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Chapter 3 Profile of Study

Colgate-Palmolive is an American consumer products company focused on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. It was formed through the merger of Colgate and Palmolive in 1928. Colgate began in 1806 as a soap and candle maker in New York City. Palmolive was founded in 1898 and was known for its palm and olive oil soap. Today Colgate-Palmolive has numerous brands and operates in over 200 countries.

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62 views

Chapter 3 Profile of Study

Colgate-Palmolive is an American consumer products company focused on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. It was formed through the merger of Colgate and Palmolive in 1928. Colgate began in 1806 as a soap and candle maker in New York City. Palmolive was founded in 1898 and was known for its palm and olive oil soap. Today Colgate-Palmolive has numerous brands and operates in over 200 countries.

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selwyn999
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER - III

PROFILE OF THE COMPANY


The Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational
consumer products company focused on the production, distribution and
provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps,
detergents, and oral hygiene products (including toothpaste and toothbrushes).
Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of veterinary products. The
company's corporate offices are on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New
York City.
History

1922 advertisement for Palmolive soap


In 1806, William Colgate, an English soap and candle maker, opened up
a starch, soap and candle factory on Dutch Street in New York City under the
name of "William Colgate & Company". In 1833, he suffered a severe heart
attack, stopping his business from selling. But after a couple of years of
recovery he continued with his business. In the 1840s, the firm began selling
individual cakes of soap in uniform weights. In 1857, William Colgate died and
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the company was reorganized as "Colgate & Company" under the management
of Samuel Colgate, his son, who did not want to continue the business but
thought it would be the right thing to do. In 1872, Colgate introduced
Cashmere Bouquet, a perfumed soap. In 1873, the firm introduced its first
toothpaste, an aromatic toothpaste sold in jars. [5] His company sold the first
toothpaste in a tube, Colgate Ribbon Dental Cream (invented by the dentist
Washington Sheffield), in 1896. In 1896, Colgate hired Martin Ittner and under
his direction founded one of the first applied research labs. [6] By 1908 they
initiated mass selling of toothpaste in tubes. William's other son, James
Boorman Colgate, was a primary trustee of Colgate University (formerly
Madison University).
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the B.J. Johnson Company was making a
soap entirely of palm oil and olive oil, the formula of which was developed by
B.J. Johnson in 1898. The soap was popular enough to rename their company
after it - "Palmolive". Around the start of the 20th century Palmolive, which
contained both palm and olive oils, was the world's best-selling soap. Extensive
advertising included the radio programs The Palmolive Hour (1927-1931) and
Palmolive Beauty Box Theater (1934-1937). A Missouri-based soap
manufacturer known as Peet Brothers merged with Palmolive to become
Palmolive-Peet. In 1928, Palmolive-Peet bought the Colgate Company to
create the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. In 1953 "Peet" was dropped from
the title, leaving only "Colgate-Palmolive Company", the current name.

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Colgate-Palmolive has long been in fierce competition with Procter &


Gamble, the world's largest soap and detergent maker. P&G introduced its Tide
laundry detergent shortly after World War II, and thousands of consumers
turned from Colgate's soaps to the new product. Colgate lost its number one
place in the toothpaste market when P&G started putting fluoride in its
toothpaste. In the beginning of television, "Colgate-Palmolive" wished to
compete with Procter & Gamble as a sponsor of soap operas. The company
sponsored many shows in part, and fully sponsored the serial The Doctors.
George Henry Lesch was president, CEO, and chairman of the board of
Colgate-Palmolive in the 1960s and 1970s, during that time transformed it into
a modern company with major restructuring.
In 2005, Colgate sold the under-performing brands Fab, Dynamo, Arctic
Power, ABC, Cold Power and Fresh Start, as well as the license of the Ajax
brand for laundry detergents in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, to Phoenix
Brands, LLC as part of their plan to focus on their higher margin oral, personal,
and pet care products.[8][9]
In 2006, Colgate-Palmolive announced the intended acquisition of
Tom's of Maine, a leading maker of natural toothpaste, for US $100 million.
Tom's of Maine was founded by Tom Chappell in 1970.
Today, Colgate has numerous subsidiary organizations spanning 200
countries, but it is publicly listed in only two, the United States and India.

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On October 25, 2012, the company announced it will cut more than
2,310 workers, or 6 percent of its workforce, by the end of 2016 in a push to
make the consumer products company more efficient.
In September 2014, the company announced its plan of setting up its
own toothbrush manufacturing factory by March 2015.
Educational and community involvement
In 1890, Madison University in New York State was renamed Colgate
University in honor of the Colgate family following decades of financial
support and involvement.
The Colgate-Palmolive Company has sponsored a non-profit track meet
open to women of all ages called the Colgate Women's Games.[15] The Colgate
Women's Games is the nation's largest amateur track series open to all girls
from elementary school through college. Held at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute,
competitors participate in preliminary meets and semi-finals over five
weekends throughout January. Finalists compete for trophies and educational
grants-in-aid from Colgate-Palmolive Company at New York City's Madison
Square Garden in February. For more than 20 years, the company supports the
Starlight Children Foundation which is a non profit organization dedicated to
help seriously ill children and their families. The mission is to help children to
cope with pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, family activities and
education.(2012)

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The Ethical Consumer Research Association once recommended that its


readers do not buy Colgate because of its use of animal testing, though this is
no longer the case. In 2011, Colgate-Palmolive was one of the first companies
recognized by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) under the
new "working for regulatory change" category for companies that test on
animals only when mandated by government regulations and are actively
seeking alternatives to animal testing. This relates to the corporation's decision
to continue to participate in the profitable Chinese market, where some animal
testing is still a regulatory requirement. Other ethical companies have chosen to
decline entry to this market.
In 2006 Colgate-Palmolive acquired an 84% stake in the ethical personal
care product manufacturer Tom's of Maine.
In 2011 the company chose to retain the use of triclosan in its marketleading Total toothpaste range, despite withdrawing it from several other
product ranges, following concerns about triclosan's impact on health and the
environment.
Environmental record
Colgate consumes approximately 0.2 percent of the combined palm oil
output of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand,[21] the cultivation of which is
known for environmental impacts on a global level including: deforestation,

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loss of natural habitats of critically endangered species, and increased


greenhouse gas emissions.
Colgate-Palmolive, as a successor to The Mennen Company, is one of
about 300 companies held potentially responsible for hazardous waste at the
Chemsol federal Superfund site in Piscataway, New Jersey. Their involvement
in this site may have contributed to the contamination of an estimated 18,500
cubic yards (14,100 m3) of soil with volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
PCBs, and lead off-site. A proposed $23 million agreement with the
government and state of New Jersey would require Colgate-Palmolive and the
other involved companies to pay for the cleanup of this hazardous waste that is
contaminating the soil as well as the groundwater. The company completed a
LEED Silver certified manufacturing plant in Morristown, Tennessee in March
2008 which was the first of its kind in the U.S. The new LEED silver certified
plant in Tennessee produces the Colgate Total toothpaste.[24]
Colgate Palmolive received the 2012 Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing
Loss Prevention Award.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of Colgate-Palmolive are:

Ian M. Cook, Chairman, President and CEO

John T. Cahill

Ellen Hancock

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Richard Kogan

Delano Lewis

Pedro Reinhard

Stephen Sadove

Helene Gayle

Nikesh Arora

Joseph Jimenez

Employment diversity
Colgate-Palmolive was named one of the "100 Best Companies for
Working Mothers" in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine. The 2012 Human
Rights Campaign "report card" on American businesses gave Colgate an A for
its support of diversity in the workplace.

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