One year after bleach maker Clorox started selling a line of natural cleaning products in Canada and the U.S., it has reached the top of the market for eco-friendly cleaners.
The company announced Monday that its Greenworks cleaners, made mostly with coconut oil, corn and lemon—and without bleach—have become the top-sellers among natural cleaners according to data from Information Resources, Inc.
Clorox now has 42% of the total market, estimated to generate more than $200 million in revenue per year.
“We’ve grown by more than 100% since we launched,” Clorox chief executive Don Knauss told The Associated Press. “Getting a national player in this space has really helped.”
Clorox Co., based in Oakland, Calif., launched the Greenworks line in December 2007.
It has used its distribution network and lower prices to attract shoppers away from competitors such as Method and Seventh Generation.
“I think Greenworks has done a good job getting into the mass trade,” said Jefferies & Co. analyst Douglas Lane. “Before, you had to go to a specialty store. Now you can get it at Wal-Mart and Kroger’s… That’s the beauty of Clorox, that they have the big footprint in the food, drug and mass channels.”
Rivals also have started to introduce eco-friendly versions of familiar brands.
SC Johnson announced in December that it had patented a technology that makes its Windex, Pledge and Scrubbing Bubbles cleaners more environmentally friendly.
The process uses better raw materials and safer detergents, the company said in a statement.
Clorox also sells Burt’s Bees, a line of natural personal care products, as well as a range of consumer products, including Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing, Brita water filters and Fresh Step kitty litter.
Of the $12 billion spent each year in the U.S. on cleaning products, the natural category accounted for about 1% when Clorox entered the market, Knauss said.
But since Clorox’s entrance, the market size has doubled.
One factor in growing Greenworks sales was lower prices. Other brands charge between 50% to 60% more than regular cleaners while Greenworks products cost 10% to 20% more.
The company also used its Greenworks line to start an initiative to disclose product ingredients. By the end of the year, Clorox expects to offer full disclosure of ingredients in all its household and industrial-cleaning and auto-care products sold in the U.S. and Canada.
