Following severe shortage of its disinfectant wipes products, Clorox has announced it will add a new wipes line in the Atlanta, GA area this quarter. This investment combined with increased contract manufacturing relationships and an improved supply chain should double the company’s wipes capacity to the level it was prior to the pandemic.

Already in the first quarter of 2021, the company has been able to increase its output from one million to 1.5 million canisters per day.

Additionally, Clorox has improved and shortened its international supply chain to expand its disinfectant wipes’ presence internationally. While Clorox products are available in over 100 countries, the wipes don’t have a significant presence in many of these markets. These efforts are already paying off. International wipes growth has contributed to about 20% of global increases for Clorox in the first quarter, according to executives.

“Our expansion plans are going very well and we plan to double the number of countries where Clorox wipes are sold,” CEO Linda Rendel says.

Still, Clorox expects shortages of its disinfectant wipes to continue at least to some degree throughout the rest of 2021.

“We are working both with self manufacturing as well as with third party manufacturing,” Rendel adds. “That work will continue well past this year.”

Rendel adds that company research predicts that wipes use will continue to be strong after the Coronavirus pandemic is behind us.

“We’re seeing consumers in the U.S. and around the world cleaning much more frequently, cleaning new surfaces and of course cleaning both inside and outside the home,” she says.  “From our research with customers, they are telling us that they we expect many of these behaviors to stick.”