The household products company announced a new initiative called the Safer Today Alliance on Wednesday, aimed at improving standards for infection control and disinfection protocol in public areas.
Clorox has partnered with both the Cleveland Clinic and the CDC Foundation in an effort to convey the message that it’s equally important for businesses to emphasize cleanliness and safety in a world now obsessed with infectious disease protection.
“We focus on best practices as people go back out into the world,” said Tony Matta, the company’s Chief Growth Officer, in an interview with CNN Business.
Matta said Clorox has added significant capacity and can now ship 1.5 million wipes per day, up from 1 million a year ago. The company plans to further increase production to meet its 2 million daily parcels target in the coming months.
However, investors are concerned that demand has peaked. Shares of Clorox are down 7% this year and are nearly 25% below the all-time high they hit during the worst pandemic last year.
“It’s been a year now, so the idea that people feel fatigue is natural. We all feel that,” Matta said.
He admitted that people may be less concerned about Covd-19 now than they were a few months ago, but companies know they can’t be wary – even though more Americans are getting vaccinated and some states are dropping mask mandates.
That’s why Clorox is stepping up its efforts to forge new business partnerships, to relieve less reliance on the average consumer buying their wipes and bleach from supermarkets.
“It’s more about prevention behavior than panic behavior in an upcoming post-Covid world,” said Matta. “The reality is that if companies want to make their locations safer, they have to think even more about creating a safe environment.”