science Diet;
- Colgate Professional;
- Arosaana;
- Smile;
- Kolynos;
- Speed Stick;
- Lady Speed Stick;
- Palmolive Basics.
Annual sales volumes are measured in billions of dollars and have a stable upward trend. Naturally, to serve such a transnational “organism”, its needs, as well as the needs of a huge number of consumers, enormous volumes of production capacities are needed, as well as a developed network infrastructure of the most modern type.
IBM, today, is a strategic partner of Colgate, supplies the corporation with the entire network infrastructure, including servers, data collection and storage devices, personal computers and software for them, and also provides their maintenance. The full brand transition to IBM systems has already helped to increase the productivity of production facilities, reduce operating costs, and make production systems more reliable.
IBM is responsible, among other things, for the supply of equipment for business applications of the form, as well as for the SAP resource planning system. The migration to IBM servers based on the UNIX operating system, and to the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server database server, Tivoli business management system, is ongoing.
Colgate has sales offices in more than 200 countries, covering almost all continents, including Africa. Plants and factories are located in most countries of the planet. At the same time, the brand prefers high-quality raw materials for production, purchased from around the world.
Since 2011, Colgate-Palmolive has been a co-founder of the AMERIPEN organization, which regulates the relationship between the production of packaging for various consumer goods and the environmental situation in the world.
How is product quality controlled?
Colgate-Palmolive, like all large corporations in a highly competitive market, provides a multi-stage quality control system for products. After all, if the goods being sold do not meet the highest requirements and standards, the buyer will go to another manufacturer, fortunately, there is a choice on the market.
First of all, all factories are equipped with automated process control systems built into production lines. Any deviations from the intended characteristics of the final product are detected automatically, about which the system issues signals to correct certain parameters.
All stages and stages of the process are subject to control, from the initial processing of raw materials to the final packaging of the goods. All components and substances used in the process, the technological processes themselves, microbiological indicators of goods, and the quality of packaging are subject to verification.
Responsibility for quality control lies with the production facilities themselves – for this, their staff provides for the positions of engineers and technologists for product quality control.
To check, accept or reject raw materials, the corporation employs special laboratories that conduct chemical analyzes to determine whether the characteristics of raw materials meet quality requirements.
A lot of attention is paid to the built-in process control systems in production – it depends on them how accurately the technology for creating a particular product will be observed.
For each of the processes, specialists have identified the so-called critical points, for each of which specific control systems are provided. The supply of ingredients in the process is strictly automated and is also controlled at all stages.
In addition, the control process involves checking the following characteristics of the finished product:
- appearance;
- masses; consistency;
- chemical properties;
- human safety;
- technological standards of packaging;
- expiration date limits;
- reactions to environmental factors (temperature, light).
Of course, quality control does not end after the product is released from the assembly line. Trade missions and their employees around the world accompany the goods during transportation, and up to getting it to the stores on the shelves.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) marked the company’s products with its certificates:
- в 1999 году: ISO 9002: 1994 Certification of Tooth Paste Plant;
- in 2004: ISO 9001: 2000 Certification of Sulfurex Plant;
- in 2009: ISO 9001: 2000 Certification of Soap Plant;
- in 2012: ISO 9001: 2008 Certification of Detergent Plant;
- в 2014 году: ISO 9001: 2008 Re-certification of Tooth Paste, Soap & Sulphurex Plants.
In addition, in 2015, Colgate toothpastes were awarded the HALAAL Certification Tooth Paste Plant.
In 2007, a batch of Colgate Propolis toothpaste containing mercury was found on the territory of the Russian Federation. The batch was made by a factory in China. At that time, all the goods were seized by the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation for inspection and study.
It should be noted that, according to some sources, Colgate products are tested on animals.
Global fame, collaborations and brand awards
The Colgate brand today is a transnational corporation whose products are known and bought by residents of more than 200 countries around the world. Since about the end of the 20th century, the company has become a world leader in the production of hygiene products, oral care products. An analysis of the sales rating of this company’s goods suggests that Colgate can rightfully be called the No. 1 manufacturer in terms of popularity and demand.
During 2016, the corporation’s annual profit almost doubled, and amounted to 2,441 billion US dollars. However, the net profit of the parent company as of the end of 2017 decreased slightly to approximately $2,024 billion. The CEO of the brand attributed this fact to the instability of world markets, as well as the problems of global growth in this sector of goods.
Known partners of the company are such firms, corporations and organizations:
- Henry Schein;
- WomenHeart: women’s heart disease organization;
- EquipNet;
- Camurus: Swedish biotech company;
- DEXIS;
- Givaudan;
- Introgen Therapeutics;
- PAHO;
- Aetna;
- SMARTWork.
In addition, Colgate-Palmolive entered into a partnership agreement with Omron Healthcare in 2012. The Omron Healthcare brand is considered one of the leading manufacturers of products for the treatment and prevention of diseases at home. Their agreement includes provisions for the development and marketing of new oral care products, including electric toothbrushes.
The quality and popularity of products, as well as the values of the brand, its activities and social programs have been repeatedly recognized by international organizations and have received various awards. For example, since 2012, the company has been awarded more than 50 different awards, including for 2012:
- Corporate Responsebility Magazine: 100 Best Corporate Citizens;
- DiversityInc: Top 50 companies for Diversity;
- Energy Star: Partner of the year;
- Gartner: The Gartner Top 25 global supply chain.
In 2013, the brand received the following awards:
- Forbs: 25 best companies for work life balance;
- Interbrand: Best global green brands;
- Fortune Magazine: Fortune 500 companies;
- Working mother Magazine: World’s most admired companies.
2014 year:
- Working mother Magazine: 100 best companies Working mothers;
- Business insider: Best employers in America;
- Aon Hewitt: Top companies for leaders.
2015 year:
- Interbrand: Best 100 global brands;
- Human rights campaign: Corporate Equaluty Index;
- CDP: CDP water list;
- Newsweek Magazine: Green ranking;
- U.S. EPA: Annual report.
2016 year:
- Diversity business: Top 50 organisations for multicultural business;
- Newsweek Magazine: Green ranking;
- Forbes: America’s most just companies;
- Forbes: World’s most reputable companies;
- CDP: 2016 CDP water a list.
2017 year:
- Corporate Knights: Global 100 most sustainable corporations;
- Fortune magazine: World’s most admired companies;
- Nafe: Top companies for executive women.
Colgate is not only a manufacturer of hygiene products and pet products. The brand positions itself as a world leader in the development of care technologies, primarily for the oral cavity. Therefore, the company’s products must not only meet the diverse tastes of customers, but also meet dental and other medical requirements.
The company is engaged in the introduction of innovative technologies, combining the latest scientific achievements. More than 400 scientists around the world are engaged in research and development in scientific laboratories and technology centers around the world. Teams of scientists consist of chemists, biologists, dentists, clinicians.
Thanks to Colgate research, the global community has been able to appreciate the latest technologies in the field of oral hygiene. The discovery of copolymer technology has been realized in toothpastes that provide the most effective level of plaque control. These products help reduce bleeding and inflammation of the gums. The use of Pro-Argin technology helps to reduce tooth sensitivity. Colgate was the first to develop toothbrush models with bristles of different lengths, due to which the product is able to most effectively remove dirt and plaque.
In addition, the company founded several international programs – “Bright Smiles, Bright Futures”, “Oral Health Month”, “Palmolive Clean Hands, Good Health”. All of them are aimed at disseminating information about the observance of oral and body hygiene, and, in fact, the brand’s products themselves. American, more local community programs Colgate – Colgate Women’s Games, Give Kids a Smile, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Start with A Smile – Black History Month promotion with Children’s Health Fund. In its activities, in such programs, the company supports the younger generation by investing in their education in the field of oral hygiene.
Where can you buy branded products?
Pharmacy WER.RU
Colgate products are partially represented in the assortment of the WER.RU pharmacy. The resource offers a choice of toothpastes and gels for different types of oral problems (for sensitive and bleeding gums, against plaque and bad breath), refreshing and healing mouth rinses, interdental brushes for thorough cleaning of the space between teeth, toothbrushes and dental floss. There are products for adults and children.
ZDRAVZONA pharmacy
In ZdravZone, the Colgate brand is represented by a wide variety of mouthwashes: Plax, TotalPro, as well as toothpastes of the Sensitive, Optic white, Total and Total Pro series, dental tapes and floss for thorough cleaning of teeth. interdental brushes. There is a variety of children’s and adult toothbrushes available, including massagers, with charcoal, with silk threads.
Pharmacy 911
In Pharmacy 911 you can buy dental floss with a whitening effect, toothpastes of various series, classic type toothbrushes, as well as soft brushes for sensitive teeth, brushes of medium hardness, and brushes with hard bristles for the most thorough cleaning. Children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste are also available. In addition, the assortment also includes mouthwashes of the Plax series.
Colgate is a transnational “organism” with a long history of development. Over the two centuries of its existence, it has experienced ups and downs, but over the past 50-60 years it has consistently been one of the leaders in its niche, producing a huge variety of goods for mass consumption.