e rch16, 202041w m h can
we buy?
○AnnelieseBischofwason a businesstripin
ThailandinthesecondweekofJanuarywhen
conversationswithChinesecolleaguesabouta new
virusspreadingacrosstheregionmadeherrealizea
majoroutbreak might be occurring. For Bischof, the
business director of disinfection at German chemi-
cals company Lanxess AG, this was initially no cause
for alarm. After all, she and her team had seen spikes
in viral infections before, like the African swine
feverthatsweptacrosstheAsia-Pacificregionlast
year,drivingupdemandforthecompany’sVirkon
industrial-strengthdisinfectant.
It wasonlywhenBischofreturnedtoGermany
thatsherealizedthistimewasdifferent.Back
homeinCologne,thephonesinherdepartment
startedringingoffthehook.Theinquirieswere
fromnationsthathadneverpreviouslybeenon
theLanxesscorporatemap.“Wehadanoff-the-
chartsnumberofcallscomingin,”saysBischof,who
worksatthecompany’sMaterialProtectionunit,
whichtookovertheVirkonbrandofdisinfectants
a fewyearsagowiththe$230millionpurchaseofa
biocidebusinessfromDelaware-basedChemours
Co.“PlaceslikeTrinidadandTobago,allkindsof
smallcountriesthatforthemajorityofourbusiness
wouldn’thavebeenonourradar.That’swhenwe
reallystartednoticingthebombdropping.”
Virkon,a powderdissolvedinwaterandthen
sprayedonsurfaces,killsvirusesquickly,oftenin
minutes.Thatsetsit apartfromotheragentsthat
maytakea fullhourtoeliminatethem,Bischofsays.
“Youwouldn’twanttosoakorspraya deskandletit
sitfor 60 minutesif youwanttodisinfectit.”
TheGermancompanyisn’taloneinhavingto
scrambletomeetdemandforproductsthathave
becomehotsellersinthewakeofthecoronavirus
outbreak. Even before the spread of Covid-19 out-
side of China accelerated, American shoppers
were stocking up on items such as medical masks,
hand sanitizers, and thermometers—in the week
through Jan. 25, sales of masks were up 428% from
the same period last year, according to Nielsen
data. And companies such as Gojo Industries
Inc., which sells Purell hand sanitizer, kicked into
high gear after demand for disinfectant hand gels
spiked 1,400% from December to January, accord-
ing to Adobe Analytics.
Manufacturerssaythecurrentstockpilingis
morefrenzied than that which occurs before a nat-
ural disaster. “I’m from Florida, so when it’s hurri-
cane season you see people with the same kind of
behavior or pretty similar,” says Rick McLeod, vice
president of product supply for Procter & Gamble
Co.’s family care unit—home of the coveted Charmin
and Bounty brands. “What’s different here is that it’s
not as concentrated as you would see in a hurricane
response—it’s obviously more widespread.”
Indeed, retailers such as Target, Kroger, and
Tesco in the U.K. are limiting certain purchases.
Costco Wholesale Corp. is struggling to keep items
in stock, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti
told analysts, saying the buying frenzy has been
“a little bit crazy.” In France, shoppers snapped up
pasta, rice, ready-cooked meals, and toilet paper,
says Michel-Édouard Leclerc, chairman of super-
market chain E.Leclerc. “Everyone rushed like
they had lived through a war, which is incredible,
because three-quarters of the people who cameto
stockuphaveneverknownwar.”
With demandsoaring, Lanxess beganair-
freighting Virkon to China instead of shipping
it—getting it to customers within a week, rather
than 30 to 45 days. Lanxess also installed a sec-
ond shift, doubled capacity at the factory mak-
ing Virkon in Sudbury, England, and is leaning on
other European production sites. Bischof predicts
sales will remain high for the foreseeable future.
“Demand is here to stay at least for this year, if not
going forward,” she says. “The topic of disinfection
is present in people’s minds now.” �Andrew Noel,
with Gerald Porter Jr. and Thomas Buckley“We had an
off-the-charts
number
of calls
coming in”▲ Shoppers for hand
sanitizer at a Target
store in New York were
met with empty shelves
and purchase limits