Our Company: History

1806-1900
1901-1930
1931-1960
1961-1990
1991-Present
Video
1806
William Colgate starts a starch, soap and candle business on Dutch Street in New York City.
1817
First Colgate advertisement appears in a New York newspaper.
1820
Colgate establishes a starch factory in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1857
Upon the death of founder William Colgate, the company is reorganized as Colgate & Company
under the management of Samuel Colgate, his son.
1864
B.J. Johnson opens a soap factory in Milwaukee, WI, which later becomes the Palmolive
Company.
1866
Colgate introduces perfumed soap and perfumes/essences.
1872
Peet Brothers establish soap company in Kansas City, Kansas where they make Crystal White
soap.

Cashmere Bouquet, the first milled perfumed toilet soap, is registered as a Colgate trademark.
1873
Colgate introduces toothpaste in jars.
1879
Gerhard Mennen establishes a pharmacy in Newark, NJ, later becoming the Mennen Company.
1896
Colgate introduces toothpaste in a collapsible tube.
1898
B.J. Johnson Soap Co. introduces Palmolive Soap.
Today, the Palmolive equity is sold in over 88 countries in 54 variants.
1900
Colgate wins top honors for its fine soaps and perfumes at the World’s Fair in Paris.
1806: Colgate on Dutch Street

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• 1806: Colgate on Dutch Street
• 1817: First Colgate newpaper ad
• 1866: Colgate soap, perfumes and essences
• 1872: Cashmere Bouquet perfumed toilet soap
• 1873: Colgate aromatic toothpaste in jars
• 1896: Colgate dental cream
• 1898: Palmolive floating soap

Our Company: Living Our Values

Colgate's Core Values

Colgate's Core
 Our three fundamental values — Caring, Global Teamwork and
Values
Continuous Improvement — are part of everything we do.
Managing They are the foundation for our business strategy and are reflected in
every aspect of our work life.
with Respect
Caring
Valuing The Company cares about people: Colgate people, customers,
shareholders and business partners. Colgate is committed to act with
Colgate
compassion, integrity, honesty and high ethics in all situations, to listen
People with respect to others and to value differences. The Company is also
committed to protect the global environment, to enhance the communities
Global where Colgate people live and work, and to be compliant with
Diversity government laws and regulations.
Global Teamwork
Code of All Colgate people are part of a global team, committed to working
Conduct together across countries and throughout the world. Only by sharing ideas,
technologies and talents can the Company achieve and sustain profitable
Code of growth.
Conduct Continuous Improvement
Hotline Colgate is committed to getting better every day in all it does, as
individuals and as teams. By better understanding consumers' and
customers' expectations and continuously working to innovate and
Living Our
improve products, services and processes, Colgate will "become the best."
Values for
Sustainability

Colgate, William
(1783-1857)
Colgate–Palmolive Company

Overview
William Colgate, founder of what is now the Colgate–Palmolive Company, revolutionized the
American household products industry by discovering new methods for making and selling soap.
Colgate–Palmolive Company is a household name and the leading seller of toothpaste in the
country. The company also makes personal care products, including shampoo, soap, deodorants,
household cleaning products, bleach, and liquid surface cleaners and boasts brands such as
dishwashing soap Palmolive and Ajax cleaner, which are brand leaders. Colgate also
incorporates a premium pet food division, Hill, which produces the leading Science Diet brand.
The company posted $9.3 billion in sales in 2000 and employed more than 38,000 employees.
Personal Life
Colgate was born January 25, 1783, in Hollingsbourne parish, Kent, England, to Robert Colgate,
a gentleman farmer, and Sarah Bowles. The family immigrated to the United States in 1795.
Colgate married Mary Gilbert in 1811, and the couple had sons Samuel, Robert, and James
Boorman. Colgate was a devout Baptist from 1808 on and donated a tenth of his earnings to
support missionary work and education. He donated generously to such organizations as the
Hamilton Literary and Theological Seminary in Hamilton, New York , which, by 1846, owed
half its property to donations by Colgate and his company. The seminary had since become
Madison University and was renamed Colgate University in his honor in 1890. Colgate helped
organize the American Bible Society in 1816 with the aim of providing Bibles for every
household in America. He also assisted in founding the American Baptist Home Mission Society
in 1832, to spread the Gospel throughout North America; the American and Foreign Bible
Society, serving as the organization's treasurer for thirteen years; and the American Bible Union
in 1850, which offered its Revised Version of the Bible that emphasized Baptist beliefs. Colgate
died in New York City , New York, in 1857. He withdrew from the Baptist church in 1838 and
aided in the organization of a society which built the Tabernacle.
At the age of twelve, Colgate's family immigrated to the United States in order for his father,
who spoke out against King George III in support of the French Revolution, to avoid charges of
treason. They settled in an estate in Hartford County, Maryland, near Baltimore. They lost the
house two years later after a discovery that they did not have clear title to the estate. The family
then moved to Randolph County, West Virginia, where his father worked at farming and coal
mining. His prospects dim, Robert Colgate moved the family back to Baltimore where he and
William partnered with soap and candle maker Robert Mather. William was sparsely educated in
England as well as in America and became a tallow chandler at age fifteen, which involved
making candles using animal fat, in 1798. The Colgates' partnership with Mather did not last
long and ended two years later but steered young William into what would become a very
successful career.
After the break–up with Mather, the Colgate family moved again, to Ossining, New York, but
William stayed behind in Baltimore, opening his own soap and candle shop. At that time in
America, most people made their own soap by boiling a mixture of ash and tallow or fat. The
soap was crude and harsh on the skin. Unlike in France and England, commercially–made soap
in America at that time was little better, as the scientific process of converting a fat to soap
through alkali was little known. Colgate realized there was a need for inexpensive, quality soap
that could be mass produced. In 1803, Colgate closed the doors on his business and headed to
New York where he joined John Slidell & company, a soap and candle manufacturer. Colgate,
who began as a candle maker with the company, worked his way up to business manager.

Career Details
Colgate left Slidell in 1806 to found his own business, William Colgate & Company, on Dutch
Street in New York City. To help with costs, Colgate was a one–person act in the business, doing
all the manufacturing, buying, selling, delivering, and accounting. He began by selling mainly
laundry soap but then began making hand soaps as well. He promoted sales by offering free
delivery of his lime and tallow soap mixtures to local housewives. He sold an interest in the
company to Francis Smith, who became his partner, in 1807. The 1807 and 1809 passage of the
Embargo and Non–Intercourse Acts, respectively, aided the fledgling company by barring most
competing European imports from vying with their soap market. From the profits of his growing
business, Colgate bought a farm in Delaware County, New York. By 1812 he had amassed
$5,000 and considered himself wealthy.
Soap itself was not new but had been produced by people since biblical times, and tallow soap
had been made since around the eighth century. Soapmaking, however, even in Colgate's time
was hard work. Water had to be boiled in large kettles, and the mixture had to be stirred by hand.
Large chunks of soap were produced by this method, which then had to be cut with a knife into
smaller pieces. The soaps of the time were harsh and often had a pungent odor. Colgate found a
way to produce a better grade of soap, however, through saponification, which allowed the
production of a variety of soaps and glycerin from combining tallow and oils.
Chronology: William Colgate
1783: Born.
1795: Came to the U.S.
1806: Founded William Colgate & Company.
1811: Married wife Mary Gilbert.
1817: Became New York's leading soapmaker.
1817: First Colgate ad appeared in a New York newspaper.
1838: Renamed business Colgate & Company.
1845: Constructed largest soap–boiling pan in existence.
1847: Moved operations to a plant in New Jersey.
1857: Died.
Over the next four years Colgate's company was steadily producing better quality soap that was
affordable, and by 1817, he had grown to become the leading soapmaker in New York as well as
a viable competitor abroad. His first advertisement ran that year in a New York newspaper
offering "Soap, Mould & Dipt Candles." In 1820 he began manufacturing starch with his
brother–in–law John Gilbert. For a time, he had the one of the country's largest starch factories
before he later abandoned starch making altogether. Colgate then hit on a way to broaden his
market and improve sales: scented soaps. The scented products Colgate formulated caught on
and prompted the 1845 creation of what was dubbed "Colgate's Folly," a 43,000–pound capacity
soap–boiling pan which several guessed to be the largest of its kind. Critics thought the
construction of the pan would sink the company, but by 1847 Colgate was expanding his
business even further by moving his company to a bigger, better–equipped plant in Jersey City,
New Jersey, and formulating a line of premium hand soaps in 1850. His son Samuel also joined
the company, which was renamed Colgate & Co. He remained a vital part of his company until
1856 and died in New York City on March 25, 1857.
Colgate, who has been described as an exceptionally good–natured, generous, and honest man,
enjoyed a prosperous business during his entire career with Colgate & Co., which continued even
after his death as the business continued to be successfully guided by his sons. Six years after
Colgate's death, the company began manufacturing Cashmere Bouquet, the first milled perfume
toilet soap to be registered as a trademark. In 1873 the company produced its first toothpaste,
which was sold in jars. They revolutionized the product in 1896, when they introduced
toothpaste packaged in a collapsible tube, much like modern toothpaste.
Colgate rival B. J. Johnson Soap Company, founded in 1864 and located in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, was about to become part of Colgate's destiny. In 1898 the company debuted
Palmolive soap, a product that was selling so well, that B. J. Johnson decided to rename the
company the Palmolive Company in 1916. The company merged with Palmolive–Peet Company
in 1928 to become Colgate–Palmolive Company, which it remains to this day.
By its 100th anniversary, Colgate & Co. offered more than 3,000 different soaps, dental care
products, 625 varieties of perfumes, and related products. In 1906 the company launched a plant
expansion at its Jersey City site, and a new eight–story factory was opened on the site. A few
years later, in 1910, the entire Colgate operation moved from the original site on Dutch and John
streets into Jersey City. The first renowned Colgate clock was installed in 1908 on the roof of
one of Colgate's factories in Jersey City. It was 37 feet in diameter and spanned an area of 1,104
square feet. The original Colgate clock, which became a landmark on the New Jersey
Waterfront, was moved in 1924 to a new Colgate factory in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and replaced
with another, larger clock. The new octagon shaped clock measured 1,963.5 square feet with a
25–foot–10–inch–long minute hand and a 20–foot–long hour hand. The timepiece is still one of
the largest single–faced clocks in the world.
All three of Colgate's sons followed their father's path of success, albeit in different areas. His
son Samuel continued running the family business and vastly expanded it during his period of
leadership. His son Robert went on to head the Atlantic White Lead Works in Brooklyn, New
York, and his son James Boorman founded the banking firm of J. B. Colgate & Co. on Wall
Street in New York City.

Social and Economic Impact

Colgate vastly improved soap and the soapmaking process in his day, bringing better quality,
affordable soaps to the American market at a price anyone could afford. The saponification
process he utilized helped revolutionize the industry in the United States, which grew and thrived
as his company was doing the same. He introduced "fancy"soaps, perfumed soaps and toiletries
to the market. With an incredible business acumen, he was continuously prosperous throughout
his entire career in soapmaking, even through the War of 1812. Through his company, Colgate &
Company, he helped create what is today a billion dollar industry which includes detergents,
soaps, cleansers, and personal cleaning products like toothpaste. The foundations he laid down
for Colgate–Palmolive were key in building the nearly 200–year–old company into a $9 billion
dollar industry leader with products and brands known worldwide.
Colgate was not only a renowned entrepreneur but was also a notable philanthropist and one of
the most prominent members of the Baptist church for many years. His sizable donations to the
Hamilton Literary and Theological Seminary gave the organization more than half its property
by 1846 when it had become Madison University. To honor those contributions, the university
was renamed Colgate University in 1890. He also donated a tenth of his earnings to various
charitable organizations and helped found such religious organizations as the American Bible
Union and the American and Foreign Bible Society.

Sources of Information
Bibliography
American Business Leaders From Colonial Times to the Present. ABC–CLIO, 1999.
American National Biography. Vol. 5., Oxford University Press, 1999.
Colgate–Palmolive Company. Available at http://www.colgate.com.
"Colgate–Palmolive Company." Hoover's, 2001. Available at http://www.hoovers.com.
"Colgate–Palmolive: Tour—When It Happened" Colgate–Palmolive Company, 2001. Available
at http://www.colgate.com.
"History." Colgate–Palmolive Company, November 2001. Available at http://www.colgate.com.
The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Vol. 8., James T. White & Company, 1906.
Who Was Who in America. Vol. 1., Marquis Who's Who.

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Colgate, William

Copyright © 2002 by

William Colgate
Born: 25-Jan-1783
Birthplace: Hollingbourn, Kent, England
Died: 25-Jan-1857
Location of death: New York City
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY
Gender: Male
Religion: Baptist
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Business, Philanthropist
Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Toothpaste empirebuilder
William Colgate came to America with his family when he was a teenager, and settled in
Baltimore, where he worked as an apprentice to a soap-boiler. Eventually relocating to New
York City, he worked as a candlemaker, and in 1806 he went into business for himself, selling
soap, candles, and starch. After several years of financial struggle, William Colgate & Company
prospered in the 1820s selling Windsor toilet soaps and Pearl starch. Thirteen years after his
death in 1857, the company began selling toothpaste, and in 1893 it introduced toothpaste in a
tube.
Colgate was a Baptist deacon, and one of the founders and principle underwriters of the Baptist
Education Society of the State of New York, which, after his death, was renamed Colgate
University in his honor. His son, Samuel Colgate, succeeded him as President of Colgate &
Company, and his grandson, Gilbert Colgate, won the Bronze Medal in the bobsled competition
at the 1936 Olympics.
Father: Robert Colgate (farmer, d. 1805)
Mother: Sarah Bowles Colgate (m. 1740, d. 1840)
Brother: Bowles Colgate
Sister: Maria Colgate
Wife: Mary Gilbert Colgate (m. 1811)
Son: Samuel Colgate (President of Colgate & Company, b. 1822, d. 1898)
Son: Robert Colgate (b. 1812, d. 1885)
Son: James Boorman Colgate (banker, b. 1818, d. 1897)
Colgate-Palmolive Founder & President (1806-1857)
Naturalized US Citizen
English Ancestry
Official Website:
http://www.colgate.com/

Colgate-Palmolive Company
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300 Park Avenue

New York, New York 10022-7499
U.S.A.
Telephone: (212) 310-2000
Toll Free: (800) 850-2654
Fax: (212) 310-2475
Web site: http://www.colgate.com
Public Company
Incorporated: 1806 as The Colgate Company
Employees: 36,000
Sales: $10.58 billion (2004)
Stock Exchanges: New York Euronext Frankfurt London Zurich
Ticker Symbol: CL
NAIC: 311111 Dog and Cat Food Manufacturing; 325611 Soap and Other Detergent
Manufacturing; 325612 Polish and Other Sanitation Good Manufacturing; 325620 Toilet
Preparation Manufacturing; 325998 All Other Miscellaneous Chemical Product and Preparation
Manufacturing; 335211 Electric Housewares and Household Fan Manufacturing; 339994 Broom,
Brush, and Mop Manufacturing
Colgate-Palmolive Company's growth from a small candle and soap manufacturer to one of the
most powerful consumer products giants in the world is the result of aggressive acquisition of
other companies, persistent attempts to overtake its major U.S. competition, and an early
emphasis on building a global presence overseas where little competition existed. The company
is organized around four core segments—oral care, personal care, home care, and pet nutrition—
that market such well-known brands as Colgate toothpaste, Irish Spring soap, Softsoap liquid
soap, Mennen deodorant, Palmolive and Ajax dishwashing liquid, Ajax cleanser, Murphy's oil
soap, Fab laundry detergent, Soupline and Suavitel fabric softeners, and Hill's Science Diet and
Hill's Prescription Diet pet foods. Colgate-Palmolive has operations in more than 200 countries
and generates about 70 percent of its revenue outside the United States.

Beginnings
In 1806, when the company was founded by 23-year-old William Colgate, it concentrated
exclusively on selling starch, soap, and candles from its New York City-based factory and shop.
Upon entering his second year of business, Colgate became partners with Francis Smith, and the
company became Smith and Colgate, a name it kept until 1812 when Colgate purchased Smith's
share of the company and offered a partnership to his brother, Bowles Colgate. Now called
William Colgate and Company, the firm expanded its manufacturing operations to a Jersey City,
New Jersey, factory in 1820; this factory produced Colgate's two major products, Windsor toilet
soaps and Pearl starch.
Upon its founder's death in 1857, the firm changed its name to Colgate & Company and was run
by President Samuel Colgate until his death 40 years later. During his tenure several new
products were developed, including perfumes, essences, and perfumed soap. The manufacture of
starch was discontinued in 1866 after a fire destroyed the factory.
In 1873 Colgate began selling toothpaste in a jar, followed 23 years later by the introduction of
Colgate Ribbon Dental Cream, in the now familiar collapsible tube. By 1906 the company was
also producing several varieties of laundry soap, toilet paper, and perfumes. Colgate & Company
shifted its headquarters to Jersey City in 1910.
While the Colgate family managed its manufacturing operations on the East Coast, soap factories
were also opened in 1864 by B.J. Johnson in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (under the name B.J.
Johnson Soap Company), and in 1872 by the three Peet brothers in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1898
Johnson's company introduced Palmolive soap, which soon became the best-selling soap in the
world and led the firm to change its name to the Palmolive Company in 1916. The Peets, who
sold laundry soap mainly in the Midwest and western states, merged their company (Peet
Brothers) with Palmolive in 1926, forming Palmolive-Peet Company. Two years later that firm
joined with Colgate & Company to form Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company, with headquarters in
Jersey City. Palmolive-Peet's management initially assumed control of the combined
organization.
On October 25, 1929, management signed an agreement to merge the company with Kraft
Phenix Cheese Corporation (forerunner of Kraft Foods) and Hershey Chocolate Company. The
three companies would continue to operate independently, but they would become subsidiaries
of a holding company slated to be called International Quality Products Corporation. Just four
days after the deal was signed, however, the stock market crashed, forcing the huge
amalgamation to be scuttled. In the wake of the crash, the Colgate family regained control of
Colgate-Palmolive-Peet and installed Bayard Colgate as president in 1933.

International Expansion
Colgate & Company had been a pioneer in establishing international operations, creating a
Canadian subsidiary in 1913 and one in France in 1920. In the early 1920s the firm expanded
into Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Mexico. Colgate or its successor firm next
created subsidiaries in the Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa in the late 1920s. In
1937 the company moved into India and by the end of the 1940s had operations in most of South
America. By 1939 Colgate-Palmolive-Peet's sales hit $100 million.
In the 1940s and 1950s the company also built upon its strategy of growth by acquisition, buying
up a number of smaller consumer product companies. Organic growth remained on the agenda as
well, and in 1947 the company introduced two of its best-known products, Fab detergent and
Ajax cleanser. These acquisitions and new products, however, did little to close the gap between
Colgate and its arch-rival, the Procter & Gamble Company, a firm that had been formed in the
1830s and had by now assumed a commanding lead over Colgate in selling detergent products in
the United States. Meanwhile, the firm adopted its present name in 1953 and moved its offices
for domestic and international operations to New York City in 1956.
In 1960 George H. Lesch was appointed Colgate's president in the hopes that his international
experience would produce similar success in the domestic market. Under his leadership, the
company embarked upon an extensive new product development program that created such
brands as Cold Power laundry detergent, Palmolive dishwashing liquid, and Ultra Brite
toothpaste. In an attempt to expand beyond these traditional, highly competitive businesses into
new growth areas, Colgate also successfully introduced a new food wrap called Baggies in 1963.
As a result of these product launches, the company's sales grew between 8 and 9 percent every
year throughout the 1960s. Sales topped the $1 billion mark in 1967.
Lesch assumed the chairmanship of Colgate, and David Foster became president in 1970 and
CEO in 1971. Foster was the son of the founder of Colgate-Palmolive's U.K. operations. He
joined the company in 1946 as a management trainee and rose through the sales and marketing
ranks both in the United States and overseas.

New Strategies for the 1970s

During the 1970s, as environmental concerns about phosphate and enzyme detergent products
grew, the company faced additional pressure to diversify beyond the detergent business. In
response to this pressure, Foster instituted a strategy that emphasized internal development via a
specialized new venture group; joint ventures for marketing other companies' products; and
outright acquisitions of businesses in which Colgate could gain a marketing advantage over
Procter & Gamble. In 1971, for example, the company began selling British Wilkinson Sword
Company razors and blades in the United States and other countries. In 1972 Colgate-Palmolive
acquired Kendall & Company, a manufacturer of hospital and industrial supplies. It was
originally hoped that the Kendall acquisition would bolster the pharmaceutical sales of Colgate's
Lakeside Laboratories subsidiary, which had been acquired in 1960. The partnership never
materialized, however, and Lakeside was sold in 1974. The Kendall business proved to be one of
Foster's most successful acquisitions. Within two years, the subsidiary was producing sales and
earnings results well above the company's targeted goals. On the product development side,
meanwhile, Irish Spring deodorant soap was introduced in 1972.
In 1971 the U.S. Federal Trade Commission enacted restrictions on in-store product promotions,
such as couponing. In response to these restrictions, Foster began to employ other tactics
designed to enhance Colgate's visibility in the marketplace. Two such programs awarded money
to schools and local civic groups whose young people collected the most labels and boxtops from
selected Colgate products. Under Foster, Colgate-Palmolive also began to sponsor a number of
women's sporting events, including the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle, a women's
professional golf tournament. Foster chose women's sports in an effort to appeal to Colgate-
Palmolive's primarily female customer base. He even went so far as to have Colgate buy the
tournament's home course, the Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California, so that
he could supervise the maintenance of the greens.
In 1973 Colgate acquired Helena Rubinstein, a major cosmetics manufacturer with strong
foreign sales but a weak U.S. presence. Believing that its marketing expertise could solve
Rubinstein's problems, Colgate reduced both the number of products in the company's line and
the number of employees in its workforce, increased advertising expenditures, and moved the
products out of drugstores and into department stores. The following year the company acquired
Ram Golf Corporation and Bancroft Racket Company, and in 1976 it bought Charles A. Eaton
Company, a golf and tennis shoe manufacturer.
Company Perspectives:
Our long history of strong performance comes from absolute focus on our core global
businesses, combined with a successful worldwide financial strategy. This financial strategy is
designed to increase gross profit margin and reduce costs in order to fund growth initiatives and
generate greater profitability.
Although total U.S. sales of consumer products appeared to be slowing by the end of 1974,
particularly in soaps and detergents, Colgate's international sales continued to carry the company
forward. It maintained its leadership position abroad through new product development geared
specifically to local tastes throughout Europe as well as through its involvement in the growing
markets of less-developed countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Setbacks Beginning in the Late 1970s

Foster's diversification strategy initially improved earnings, but Colgate's domestic sales, market
share, and profit margins were beginning to soften. This was due, in large part, to an economic
recession and an advertising cutback the company had made in an attempt to boost earnings.
Colgate was consistently losing the marketing battle in personal care products to Procter &
Gamble. It had no leading brands and few successful new product introductions because of
reduced spending for research and development. In an effort to remedy this problem and broaden
its product mix, Colgate moved into food marketing in 1976 with the acquisition of Riviana
Foods, a major producer of Texas long-grain rice with its own subsidiaries in pet food (Hill's Pet
Products), kosher hot dogs (Hebrew National Kosher Foods), and candy. The Riviana
acquisition, however, did not live up to the company's expectations. Along with purchasing a
successful rice-milling business, Colgate found that it had also saddled itself with two
unprofitable restaurant chains and a low-quality candy company. In 1977 declines in the price of
rice seriously eroded Riviana's cash flow.
Helena Rubinstein created additional headaches. Whereas other cosmetic manufacturers had
moved their products from department store distribution to higher-volume drugstores, Colgate's
management elected to keep Rubinstein products in department stores even though stores'
demands for marketing support eroded the company's margins so severely that it lost money on
every cosmetic item sold. Colgate finally sold the business in 1980 to Albi Enterprises.
Foster had become chairman in 1975. In 1979, embattled by a series of marketing failures and
the pressures of an acquisition strategy that yielded more losers than winners, Foster suddenly
resigned, citing ill health. The company's president and chief operating officer, Keith Crane, was
appointed as Foster's successor. A 42-year Colgate employee, Crane quickly instituted a new
management structure consisting of several group vice-presidents, reunited all domestic
operations under one group, and realigned division managers in an attempt to promote a more
cohesive organization. Consumer advertising and product research were given renewed emphasis
to support the company's basic detergent and toothpaste lines.
Over the next two years, Crane sold a number of Foster's acquisitions that no longer fit with the
company's long-term strategic plan, including Hebrew National Kosher Foods, which had been
part of the Riviana purchase; Ram Golf; and the Bancroft Racket Company. Crane also put the
Mission Hills Country Club up for sale and withdrew Colgate's sponsorship of the sporting
events his predecessor had nurtured.
Also during the late 1970s and the 1980s, Colgate found itself named as a defendant in two
lawsuits. In 1981 the company lost a suit brought by United Roasters, who successfully argued
that Colgate had violated the terms of a contract between the two firms for Colgate to market
Bambeanos, a soybean snack produced by United Roasters, and was awarded $950,000. The
following year the company was sued by the federal government for alleged job discrimination.
According to a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
Colgate had failed or refused to hire people between the ages of 40 and 70 since 1978 and had
also deprived employees in that age group of opportunities for promotion.
By the end of 1982 Crane also experienced problems at Colgate. Several attempts at new product
development never made it out of the test-market stage. Increased advertising expenditures for a
limited number of major brands produced only temporary gains in market share while slowly
killing off other products receiving little or no media support. Even Fresh Start detergent, one of
the most successful new products to come out of the Foster era, was having problems retaining
market share. Thus while Procter & Gamble's sales and margins were increasing, Colgate's were
on the decline. To make matters worse, the strong dollar overseas hurt Colgate's international
sales, and changes in Medicare policy weakened Kendall's business.

Key Dates:
1806:

Company is founded by William Colgate in New York to make starch, soap,

and candles.

1857:

After founder's death, company becomes known as Colgate & Company.

1873:

Toothpaste is first marketed.

1896:

Collapsible tubes for toothpaste are introduced.

1898:

B.J. Johnson Soap Company (later renamed Palmolive Company) introduces

Palmolive soap.

1910:

Colgate moves from original location to Jersey City, New Jersey.

1926:

Palmolive merges with Peet Brothers, creating Palmolive-Peet Company.

1928:

Colgate and Palmolive-Peet merge, forming Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company.

1947:

Fab detergent and Ajax cleanser are introduced.

1953:

Company changes its name to Colgate-Palmolive Company.

1956:

Corporate headquarters shifts back to New York.

1966:

Palmolive dishwashing liquid is introduced.

1967:

Sales top $1 billion.

1968:

Colgate toothpaste is reformulated with fluoride; Ultra Brite is introduced.

1976:

Hill's Pet Products is purchased.

1987:

The Softsoap brand of liquid soap is acquired.

1992:

The Mennen Company is acquired; Total toothpaste is introduced overseas.

1995:

Latin American firm Kolynos Oral Care is acquired; Colgate-Palmolive

undergoes major restructuring.

1997:

Total toothpaste is launched in the United States; Colgate takes lead in

domestic toothpaste market.

2004:

Company acquires European oral care firm GABA Holding AG; major
restructuring is launched.
Turnaround Under Reuben Mark, Mid- to Late 1980s
In 1983 Crane relinquished the title of president to Reuben Mark, one of the company's three
executive vice-presidents and a member of Crane's management advisory team. Mark also
assumed the position of chief operating officer at that time; one year later he succeeded Crane as
CEO. Mark built upon his predecessor's restructuring efforts in an attempt to increase profits and
shareholder value. Between 1984 and 1986 several inefficient plants were closed, hundreds of
employees laid off, and noncore businesses sold, including the remnants of the Riviana Foods
acquisition, except for the Hill's Pet Products subsidiary.
In an attempt to refocus the company's marketing and profitability, Mark developed a set of
corporate initiatives intended to address business areas ranging from production-cost reduction to
new product development, with a heavy emphasis on motivating employees and involving them
in company decision-making. In response to the implementation of these ideas, the company's
U.S. toothpaste business enjoyed a boost with first-to-the-market introductions of a gel
toothpaste and a pump-type dispenser bearing the Colgate brand name. Similar U.S. market share
gains were earned by new and improved versions of its Palmolive and Dynamo detergents and
Ajax cleaner. Palmolive automatic dishwashing liquid debuted in 1986.
With the company's turnaround firmly underway, business units managed by key executives
were formed to develop plans for the company's major product categories. The purpose of each
plan was to identify how products under development could be best introduced in domestic and
international markets. Two years into this strategic reorganization, coinciding with Mark's
appointment as chairman in 1986, Colgate confronted an embarrassing controversy.
Since the early 1920s Hawley & Hazel Chemical Company had marketed a product called
Darkie Black and White Toothpaste in the Far East. Colgate had acquired a 50 percent interest in
this company in 1985. The following year, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a
coalition of Protestant and Roman Catholic groups, demanded that Colgate change what it
deemed to be the product's racially offensive name and packaging, which depicted a likeness of
Al Jolson in blackface. The company acknowledged the criticism and agreed to make the
necessary changes.
Colgate also continued to seek out growth areas in its personal care product and detergent
businesses. In 1987 it acquired a line of liquid soap products (including the Softsoap brand) from
Minnetonka Corporation, the first transaction the company had made in the personal care area in
several years. Building upon its success in launching an automatic dishwashing detergent in
liquid form ahead of its competitors, the company also beat Procter & Gamble to the market with
a laundry detergent packaged in a throw-in pouch called Fab 1 Shot, although this product failed
to sustain consumer interest or reach sales expectations over the long term.
Buoyed by product development breakthroughs and a renewed commitment to consumer
products marketing, Colgate sold its Kendall subsidiary and related healthcare businesses in
1988 to Clayton & Dubilier. The sale enabled Colgate to retire some debt, sharpen its focus on
its global consumer products businesses, and invest in new product categories. Moreover, Mark's
global approach enabled the company to maintain its overall profitability despite not having a
leadership position in the United States. Although Colgate lagged behind Procter & Gamble in
the toothpaste category, for example, it held a commanding 40 percent share of the toothpaste
market worldwide.
Mark's strategy appeared to pay off handsomely. By the end of the third quarter of 1989
Colgate's international operations performed strongly while the profitability of its U.S.
operations rose, due mostly to manufacturing-cost economies and greater control over
promotional and sales expenses. Not yet ready to concede the U.S. market for personal care
products to Procter & Gamble, though, Colgate acquired Vipont Pharmaceutical, a manufacturer
of oral-hygiene products, toward the end of that year. Vipont's products, several of which
Colgate had already been marketing overseas, enabled Colgate to strengthen the market position
it had recently established with the introduction of a new tartar-control formula toothpaste.

Major Acquisitions in the 1990s

Colgate continued to make significant acquisitions in the early and mid-1990s while it attempted
to gear up its product development program, which had been unable to introduce more than a
few new products each year. In 1991 Colgate acquired the Murphy-Phoenix Company (whose
top brand was Murphy's Oil Soap) to bolster its household care segment. That same year, Mark
initiated a restructuring aimed at improving the firm's profitability and gross margins, which
lagged behind the industry leaders. A major part of the effort was the elimination or
reconfiguration of 25 factories throughout the world and an 8 percent reduction in the workforce.
Consequently, Colgate took a $243 million charge in September 1991, which reduced
significantly the firm's net income for the full year.
Colgate's most dramatic acquisition to date came in 1992 with the $670 million purchase of the
Mennen Company, which added to its personal care line the top U.S. deodorant brand, Mennen
Speed Stick, and the number two baby-care brand, Baby Magic. In addition, Colgate gained
footholds in skin-care and hair products, and the Mennen brands gained the power of Colgate's
worldwide distribution and marketing reach. This major acquisition was followed in 1993 by the
purchase of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.'s liquid hand and body soap brands in Europe and the
South Pacific, which enabled Colgate to become the worldwide leader in liquid soap.
Gross margins steadily improved in the early 1990s, reaching 48.4 percent by 1994 (up from
39.2 percent in 1984). This provided Colgate with additional funds for research and development
and advertising. The North American sector also experienced gains in gross margins, which
resulted in part from pricing increases on Colgate detergents. In turn, this cut into overall North
American sales, which declined 8 percent from 1993 to 1994. Mark's strategy was to turn North
American sales around through new product introductions such as a variant of Irish Spring soap
and an extension of the Murphy's Oil Soap brand into a Murphy's Kitchen Care line of all-
purpose cleaners. Under the leadership of Lois D. Juliber, who formerly headed up new product
development, the North American sector was able to introduce several products within a short
span for the first time.
A hidden jewel within the Colgate empire in the 1990s was its pet foods sector, Hill's Pet
Nutrition. The worldwide leader in therapeutic and specialty wellness pet food, Hill's enjoyed a
compound annual growth rate of 14.6 percent from 1989 to 1994. During this period the market
for premium pet food increased dramatically in Europe and Japan, with Hill's snatching a
substantial portion of this growth. Overall, pet foods were one of Colgate's leading profit
generators, boasting gross margins of 55 to 60 percent.
Early in 1995 Colgate made another major acquisition with the $1.04 billion purchase of
Kolynos Oral Care from American Home Products, which gained it the Kolynos toothpaste
brand, the top brand in Brazil and a leader in several other Latin American countries. This
purchase pushed Colgate's share of the Latin American oral-care market from 54 percent to 79
percent.
In September 1995 Colgate announced another major restructuring of its operations to close or
reconfigure 24 additional factories and cut 3,000 more employees (more than 8 percent of the
workforce). Mark said the action was necessary to finance new growth initiatives; Colgate took a
$369 million charge as a result. The 1995 figures were also affected by a deepening recession in
Mexico, which had accounted for 11 percent of sales and 20 percent of profits in 1994.

Boosting Sales with the Introduction of Total

Beginning in the late 1980s, Colgate had begun development of a toothpaste that contained a
gingivitis-fighting antimicrobial agent, triclosan. Researchers found a way to use polymers to
bind triclosan to teeth for up to 14 hours, allowing users to fight bleeding gums and bad breath
continuously with only two brushings a day. The company began marketing the product overseas
in 1992 under the name Total, eventually distributing it to 100 countries. The toothpaste was a
major success, and enabled Colgate to increase its worldwide share of that market segment.
In the United States, however, introduction of Total was held up by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), which required extensive tests to prove the product's effectiveness before
Colgate could make gingivitis-fighting claims on package labels. After some five years the
agency granted final approval, and Total reached store shelves in December 1997. The company
backed it with a $100 million marketing blitz, its largest product introduction to date.
The response was even stronger than anticipated, and cemented Colgate's place as leader of the
U.S. toothpaste market, a position it had actually reached in the months prior to Total's
introduction. This was the first time since 1962 that ACNielsen's rankings had shown Colgate on
top. Following the successful launch, the company's profits and stock price climbed steadily. In
December 1998 the FDA also approved a variant of Total, Total Fresh Stripe, which reached
stores several months later. A year after Total's release it was the number one toothpaste brand in
the United States. Competitors such as Procter & Gamble, which already marketed a triclosan-
based toothpaste in Canada, were prevented from mounting a quick response by the lengthy FDA
approval process. Powered by Total and the strong U.S. economy, Colgate continued to do well
in 1999, with record earnings approaching the $1 billion mark.

New Challenges in the Early 2000s

Under Mark's continued leadership, Colgate-Palmolive maintained its momentum into the early
2000s. By keeping a tight rein on costs, the company boosted its gross profit margin to 54.6
percent by 2002, when net income reached $1.29 billion on sales of $9.29 billion. On the new
product front, the Colgate Actibrush battery-powered toothbrush was brought to market in 2000,
soon followed by products in the burgeoning at-home tooth-whitening sector, such as Simply
White gel and Total Plus Whitening toothpaste. In pet food, the company in 2002 introduced
Hill's Science Diet Nature's Best, a new line of premium dog and cat food made with natural
ingredients.
Long unable to compete with Procter & Gamble in that firm's mainstay detergent lines, Colgate
pulled back from that sector in certain markets. In 2001 it sold its detergent business in Mexico,
headed by the Viva brand, to Henkel KGaA, and then two years later off-loaded its European
detergent brands to Procter & Gamble. In 2004 Colgate sold its detergent business in Ecuador
and Peru. In June of that year, the company completed its first major acquisition since the 1995
purchase of Kolynos. Colgate spent $866 million for GABA Holding AG, a privately held
European oral care company based in Switzerland. GABA, operating in 15 countries, had annual
sales of about $300 million. Its strength in the pharmacy channel complemented Colgate's
leading presence in the European retail market. The addition of GABA boosted Colgate's share
of the European toothpaste market to 33 percent.
Although revenues increased another 7 percent in 2004, topping the $10 billion mark for the first
time, profits fell 7 percent, to $1.33 billion. Intense global competition—particularly from a
resurgent Procter & Gamble—forced Colgate to allocate additional money for advertising, and
the firm also had to contend with increased raw material and packaging costs and the growing
power of discount retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. who were forcing consumer product
makers to hold the line on price increases. To free up funds for marketing initiatives and new
product development efforts, Colgate launched a sweeping restructuring in December 2004, its
first major overhaul since 1995. The latest reorganization, a four-year program, aimed to
generate between $250 million and $300 million in after-tax cost savings by 2008 by closing 26
of the firm's 78 factories around the world and eliminating about 12 percent of the workforce, or
more than 4,400 jobs. Cumulative after-tax restructuring charges of between $550 million and
$650 million were anticipated. As part of the restructuring, further divestments of noncore lines
were very possible. As Colgate continued to deemphasize its detergent business, it seemed likely
to seek buyers for its Fab and Ajax brands. Just as the restructuring began, however, Colgate
faced the prospect of an even more formidable chief foe. Procter & Gamble reached an
agreement to acquire The Gillette Company in January 2005 for $57 billion, which would add
Gillette's Oral-B toothbrushes and toothpastes to P&G's Crest line. This deal was likely to
compound the competitive pressures that Colgate-Palmolive faced, making the successful
implementation of the restructuring that much more important.

Principal Subsidiaries
Colgate Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.; Colgate (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd. (China); Colgate Oral
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive (America), Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive (Asia) Pte. Ltd.
(Singapore); Colgate-Palmolive Argentina S.A.; Colgate-Palmolive A/S (Denmark); Colgate-
Palmolive Belgium S.A./N.V.; Colgate-Palmolive Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Germany);
Colgate-Palmolive Canada, Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive (Central America), Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive
(Centro America) S.A. (Guatemala); Colgate-Palmolive Chile S.A.; Colgate-Palmolive Cia.;
Colgate-Palmolive (Hellas) S.A.I.C. (Greece); Colgate-Palmolive Compania Anonima
(Venezuela); Colgate-Palmolive Company, Distr. (Puerto Rico); Colgate-Palmolive del Ecuador
S.A.I.C.; Colgate-Palmolive de Puerto Rico, Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive Deutschland Holding
GmbH (Germany); Colgate-Palmolive (Dominican Republic), Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive (Eastern)
Pte. Ltd. (Singapore); Colgate-Palmolive España, S.A./N.V. (Spain); Colgate-Palmolive Europe
S.A. (Belgium); Colgate-Palmolive Europe Sarl (Switzerland); Colgate-Palmolive G.m.b.H.
(Germany); Colgate-Palmolive (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. (China); Colgate-Palmolive (H.K.) Ltd.
(Hong Kong); Colgate-Palmolive Holding Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive Holdings (UK) Limited;
Colgate-Palmolive Holding S. Com. p.a. (Spain); Colgate-Palmolive Inc. S.A. (Uruguay);
Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited; Colgate-Palmolive Industria e Comercio Ltda. (Brazil);
Colgate-Palmolive Industrial Unipessoal, Lda. (Portugal); Colgate-Palmolive International LLC;
Colgate-Palmolive Investments, Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive Ltd. (New Zealand); Colgate-Palmolive
(Malaysia) Sdn Bhd; Colgate-Palmolive (Marketing) Sdn Bhd (Malaysia); Colgate-Palmolive
Nederland BV (Netherlands); Colgate-Palmolive Norge A/S (Norway); Colgate-Palmolive
Philippines, Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive (Poland) Sp. z 0.0.; Colgate-Palmolive Pty Limited
(Australia); Colgate-Palmolive (Pty) Limited (South Africa); Colgate-Palmolive Services, S.A.
(France); Colgate-Palmolive, S.A. de C.V. (Mexico); Colgate-Palmolive S.p.A. (Italy); Colgate-
Palmolive Temizlik Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret, A.S. (Turkey); Colgate-Palmolive (Thailand)
Ltd.; Colgate Sanxiao Company Limited (China); Cotelle S.A. (France); CPIF Venture, Inc.;
GABA Holdings Delaware, LLC; GABA Holding A.G. (Switzerland); Hawley & Hazel
Chemical Company (HK) Limited (Hong Kong); Hawley & Hazel Chemical Company
(Zhongshou) Limited (China); Hawley & Hazel Chemical (Taiwan) Corporation Ltd.; Hill's Pet
Nutrition, Inc.; Hill's Pet Nutrition Indiana, Inc.; Hill's Pet Nutrition Limited (U.K.); Hill's Pet
Nutrition Sales, Inc.; Hill's Pet Nutrition Manufacturing, B.V. (Netherlands); Hill's Pet Nutrition
SNC (France); Hill's Pet Products, Inc.; Hill's-Colgate (Japan) Ltd.; Inmobiliara Hills, S.A. de
C.V. (Mexico); Kolynos Corporation; Mission Hills, S.A. de C.V. (Mexico); Norwood
International Incorporated; Softsoap Enterprises, Inc.

Principal Competitors
The Procter & Gamble Company; Unilever; The Clorox Company; S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.;
The Gillette Company; Johnson & Johnson; Alberto-Culver Company; Reckitt Benckiser plc;
Sara Lee Corporation; Church & Dwight Co., Inc.; The Dial Corporation.

Further Reading
Abelson, Alan, "Colgate-Palmolive: Overseas Markets Have Put New Sparkle in a Century-Old
Concern," Barron's, November 25, 1957, pp. 15+.
Behar, Richard, "Colgate's Challenge," Forbes, October 3, 1988, pp. 39+.
Byrne, John A., "Becalmed," Forbes, December 20, 1982, pp. 48+.
Campanella, Frank W., "Soap to Nuts: Colgate-Palmolive Is Steadily Broadening Its Product
Mix," Barron's, February 23, 1976, pp. 9+.
"Colgate's Outlook Glows on Rapid Gains Overseas," Barron's, January 4, 1960, pp. 20+.
"Colgate: Time to Brush Up That Bottom Line," Business Week, November 11, 1985, pp. 134+.
Dash, Eric, "Colgate to Cut Jobs and Use Savings to Spur Sales," New York Times, December 8,
2004, p. C1.
Doherty, Jacqueline, "Colgate Squeezed: But Future Looks Brighter," Barron's, September 27,
2004, p. 14.
——, "Colgate's Revenge: After Ceding Market Share to P&G, the Toothpaste Titan Is Brushing
Up Its Defenses," Barron's, April 19, 2004, pp. 19–20.
——, "Fighting Profit Decay," Barron's, April 9, 2001, pp. 17–18.
Ellison, Sarah, "Colgate's Fight for Market Share Will Likely Erode Profit," Wall Street Journal,
December 13, 2004, p. C1.
——, "Colgate to Cut 12% of Work Force and Close a Third of Its Factories," Wall Street
Journal, December 8, 2004, p. A3.
——, "New Task for Colgate CEO: Grooming His Replacement," Wall Street Journal, July 12,
2004, p. B1.
Foster, David R., The Story of Colgate-Palmolive: One Hundred and Sixty-Nine Years of
Progress, New York: Newcomen Society in North America, 1975, 40 p.
Grant, Linda, "Outmarketing P&G," Fortune, January 12, 1998, p. 150.
Hager, Bruce, "Can Colgate Import Its Success from Overseas?," Business Week, May 7, 1990,
pp. 114, 116.
——, "Colgate: Oh What a Difference a Year Can Make," Business Week, March 23, 1992, pp.
90–91.
Kindel, Stephen, "The Bundle Book: At Reuben Mark's Colgate, Attention to Small Details
Creates Large Profits," Financial World, January 5, 1993, pp. 34–35.
Menzies, Hugh D., "The Changing of the Guard at Colgate," Fortune, September 24, 1979, p. 92.
Morgenson, Gretchen, "Is Efficiency Enough?," Forbes, March 18, 1991, pp. 108–09.
Nayyar, Seema, "Colgate Buys Its Way Back into the Game," Adweek, February 17, 1992.
O'Connell, Vanessa, and Bill Platt, "Colgate to Acquire GABA in Europe," Wall Street Journal,
December 19, 2003, p. B4.
Ono, Yumiko, "Colgate Slates Cuts in Jobs and a Charge," Wall Street Journal, September 21,
1995, p. A3.
Parker-Pope, Tara, "Colgate Places a Huge Bet on a Germ-Fighter," Wall Street Journal,
December 29, 1997, p. B1.
——, "Colgate Puts Lois Juliber in Line for Top," Wall Street Journal, January 20, 1997, p. B1.
Rudnitsky, Howard, "Making His Mark," Forbes, September 26, 1994, pp. 47–48.
Sasseen, Jane A., and Zachary Schiller, "For Colgate-Palmolive, It's Time for Trench Warfare,"
Business Week, September 19, 1994, pp. 56–57.
Schwartz, Nelson D., "Colgate Cleans Up," Fortune, April 16, 2001, p. 179.
——, "Colgate's Reuben Misses the Mark," Fortune, October 18, 2004, p. 46.
Steinbreder, H. John, "The Man Brushing Up Colgate's Image," Fortune, May 11, 1987, pp.
106+.
—Sandy Schusteff
—updates: Frank Uhle;
David E. Salamie

Read more: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/Ci-Da/Colgate-Palmolive-

Company.html#ixzz1DSQwIIC0

William Colgate was English

Born in Hollingbourn, Kent, England, Colgate was the second son of Robert Colgate
and his wife Sarah (nee Bowles).

Robert Colgate (1758-1826) was an 18th century English farmer, politician and
sympathiser with the American War of Independence and French Revolution whose
republican ideals forced him to leave their farm in Shoreham, Kent in March 1798
and flee to Baltimore in the United States of America, after which the family settled
on a farm in Hartford County, Maryland. Colgate formed a partnership with Ralph
Maher to manufacture soap and candles, and William helped the two men, but the
partnership dissolved after two years and Robert Colgate returned to farming.

William, however, decided to resurrect the soap business. His first attempt failed
but he tried again. Colgate & Company started in 1806 when William Colgate
opened a starch, soap, and candle business on Dutch Street in New York City. This
was the beginning of the the first great soap-making concern in the United States.

A smart girl having a number of boyfriends

Yeh hai hamara suraksha chakra - Colgate.