Midterm: Colgate

“For more than 200 years, Colgate people and Colgate values have been at the heart of our success. We are proud of the powerful strategies and sharp focus which drive our success today. Thanks to all Colgate people, our consumers and business partners for their contributions in helping us to become strong, focused and truly global company we are today.” –Ian Cook, Chairman, President and CEO 1

Back in 1806, William Colgate began a starch, soap and candle business in New York City. In 1857, after the death of William Colgate, the company was renamed “Colgate & Company” and was managed by his son, Samuel Colgate. A few years later in 1864, B.J. Johnson opened a soap factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The factory would later become Palmolive. In 1873, Colgate introduced toothpaste in a jars and later in collapsible tubes in 1896. Finally, in 1900, Colgate won top honors for its remarkable soaps and perfumes at the World’s Fair in Paris.

After 100 years of business, the five sons of Samuel Colgate incorporated Colgate. Colgate then distributed two million tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes to schools around the US and provided hygienists to demonstrate how to properly brush teeth. By the 1920s, Colgate began establishing business in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Near the end of the 1920s, Colgate merged with Palmolive and was first listed on the NY stock exchange in 1930.

“Today, with sales surpassing $15 billion, Colgate focuses on four core businesses: Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care and Pet Nutrition. Colgate now sells its products in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.” 2

Colgate-Palmolive is now a highly valued, award winning company. In 1996, Colgate’s program “Bright Smiles, Bright Futures” (an oral health education program) spread to fifty countries and now reaches over fifty million children each year. The awards Colgate-Palmolive have received have been numerous and global. Some of these include “100 Best Companies to Work For,” “Best Companies for Minorities,” Top 50 Employers” and “Global Most Admired Companies” from Fortune Magazine and Equal Opportunity Publications.


“Our three fundamental values — Caring, Global Teamwork and Continuous Improvement — are part of everything we do.” 3

Colgate prides itself on being a diverse, caring, always improving company. They are able to do this through their three core values above. Colgate claims to care about their customers, shareholders and business partners, all alike. The company also prides itself on staying connected with all Colgate people throughout the world and always improving.

“By better understanding consumers' and customers' expectations and continuously working to innovate and improve products, services and processes, Colgate will ‘become the best.’”3

Colgate’s code of ethics is extensive and valuable document. Looking over the Colgate code of ethics would make any person proud to be a Colgate person. The company highly values its customers and prides itself on being a diverse and ethical company.

“Since 1987, our Code of Conduct has guided us with a set of principles that reflect Colgate’s values and established standards governing our ethical behavior. The Code of Conduct is regularly updated and reissued to ensure its comprehensiveness. Since the last update, events in the business world have reminded us of the vital importance of conducting business in an ethical and compliant manner.” –Colgate Code of Conduct 4

As a company that produces oral and health care products, Colgate faces a lot of competition. Toothpaste competition includes Aquafresh, Sensodyne, Arm & Hammer, Aim and a few others. Perhaps, Colgate’s biggest competition, however, is Crest. These two oral hygiene companies have been in competition since the 1940s. Crest, however, was not introduced until this time, where as, Colgate had been established for over 100 years.

“Our reputation has been built upon the quality and safety of our products. Our commitment to quality and safety is essential to the continued growth and success of our Company.”4

1 http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/History/1806.cvsp
2 http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/History/1991.cvsp
3 http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/LivingOurValues/CoreValues.cvsp
4 http://www.colgate.com/Colgate/US/Corp/LivingOurValues/CodeOfConduct/PDFs/DY-245%20code_of_conduct_p_ENG_no%20faq.pdf