More than 4000 deaths have been attributed to Ebola virus in West Africa, as well as one death in the US, two deaths in Spain and another in Germany. The disease has become a global threat as airports around the world begin screening for Ebola among passengers. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned last month that there could be as many as 20,000 cases by the end of this month if efforts to tackle the outbreak aren’t stepped up. On the flipside, the WHO has declared the outbreak over in Senegal and Nigeria and appears to be stabilizing in Guinea. Which way the disease breaks really depends on government and consumer response to the threat. Either way, some players in the category are expected to clean up over the outbreak. According to data from IRI, the Chicago-based market research company, hand sanitizer sales rose 9.4% from mid-September to mid-October and 11.1% for the 12 weeks ended Oct. 5. Meanwhile, disinfectant sales jumped nearly 13% for both the four- and 12-week period ending Sept. 27. Analysts say fears of Ebola could even provide a lift to hand soap sales in the coming weeks.

Germs are in the national news and in the pages of Happi this month. We report on the household cleaner market and some of the smaller companies that are providing a boost to the category (p. 69). While the world waits out the Ebola threat, Kao is expanding around the world. We caught up with CEO Michitaka Sawada to learn more about the company’s ambitious global expansion plans.
Much of Kao’s strategy revolves around personal hygiene. Happi reports on a portion of this segment, personal cleansers, on p. 73 in this issue.

Finally, this month, we take a look at the latest launches in the fine fragrance market and what kind of sales marketers can expect as we head into the all-important holiday selling season (p. 55).

We hope you enjoy this edition of Happi, as always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.

Tom Branna
Editorial Director
[email protected]