Church & Dwight Co., Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets a broad range of consumer household and personal care products and specialty products focused on animal and food production, chemicals and cleaners.
The company’s well-recognized brands include ARM & HAMMER baking soda, cat litter, laundry detergent, carpet deodorizer and other baking soda-based products; OXICLEAN stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents and bleach alternatives; VITAFUSION and L’IL CRITTERS gummy dietar...
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets a broad range of consumer household and personal care products and specialty products focused on animal and food production, chemicals and cleaners.
The company’s well-recognized brands include ARM & HAMMER baking soda, cat litter, laundry detergent, carpet deodorizer and other baking soda-based products; OXICLEAN stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents and bleach alternatives; VITAFUSION and L’IL CRITTERS gummy dietary supplements for adults and children, respectively; BATISTE dry shampoo; WATERPIK water flossers and showerheads; THERABREATH oral care products; HERO acne treatment products; TROJAN condoms, lubricants and vibrators; SPINBRUSH battery-operated toothbrushes; FIRST RESPONSE home pregnancy and ovulation test kits; NAIR depilatories; ORAJEL oral analgesic; XTRA laundry detergent; and ZICAM cold shortening and relief products. Seven of those brands are designated as power brands. Those seven brands are ARM & HAMMER; OXICLEAN; VITAFUSION and L’IL CRITTERS; BATISTE; WATERPIK; THERABREATH; and HERO and represent approximately 70% of the company’s net sales and profits.
The company sells its consumer products under a variety of brands through a broad distribution platform that includes supermarkets, mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs, drugstores, convenience stores, home stores, dollar and other discount stores, pet and other specialty stores and websites and other e-commerce channels, all of which sell the company’s products to consumers. The company sells its specialty products to industrial customers, livestock producers, and through distributors.
Segments
The company operates in three principal segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division (‘SPD’).
Consumer Domestic segment
This segment specializes in baking soda-based products, as well as other products, which use the same raw materials or technology and which are sold across multiple consumer and professional use categories. The company’s Consumer Domestic segment includes each of its seven power brands, as well as other well-known brands and household and personal care products. The company divides the Consumer Domestic segment into household and personal care product groups.
Household Products
In 2024, household products constituted approximately 55% of the company’s Consumer Domestic sales and approximately 42% of the company’s consolidated net sales.
The company’s primary household products include laundry detergents marketed under the ARM & HAMMER, OXICLEAN, and XTRA brands; fabric softener sheets marketed under the ARM & HAMMER brand; cat litter under the company’s ARM & HAMMER brand; and household cleaning products under the CLEAN SHOWER, ORANGE GLO, and OXICLEAN brands. The company’s laundry detergents constitute its largest consumer business, measured by net sales.
ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda remains the number one leading brand of baking soda in terms of consumer recognition of the brand name and reputation for quality and value. The cleaning and deodorizing properties of baking soda have led to the development of numerous baking soda-based household products. For example, the company markets ARM & HAMMER FRIDGE FRESH, a refrigerator deodorizer equipped with a baking soda filter to help keep food tasting fresher, and ARM & HAMMER Carpet Deodorizer.
Personal Care Products
In 2024, personal care products constituted approximately 45% of the company’s Consumer Domestic sales and approximately 35% of the company’s consolidated net sales.
The company’s personal care business was founded on the unique strengths of its ARM & HAMMER trademark and baking soda technology. The company has expanded its personal care business through the acquisition of antiperspirants, oral care products, including mouthwash, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, cold shortening and relief, acne treatment, and dietary supplements under a variety of other leading brand names.
ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda, when used as a dentifrice, helps whiten and polish teeth, removes plaque and leaves the mouth feeling fresh and clean. These properties led to the development of a complete line of sodium bicarbonate-based dentifrice products that are marketed and sold nationally primarily under the ARM & HAMMER brand name. The company’s other personal care products include antiperspirants and deodorants under the ARRID and ARM & HAMMER brands, battery-operated toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand, condoms under the TROJAN brand, water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand, home pregnancy test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand, hair-removal products under the NAIR brand, oral analgesics and oral care products under the ORAJEL brand, children’s gummy dietary supplements under the L’IL CRITTERS brand and adult gummy dietary supplements under the VITAFUSION brand, cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand, a growing number of dry shampoo products under the BATISTE brand, VIVISCAL, TOPPIK hair fiber brands, oral care products under the THERABREATH brand, nasal saline moisturizers and solutions under the SIMPLY SALINE brand, and the HERO acne treatment products brands.
Consumer International segment
This segment markets a variety of personal care, household, and over-the-counter products in international subsidiary markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, China, and the United Kingdom. The company also exports to over 130 markets around the world, including China and Korea, through its global markets group (the ‘Global Markets Group’ or ‘GMG’) using a broad network of third-party distributors.
Total Consumer International net sales represented approximately 18% of the company’s consolidated net sales in 2024. Net sales of Consumer International originating in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Mexico accounted for 30%, 24%, 7%, and 8%, respectively, of the company’s 2024 international net sales in this segment.
Some of the company’s U.S. power brands, such as ARM & HAMMER, BATISTE, HERO, THERABREATH, OXICLEAN, VITAFUSION and L’IL CRITTERS, and WATERPIK are distributed in many of the company’s international markets. In addition, the company also exports unique brands, such as STERIMAR and FEMFRESH out of the United Kingdom as well as the company’s FINISHING TOUCH FLAWLESS brand, to many countries around the world.
The company also markets the CURASH line of babycare products in Australia, and GRAVOL anti-nauseant and RUB-A535 topical analgesic in Canada and other international markets. The company sells ANUSOL hemorrhoid medications out of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and in other international markets. The company also sells WATERPIK water flossers and showerheads in Australia, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and in other international markets.
Specialty Products Division segment
This segment focuses on sales to businesses and participates in three product areas: Animal Nutrition, Specialty Chemicals, and Commercial & Professional, and accounted for approximately 5% of the company’s consolidated net sales in 2024.
Animal Nutrition Products
Since the ARM & HAMMER Animal Nutrition business began in 1972, with its launch of ARM & HAMMER baking soda as a feed additive to help dairy cows produce more milk, the company has built a leading portfolio of nutritional supplements designed to help improve the health and productivity of dairy cows. In addition, the company markets a line of high-quality protein and amino acid products, including BIO-CHLOR and FERMENTEN, which are designed to help reduce health issues associated with calving, as well as provide needed protein to ensure proper growth and milk production. During the first quarter of 2024, the company exited the MEGALAC supplement portion of its Animal Nutrition business.
The company has expanded its product offerings to include unique prebiotics and probiotics. CELMANAX Refined Functional Carbohydrate is a yeast-based prebiotic that helps ensure a well-functioning gastrointestinal track in dairy cows, beef cattle, poultry, and other livestock. CERTILLUS is a family of probiotics products used in the poultry, dairy, beef, and swine industries. During the second quarter of 2024, the company sold its Passport food safety business, Passport Food Safety Solutions, Inc.
Specialty Chemicals
The company’s specialty chemicals business primarily encompasses the manufacture, marketing, and sale of sodium bicarbonate in a range of grades and granulations for use in industrial markets. In industrial markets, sodium bicarbonate is used by other manufacturing companies as a leavening agent for commercial baked goods, as an antacid in pharmaceuticals, as a carbon dioxide release agent in fire extinguishers, as an alkaline agent in swimming pool chemicals, and as a buffer in kidney dialysis.
The company and Occidental Chemical Corporation are equal partners in a joint venture, Armand Products Company, which manufactures and markets potassium carbonate and potassium bicarbonate for sale in domestic and international markets. The potassium-based products are used in a wide variety of applications, including agricultural products, specialty glass and ceramics, and potassium silicates. Armand also manufactures a potassium carbonate-based animal feed additive for sale by the company in the dairy industry, described above under ‘Animal and Food Production Products’.
Commercial & Professional
The company also provides a line of cleaning and deodorizing products for use in commercial and industrial applications, such as office buildings, hotels, restaurants, and other facilities.
The company and Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc. (‘Safety-Kleen’) were equal partners in a joint venture, ARMAKLEEN, which has built a specialty cleaning products business based on the company’s technology and Safety-Kleen’s sales and distribution organization. In October 2024, the company sold its 50% interest in The ArmaKleen Company to Safety-Kleen.
Acquisitions
On June 3, 2024, the company acquired substantially all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of Graphico, Inc. (Graphico), a Japan-based distributor focused on consumer goods primarily in the Japanese market (the ‘Graphico Acquisition’).
Sale of MEGALAC supplement portfolio
During the first quarter of 2024, the company exited the MEGALAC supplement portion of its Animal Nutrition business within its SPD segment.
Sale of Passport Food Safety Business
During the second quarter of 2024, the company sold its Passport food safety business, Passport Food Safety Solutions, Inc.
Competition
The company’s competitors in the Consumer Domestic and Consumer International segments include, among others, Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), The Clorox Company, Colgate-Palmolive Company, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Nestle Purina PetCare Company and Nestle Health Science, Haleon plc, Henkel, Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, Kenvue Inc., Pfizer Inc., Bayer AG, NBTY, Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Unilever PLC, Sanofi, Pharmavite LLC, Edgewell Personal Care, Panoxyl, Starface, and Peach & Lily.
The company’s key competitors with respect to its SPD segment are Cargill Incorporated, Lallemand Inc., Solvay Chemicals, Inc., Genesis Alkali and Natural Soda, Inc.
Distribution of Products
The company’s Consumer Domestic and Consumer International segments products are marketed primarily through a broad distribution platform that includes supermarkets, mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs, drugstores, convenience stores, home stores, dollar and other discount stores, pet and other specialty stores, and websites and other e-commerce channels, all of which sell the company’s products to consumers. The Consumer Domestic Segment employs a sales force based regionally throughout the U.S. and utilizes the services of independent brokers, who represent the company’s products in the food, mass, pet, dollar, club, and numerous other classes of trade. The company’s Consumer International segment conducts business through subsidiaries and global export markets. The company’s subsidiaries employ local sales and marketing teams that manage the retailer and trade relationships while export sales and marketing professionals also manage an extensive distributor network in its global export markets. The company’s products are stored in its plants and third-party owned warehouses and are either delivered by independent trucking companies or picked up by customers at its facilities.
SPD markets sodium bicarbonate and other chemicals to industrial and agricultural customers primarily throughout the U.S. and Canada. Distribution is accomplished through a dedicated sales force supplemented by manufacturers’ representatives and independent distributors. The company’s products in this segment are stored in its plants and public warehouses and are either delivered by independent trucking companies or picked up by customers at its facilities.
Seasonality
The company’s the Consumer Domestic and Consumer International segments are affected by sales of SPINBRUSH battery-operated toothbrushes and WATERPIK water flossers (which typically are higher during the fall, in advance of the holiday season), sales of NAIR depilatories and waxes (which typically are higher in the spring and summer months), sales of VITAFUSION and L’IL CRITTERS dietary supplements and ZICAM cold shortening and relief products (which typically are slightly higher in the fourth quarter of each year, in advance of the cold and flu season and renewed commitments to health). In SPD, several of the company’s Animal Nutrition products experience higher demand in warmer weather months creating higher seasonal demand in the second and third quarters of the year (year ended December 31, 2024).
Sources of Supply
The company is a party to a partnership agreement with Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners, which mines and processes trona reserves in Wyoming.
Patents and Trademarks
The majority of the company’s trademarks are registered with either the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or with the trademark offices of many foreign countries. The ARM & HAMMER trademark has been used by the company and is important to the successful operation of its business. The company’s products are sold under many other valuable trademarks held by it, including TROJAN, NAIR, ORAJEL, WATERPIK, FIRST RESPONSE, XTRA, OXICLEAN, SPINBRUSH, BATISTE, SIMPLY SALINE, VITAFUSION, L’IL CRITTERS, ZICAM, THERABREATH, and HERO. The U.S. patents are granted for a term of 20 years from the date the patent application is filed.
Customers
In the year ended December 31, 2024, net sales to the company’s largest customer, Walmart Inc. and its affiliates (‘Walmart’), were 23% of the company’s consolidated net sales.
Government Regulation
All of the company’s products are subject to regulation by one or more U.S. agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as well as foreign agencies, such as the European Commission, Health Canada, the Australia Therapeutic Goods Administration, the Mexico Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the Chinese National Medical Products Administration, and others.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations govern a variety of matters relating to the company’s products, such as product development, manufacturing, premarket clearance or approval, labeling, distribution and post-market surveillance, including complaint vigilance.
In addition, the company sells products that are subject to regulation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act; and the Toxic Substances Control Act, which are administered by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The company is also subject to regulation by the Federal Trade Commission and its counterparts in other jurisdictions in connection with the content and truthfulness of the company’s labeling, advertising, promotion, trade practices, and other matters.
The company’s electrical products, such as WaterPik flossers, Flawless hair removers, Spinbrush powered toothbrushes and Trojan vibrators, are also subject to the Radiation Control provisions of the federal FDCA (Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act). This law, administered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, governs products that emit radiation, including medical devices, as well as radiation-emitting electronic products.
The company’s relationship with certain union employees is regulated by various agencies of the countries, states, provinces and other localities in which the company sells its products.
Medical Device Clearance and Approval
To be commercially distributed in the United States, a medical device must, unless exempt, receive clearance or approval from the FDA pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). For lower risk class II devices, the company must generally submit a premarket notification requesting clearance for commercial distribution known as a 510(k) clearance. The company’s condoms, lubricants, STERIMAR nasal congestion relief, home pregnancy test kits and WATERPIK professional dental products are regulated as class II devices. Some other low risk devices, including SPINBRUSH and other battery powered toothbrushes, therapeutic shower massagers, nasal congestion relief and wound wash, wrist supports, WATERPIK water flossers and HERO pimple patches are in class I or are unclassified and are generally exempted from the 510(k) requirements. To obtain 510(k) clearance, a device must be determined to be substantially equivalent in intended use and in safety and effectiveness to a benchmark device, or predicate that is already legally in commercial distribution.
In many countries outside the United States, to distribute a medical device lawfully, the company must demonstrate conformity to local or regional standards for quality, safety and performance. For class II medical devices, the company must obtain either government approval or certification from an accredited and approved Notified Body (NB) that also performs periodic planned and surprise audits of the company’s files and its quality system. These audits are shared in some cases, specifically among regulators in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Japan. Modification to a certified device generally requires government or NB review and approval prior to implementation of the change. Additionally, all safety incidents reported to a Health Authority must also be reported to the NB.
OTC/Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Requirements
The company markets over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical products, such as topical acne products, anticavity toothpaste, anticavity rinse, antiperspirant, hemorrhoid relief, skin protectant, antinauseant, oral analgesic, and sunscreen drug products, that are subject to FDA and foreign regulation. Under the U.S. OTC monograph system, OTC pharmaceutical products that meet established conditions are generally recognized as safe and effective and do not require the submission and approval of a new drug application. The FDA OTC monographs include well-known ingredients and specify requirements for permitted indications, required warnings and precautions, allowable combinations of ingredients and dosage levels. Pharmaceutical products marketed under the OTC monograph system must conform to specific quality, formula, and labeling requirements. Following the passage of the CARES Act, FDA is updating and working to finalize monographs, including those that affect the company’s oral care products and HERO sunscreens.
All of the company’s pharmaceutical products are manufactured, tested, packaged, stored, and distributed according to cGMP regulations. The FDA performs periodic audits to ensure that the company’s facilities remain in compliance with all appropriate regulations. The company is required to report serious adverse events associated with the use of its OTC pharmaceutical products marketed in the U.S and other countries where such products are sold.
Food Products
The company markets baking soda and animal feed products, such as rumen fermentation enhancers and Dietary Cation-Anion Difference (‘DCAD’) balancers that are also subject to FDA and foreign regulation. The Food Safety Modernization Act (‘FSMA’) regulates food and animal feed products and mandates preventive controls, including hazard analysis, risk controls, supplier qualifications and controls and increased record keeping. FSMA grants the FDA the authority to require mandatory recalls for products under certain conditions. The FDA is in the process of establishing rules and guidance to implement the provisions of FSMA.
Dietary Supplements
The processing, formulation, safety, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, advertising, distribution, importing, selling, and storing the company’s dietary supplements are subject to regulation by one or more federal agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the FTC, the CPSC, the EPA, and by various agencies of the states and localities in which the company’s products are sold. The FDCA governs the composition, safety, labeling, manufacturing, and marketing of dietary supplements.
As with OTC products, the FDA performs periodic audits to ensure that the company’s dietary supplement facilities remain in compliance with all appropriate regulations.
Environmental: The company’s operations are subject to federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules and regulations relating to environmental concerns, including air emissions, wastewater discharges, solid and hazardous waste management activities, and the safety of the company’s employees. The company endeavor to take actions necessary to comply with such regulations.
Research and Development
The company incurred research and development expenses in the amount of $139.7 in 2024.
History
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. was founded in 1846. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1925.
