Colgate-Palmolive

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"Colgate" redirects here. For the college, see Colgate University; for the towns, see Colgate, West Sussex (UK) or Colgate, Saskatchewan (Canada).
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Logo
Type Public (NYSE: CL)
Founded 1953
Headquarters New York City, USA
Key people Reuben Mark,CEO
Industry Personal Products
Revenue $11.396 billion (2005)
Net income $1.351 billion (2005)
Employees 36,000
Slogan (none)
Website www.colgate.com

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is a multinational corporation in the business of the provision of products such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products such as toothpaste and toothbrushes. Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of veterinary products.

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[edit] History

In 1806, Henry W. Colgate opened up a starch, soap, and candle factory on Dutch Street in New York City under the name of " William Colgate & Company." In the 1840s the firm began selling individual bars in uniform weights. In 1857, William Colgate died and the company was reorganized as "Colgate & Company" under the management of Samuel Colgate, his son. In 1872, Colgate introduced Cashmere Bouquet, a perfumed soap. In 1873, the firm introduced its first toothpaste, an aromatic toothpaste sold in jars. In 1908 they initiated selling toothpaste in tubes.

In Milwaukee, WI, the B.J. Johnson Company was making a soap entirely of palm and olive oil. The soap was popular enough to rename their company after it - Palmolive[1].

A Kansas based soap manufacturer known as the Peet Brothers merged with Palmolive to become Palmolive-Peet. In 1928, Palmolive-Peet joined the Colgate Company to create the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. In 1953 "Peet" was dropped from the title, leaving only "Colgate-Palmolive Company".

In the beginning of television, Colgate-Palmolive wished to compete with Procter & Gamble as a sponsor of soap operas. Although the company sponsored many shows in part, they were most famous for being the full sponsor of the serial The Doctors.

George Henry Lesch was president, CEO, and chairman of the board of Colgate-Palmolive in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 2006, Colgate-Palmolive announced the intended acquisition of Tom's of Maine, a leading maker of natural toothpaste, for US$100M. Tom's of Maine was founded by Tom Chappell in 1970. This announcement has received both praise and criticism, with many questioning why a company with a 'No animal testing' policy would sell themselves to a company that does test on animals when not required to by law.

[edit] Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Colgate-Palmolive are: John T. Cahill, Jill Conway, Ronald E. Ferguson, Ellen Hancock, Pollin Row, Richard Kogan, Delano Lewis, K.v.v.k.Chaitanya, G.k.Chaitanya, and Howard Wentz.

[edit] Brands

The Colgate Clock in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Enlarge
The Colgate Clock in Jersey City, New Jersey.

[edit] Diversity

Colgate-Palmolive was named one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.

[edit] Trivia

  • Colgate has become synonymous with toothpaste - a fact that is a blessing and a curse. In many countries the brand has become a generic, with people walking into shops and asking for "Colgate" when they actually mean toothpaste. This has prompted numerous local toothpastes to come up with copy-cat artwork on their packs, especially in India. Consequently, the legal department of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd. has been trigger happy for many years.
  • Colgate has subsidiary organisations spanning 200 countries, but it is publicly listed in only two: the United States and India.
  • It's a common fun-fact that colgate translates to "hang yourself" in varieties of Spanish that use voseo (for example in Rioplatense Spanish). Because of this, Colgate is not sold in many Spanish-speaking countries.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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