45March 30, 2020it aheadofcopycatsinChina.TempletandotherexecutivesvoicedfrustrationwithChina’s
laxenforcementofintellectualpropertylaw,andsupportfortheTrumpadministration’s
willingness to confront it for the transgressions. Yet Puritanmanagedtothrivelongbefore
the trade war and is positioned to do so afterward, too.
Founded in 1919 as Minto Toothpick Co. in Saginaw, Mich.,HardwoodProductsmovedto
Guilford shortly thereafter, where it soon made an assortmentofcocktailforks,icecream
spoons, and other wooden sticks. The company entered the medicalbusinessin 1928 withthe
introduction of its disposable wooden tongue depressor andtrademarkedthenamePuritan
about 20 years later. Today, Puritan sells more than 1,200 products,including 65 different
kinds of swab, ranging from a simple, “all-purpose” cotton swabtoa pre-moistened,sterile
macrofoam swab and collection tube used to detect humannorovirusonsurfaces.Alltold,
Puritan pulls in more than $45 million a year in sales.
And then came Covid-19. Suddenly this charming small-towncompanywasatthecenter
of a global health disaster.
The coronavirus test uses a swab made with short fibers called “flock” (think: tiny polyes-
ter cilia, like nose hairs) that get placed on the end of a plastic applicator—wood can interfere
with test results—creating a soft tip that will eventually (and gently, one hopes) get shoved
up a patient’s nose. Unlike the cotton-tipped swabs you find at the drugstore, these flocked
swabs are designed specifically for picking up microscopic organisms.
Early tests used two swabs, one for the nose and another for the back of the throat, but
with the shortage, guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now call
for just one. Puritan has two patented flocked swabs—“We’re making and shipping both,”
Templet says—produced in a room whose intellectual property is so important the photog-
rapher and I aren’t allowed in. But it isn’t as simple as making them and sending them out.
First, they have to be shipped to another company in Northborough, Mass., for sterilization,
then back to Puritan, and then sent off for distribution.
“That takes a little bit of time. Hopefully we’ll be firing on all cylinders and getting as many
1 Foundedin1919,Puritan
nowconsistsofseveralbusinesses
thatmanufacturewoodenwareand
medicalsupplies.HardwoodProducts
turnsNorthernwhitebirchtreesinto
popsiclesticks,icecreamspoons,and
tonguedepressors.
2 Acrossthestreet,Puritan
produces 65 differentkindsofmedical
swabs,includingthepatentedflocked
kindusedincoronavirustesting.
3 Before they can be
shipped, the swabs have to be sterilized
and wrapped in paper. The company
prints about 100,000 labels per day on
six printers.3