CESAR VARGAS-RAZO

Sagentia Innovation, Cambridge, United Kingdom

What’s happening in hygiene?

In mid-2021 when the US Centers for Disease Control and other health authorities declared that COVID-19 transmission is predominantly airborne (not via contaminated surfaces) sales of traditional cleaning products should have normalised, but it is important to notice that they didn’t. Growth did eventually ease in 2022 when the cost-of-living crisis and the repercussions of war in Europe diverted consumers’ attention away from the pandemic. However, market growth remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, and this can be explained by the fact that many health authorities and commentators have predicted that COVID-19 and other communicable diseases will persist as a key concern for some time (2). This “concern” applies to consumers wanting to protect themselves and their families at home and on-the-go, and to the owners and managers of venues who need to ensure that people feel safe and protected in commercial or public spaces.

So, where should the R&D and innovation teams of hygiene product companies focus their efforts to take advantage of this opportunity? It is important to be mindful of end users’ changing expectations and requirements, especially at a time when premium branded products could be overlooked for cheaper alternatives. Consumers and commercial buyers alike need to be persuaded that branded products represent superior value. The time is right to build on the notion of ‘clean equals safe’ with products that offer broader benefits and differentiators.

The undesirable nature of the cleaning chore

There’s no escaping the fact that cleaning is a grudge activity. In the home environment, a superior hygiene experience is one that is simple, fast, and required as infrequently as possible. It’s a similar story in commercial or public settings where cleaning is a resource intensive and expensive process (3).

Hygiene product manufacturers have long understood this sentiment. However, today it goes hand-in-hand with a heightened desire to ensure cleaning is effective. People want maximum safety and protection, for minimal time and effort. New products that reduce the burden of cleaning while providing maximum efficacy are set to strike a chord with consumers and facilities managers alike. The best of these solutions will combine time-efficiency with cost-efficiency without compromising efficacy (i.e. overall conveniency) to present an offering that is hard to resist (4).

Developing ‘just enough’ and ‘just in time’ approaches to guide how and when cleaning products are used can address all these goals. One way of achieving this is through use of technologies that indicate when a surface requires cleaning. Automation can take this further, either providing alerts to eradicate the need for routine hygiene checks or enabling some aspects of cleaning to happen without the need for human intervention.

Technical solutions in this vein avoid unnecessary cleaning and reduce wastage without compromising hygiene standards. Clean areas can be left alone while dirty areas receive the attention they need. This allows the window of time between cleans to be managed responsively and intelligently rather than via routine-led approaches.

In commercial and public environments cleaners and facilities managers might undergo dedicated training in the use of technologies to enable smarter cleaning strategies. However, for consumer products the emphasis must be on ease of use. It’s no good halving the time spent cleaning if it takes just as long to figure out whether an area is dirty. So, while there is scope for complex dashboard solutions in commercial settings, a simple red/green indicator is more useful for consumers at home.

The need for proof of claims

Solutions that assess whether cleaning is required can play a dual role, also offering reassurance that a target area or item is clean. This aligns with the core ‘safe and protected’ requirement for cleaning in the home and public or commercial spaces.

As highlighted in a recent HBR article (5), a 2021 survey of 1,000 consumers showed that while more than 80% consider trust important when deciding what product to buy, only 34% trust the bands they use. One can argue that this statistic changes depending on age or other socioeconomic factors, but there is no denying that trust is in short supply.

Traditional reason-to-believe statements such as ‘scientifically proven’ or ‘contains unique technologies’ remain powerful with some, but not with everyone. Substantiating such statements with robust laboratory or consumer trials and referencing the results on the product can take things one step further. If these trials achieve standards that satisfy regulatory requirements, results should have the power to counter most buyers’ scepticism.

The need to prove claims doesn’t apply to product efficacy alone. Products must also consider the ‘just enough’ and ‘just in time’ ethos mentioned above. Understanding how often cleaning should happen to achieve the optimum level of hygiene, using the minimum amount of chemicals in formulations, will enable avoidance of overuse and overexposure.

Similarly, we are likely to see a shift away from the phenomenon of products which claim to be 99.99% effective against bacteria. Regulators’ activity will have a role to play here as steps are taken to mitigate the risk of increased bacterial resistance to antimicrobials, which is partly driven by the unnecessary overuse of medical-grade antimicrobial agents. In many applications, lower levels of efficacy are perfectly adequate, but there may be a need to educate product buyers on this matter. There are opportunities for brands to take a leadership stance here, changing the emphasis of product positioning and claims before it is mandated.

Devices will also be part of this shift, either complementing or replacing the use of chemical formulations. Sensor technology is poised to be a critical enabler in this space, alongside more sophisticated techniques such as spectroscopy. An early example is the Dyson V15 Detect vacuum, which uses a piezoelectric sensor to count and measure the size of dust particles so that suction power can be adapted accordingly. The device also incorporates a visual display summarising the quantity and size of particles collected, down to 10µm. Highlighting the product’s ability to clean beyond what can be seen with the naked eye offers enhanced proof of the cleaning claims, especially by focusing on particles such as pollen which may trigger allergies and asthma. We anticipate a great deal of innovation in this arena. The ability to convey effectiveness in a way that resonates and is easily understood will be key, especially for in-home consumer applications.

The importance of transparency

Closely related to the desire for trust in claims is the need for greater transparency. For many users this encompasses factors such as chemical use and the potential impact on humans and the environment.

Many users are already conscious of the environmental effects of hygiene products at point of use or point of disposal, in terms of chemicals rinsed down the drain, product packaging, or devices that have reached end of life. Increasingly, users also want to know more about sourcing and manufacture, asking questions like ‘is this product sustainable?’ or ‘does it include petrochemicals?’.

There’s an appetite for more natural active ingredients or alternative approaches to cleaning that are just as effective but pose less risk of harm to the environment. And yet, alternative and natural sources of chemicals are under the spotlight too. Ingredients derived from crops such as palm oil or soybeans present their own challenges, from loss of habitat for wildlife or the depletion of land used for local food production. These are complex issues, and a brand seeking to do the right thing could easily find itself doing more harm than good, possibly leading to a public backlash. It’s so important that innovation is underpinned by due diligence and reflects a detailed understanding of the intricacies involved.

Circular economy and alternative strategies provide a rich source of innovation. Veles in the US has successfully isolated organic compounds and water from food waste to make chemicals and ingredients for use in an all-purpose cleaner. Amyris also offers chemicals and products for personal hygiene sourced from biotechnology. Investigating alternatives to ‘harmful’ chemicals or new ways to source scarce ingredients might reveal interesting ways to improve on traditional cleaning products.

Embracing these challenges and turning them into opportunities requires a different way of thinking about product development. Importantly, this can be facilitated through the adaptation of existing processes and procedures, it doesn’t necessarily require new ones. For instance, traditional design thinking parameters which ensure a product is ‘desirable, viable, feasible’ can be extended to encourage a broader frame of reference: ‘desirable & inclusive, viable & sustainable, feasible & trustworthy’.

The drivers outlined in this article offer new perspectives for innovation in traditional hygiene sub-categories such as laundry care and hard surface cleaning, and even personal ‘care/cleaning’. There are many opportunities to improve and reposition products for greater appeal to consumers and / or commercial users.

As sales in the hygiene category continue to grow, players which extend and enrich their portfolios with consumer and/or user priorities in mind are set to thrive.

At Sagentia Innovation, we have found that a combination of technical expertise, keen awareness of the market opportunity and a willingness to form strategic partnerships allows us to illuminate the path towards innovative technical solutions that consider and improve the consumer/user experience, ensure confidence in the claims made and carefully steer away from potential risks to users and the environment.