Once at the forefront of environmentally friendly cleaning products, Sunshine Makers Inc.’s Simple Green has seen others steal its thunder.
Other companies have come along and grabbed most sales to consumers for green cleaning products, leaving the Huntington Beach-based company a secondary player.
Much of the green cleaner market at stores is dominated by Oakland’s Clorox Co., which started selling its Green Works line of environmentally friendly cleaners two years ago.
Clorox, with total yearly sales of more than $5 billion, muscled its way onto shelves at the expense of smaller companies such as Sunshine Makers.
Privately held Sunshine Makers doesn’t disclose sales. The Business Journal estimates the company’s sales at more than $50 million a year.
The 35-year-old company makes 70 products, ranging from all-purpose cleaners to tub and tile cleaners that it sells to commercial users and through stores.
Owner and founder Bruce FaBrizio, who declined to talk for this story, launched Simple Green after he and his dad came up with a nontoxic cleanser for coffee roasting machines.
Green Now Mainstream
In the 1980s, Simple Green was about the only game in town for environmentally conscious people looking for nontoxic cleaners.
That’s not the case anymore.
Since all things green have become mainstream, others have gotten in on the action.
For the 12 months through early August, Clorox’s Green Works all purpose cleaner/disinfectant posted a 96% gain in sales from a year earlier to nearly $16 million, according to data from Chicago-based Information Resources Inc.
Other varieties of Green Works dominate their categories as well and brought in another $20 million in sales for the period.
The brand’s dominance is credited to an advertising push by Clorox as well as increased awareness about the environment.
Growth in the green cleaners market has slowed this year after a big 2008. Clorox has managed to grab the bulk of sales, along with San Francisco-based Method Products Inc.
Other rivals include Venus Laboratories Inc. of Wood Dale, Ill., which does about 40% of manufacturing for its Earth Friendly Products brand in Garden Grove.
Seventh Generation Inc., Newport Beach-based Ecosafe Products Inc. and Costa Mesa’s Lab-Clean LLC are smaller competitors.
Clorox’s Green Works holds the largest piece of the market at a nearly 4% share, compared to Simple Green’s 1.3% market share.
Without the marketing muscle of Clorox, Simple Green has held its own at stores but hasn’t grabbed much of the market’s growth.
For the 12 months through early August, Simple Green’s all purpose cleaner/disinfectant saw sales of $5 million, down 3.5% from a year earlier, according to Information Resources.
The overall market for all purpose green cleaners and disinfectants fell by more than 3% to nearly $401 million during the period. The figure includes sales at supermarkets, drugstores and discount stores (excluding Wal-Mart.)
Sunshine Makers has benefited from the market’s growth in recent years, according to Denise Dochnahl, a marketing specialist with the company.
Clorox doesn’t “really scare us,” she said.
“Green cleaners are a dime a dozen these days, but the key to longevity and success is whether or not you are trustworthy,” Dochnahl said.
Most of the company’s sales come from big bulk buyers such as the government, Lake Forest, Ill. -based W.W. Grainger Inc., Elmhurst, Ill.-based McMaster-Carr Supply Co. and Melville, N.Y.-based MSC Industrial Direct Co.
Simple Green has a larger part of the market among bulk buyers, according to Dochnahl.
Some of the company’s biggest retailers are Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Home Depot Inc.
A year ago, Sunshine Makers came out with its Naturals brand, which the company said is made with 100% natural ingredients (versus Simple Green, which includes some manmade chemicals that are nontoxic).
For the 12 months through early August, retail sales of the Naturals line were small but up more than 300% from a year earlier to about $6,000 according to market tracker Information Resources.
Sunshine Makers’ strategy has been to develop products and formulas.
Its latest is its Pet Stain & Odor Remover, which the company hopes will give it a boost in 2010. The product is sold in stores of PetSmart Inc. and Petco Animal Supplies Inc.
Extreme Green is a new product for commercial use.
In some cases, Sunshine Makers creates segments, like it did in the plane industry with its Extreme Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner/Degreaser.
The company has 100 employees worldwide, 50 of which are local. Contract manufacturers bottle most of its products in Garden Grove and Georgia.
Founder Fabrizio is said to still be involved in the business on a daily basis and has been described as a “sleeves up” kind of leader.
Sunshine Makers gets buyout offers but isn’t looking to sell, Dochnahl said.
