For many household cleaning product makers, 2020 was a watershed. Inventory was wiped out in a matter of weeks during the height of the pandemic as consumers purchased anything they could get their hands to clean their homes. Supply chains were hard hit, too, making it nearly impossible to source key raw materials and packaging, compounding an already difficult situation that blindsided everyone.

“We were not anticipating the pandemic, obviously nobody was. We sold one year’s worth of inventory in six weeks,” said Curtis Eggemeyer, CEO of Lemi Shine, a cleaning brand from Austin, TX-based Envirocon Technologies, Inc. “There were supply chain challenges with raw materials, line times, and prices rising on components all across the board,” he recalled.

During the frenzy, Lemi Shine leaned in and listened. What Eggemeyer’s team heard was that while consumers were using conventional products to kill germs and keep COVID-19 at bay, they were also starting to question what was in those products.

“We said: ‘It is here. It is our time,’” Eggemeyer told Happi in a phone interview earlier this month. 

According to the Eggemeyer, the pandemic “lit the fuse on clean cleaning.” He insists today’s consumers are more mindful overall, and the cleaning category is simply following in the footsteps of clean eating and clean beauty.

According to a recent study conducted by Lemi Shine, 76% of parents surveyed agree that they have concerns about their children, or pets, being around household chemicals.    

That shift in thinking bodes well for Lemi Shine, a company contends its goal is the fill the void between “chemical crazy” brands and “often disappointing all natural” options.
 
Dishing It Out
During the pandemic, Eggemeyer’s team was able to keep products in stores when others, including big players like Procter & Gamble and Reckitt, had supply chain issues. 

“We had holding power on the shelf,” he insisted.

Shelf presence helped to boost Lemi Shine’s portfolio, including products like its powder and gel unit dose dishwashing detergent.

“Consumers found that natural dishwashing detergent can work,” he said.

Elsewhere, Lemi Shine had success in the in oven/appliance cleaner sector (sales rose 14.0%), glass cleaner (up 87.4%), and lime/rust removers (up 422.8%), according to IRI data for the 52 weeks ended March 21, 2021.

Eggemeyer said the firm found success with its new disinfectants, too, including Lemi Shine Disinfecting Wipes, which have been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as effective against SARS COV-2 and are proven to be as successful as conventional cleaners, killing more than 99.9% of bacteria and viruses, including the flu virus. 
 
Natural Selection
For Lemi Shine, 2020 brought prolific growth compared to 2019. While the market has cooled off somewhat, Eggemeyer is convinced that Lemi Shine will hold onto many of the consumers who turned to natural cleaning products during the pandemic because they found out the brand’s citric extract-based formulations worked—and the price was right, too.

“We compare to Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers and Method. We are more effective and more approachable with a more affordable price than our counterparts,” he boasted.

While it initially manufactured its own products, today the company relies on 10 contract manufacturers across the US. Its R&D remains in house.

Last year, EPA recognized Lemi Shine for a second year in a row with a Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award for outstanding achievement for the design, manufacture, selection, and use of products with safer chemicals for use in households and facilities nationwide. The brand has been a Safer Choice partner since 2017, and 19 of the company’s 25 products are currently Safer Choice-certified. 

The roster of products has grown considerably since Lemi Shine was founded in 1994 with its original product, Lemi Shine detergent booster. It was the first dishwasher booster on the market. 

The brand’s newest is an EPA-registered disinfecting spray that will be available this summer. Powered by compressed air, Lemhi Shine’s new continuous spray disinfects and deodorizes surfaces without requiring additional wipe down. It is kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, including the flu virus; is effective against SARS-CoV-2 when used as directed; and eliminates odors by killing odor causing bacteria. Offered in fresh and lemon scents, the spray will be sold at grocery stores and mass retailers nationwide, including HEB, Kroger, Meijer, Menards, and Publix, or online at Amazon, Walmart and Target.

The company is eyeing new home care categories, too.

“Our company at the core has a lot of innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset,” said Eggemeyer. “We are dialed in, and continue to dial into the consumer.”

While Eggemeyer was unwilling to share revenues, since he relocated Lemi Shine to its current facility in Austin in 2014, he has grown the business by a multiple of 10x with double-digit year-over-year sales growth.  According to industry sources, Lemi Shine’s revenues are estimated to be around $50 million.

Lemi Shine does have an outside investor—Fenwick Brands, Inc., a consumer-packaged goods investor. At the time of the investment in 2019, Fenwick’s CEO Melissa Baker said Lemi Shine “has shown a demonstrated ability to deliver accretive growth in a large, mature category.” 

Will the company follow in the footsteps of others like Seventh Generation or Mrs. Meyers, indies that were acquired by Unilever and SC Johnson, respectively?

Eggemeyer says that isn’t the plan right now.

“We are not focused on process, or scaling and selling,” he told Happi, noting that the company remains committed to simply serving consumers. 

“What consumers deserve are safe effective household cleaning products,” he insisted.