Sweet success for NZ’s The Bonbon Factory with sanitisers, but fears economy will hit core range

The product was released at the end of March as the country battled with the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing a lockdown (Alert Level 4) on March 25.

The company ceased production of its other products such as lip balms and body butters, instead focusing on manufacturing the sanitisers.

According to Stephie Peacocke, CEO of Bonbon Group: “In the first three weeks of sales, sanitiser eclipsed all other products, giving our business a 300% lift in sales. You could still buy our whipped soaps, but to be honest it was a sanitiser frenzie​.”

Because of the sudden demand, Peacocke said there were some shortages in raw materials and packaging.

“Everything was hard to get, packaging was gone overnight, lids became impossible to get, alcohol was getting snatched up, we really had to be smart and hustle to get anything we needed, we paid so much for ingredients and packaging in those first few weeks just to be able to keep up with demand​.”

The sanitiser is manufactured in Whakatane, New Zealand.It can be used as a regular hand sanitiser, or sprayed onto surfaces such as door or trolley handles and claims to eliminate 99.9% of germs and bacteria.

Besides being anti-bacterial, the sanitiser is marketed with a moisturising effect.

Peacocke told us: “We added in glycerine and Vitamin E to help with moisturising. We have had feedback from customers who said it is the only sanitiser they can use without irritation​.

“What makes our sanitiser unique is that we used a vanilla ice cream scent, which customers really loved as it was so different to what was out there​.”