The U.S. market for I&I cleaning ingredients used in hotels, restaurants, and catering (HoReCa) is expected to flourish and serve as the industry’s bright spot over the next several years.
After the pandemic ravaged this sector due to the temporary or permanent closure of hotels and food service businesses, demand for I&I cleaning products declined swiftly. But the segment started to recover in 2021 and now, it’s expected to be the fastest-growing segment, driven by the U.S.’s gradual return to normal activity fueled further by pent up demand for travel, dining, and events.
So how are the other U.S. markets for I&I cleaning ingredients expected to fare “post COVID-19”? According to Carlos Ruiz, Project Lead in our Chemicals sector, it won’t be business as usual, and there will be some surprising changes impacting overall demand as well as ingredient choices.
Healthcare: If any one industry sector exploded in demand for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces in the height of COVID – it was indeed the healthcare sector. Nursing homes, hospitals, medical offices, and more were working in overdrive to keep their operations safe and as possible COVID free. Now in 2022 and beyond, growth has slowed dramatically with demand falling to close to pre-pandemic levels. The one segment that is however performing with vigor is surgical I&I cleaners due to a significant uptick in procedures that were postponed during most of 2020. Ingredients benefitting from this include peracetic acid, glutaraldehyde, and enzymes – all utilized to clean and disinfect surgical equipment.
Building care: Just like in the HoReCa segment, demand for I&I cleaning products in building care decreased due to lockdown, along with public and institutional facilities being visited by the public on a much less-frequent basis. Now, with most restrictions lifted, building care is expected to grow at a faster pace in the next five years compared to other segments. Still, further growth will be hindered by work-from-home regimes generated through the pandemic.
Food and beverage processing: While this industry is forecast to continue growing in the next five years, Ruiz says it will rise more slowly compared to other segments. “Hygiene standards in this industry are expected to remain higher compared to pre-pandemic,” Ruiz says, “but with COVID-19 not the threat it once was, those standards will be lowered and return to a level closer to pre-pandemic level.”
Commercial laundry: According to Ruiz, this segment has been impacted in different ways, depending on the end-use industry. “While demand for commercial laundry services from private individuals, food service, and hospitality industries was severely impacted by the pandemic, demand from industrial and healthcare facilities has been more resilient,” he says. Now, with the most-affected industries recovering, growth of the commercial laundry sector in the next five years will increase. Another reason for the growth? “More establishments and institutions are outsourcing some or all of their laundry to commercial laundries as a cost-savings efficiency,” Ruiz notes.
For more information about the market for I&I cleaning ingredients, be on the lookout for our upcoming Ingredients in I&I Cleaning: Cross-Segment Analysis and Opportunities reports, which will cover approximately 100 ingredients covered within 12 ingredient groups. The U.S. edition is set for publication in June, as are analyses that will cover Brazil, Europe, and China.
