Group

Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

4 brands · founded 1847 · United States

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is an American consumer goods company headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey, focused on personal care, household and specialty products. Founded in 1847, it is the leading U.S. producer of sodium bicarbonate, better known as baking soda, and built its name around the Arm & Hammer brand [1].

For a company whose roots lie in baking soda, Church & Dwight has become a notable owner of beauty and personal-care labels. Over the past two decades it has assembled a portfolio that spans hair, skin and grooming, adding brands such as Batiste, Toppik, Nair and Hero Cosmetics through a steady run of acquisitions. It is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CHD and is a component of the S&P 500 [1].

History & milestones

The business traces to 1847, when it operated as John Dwight and Company; it took the Church & Dwight name in 1896 [1]. Its long-standing identity rests on sodium bicarbonate and the Arm & Hammer brand, which the company describes as its core household franchise. From that base, Church & Dwight expanded well beyond cleaning and baking staples, moving into personal care, oral care and specialty products through both organic growth and purchases of established consumer brands.

Portfolio & brands

Church & Dwight's beauty and personal-care holdings include Batiste, the dry-shampoo brand; Toppik, which makes hair-fiber products for thinning hair; Nair, a depilatory brand; and Hero Cosmetics, known for its Mighty Patch acne care. Alongside these sits Arm & Hammer, the company's defining household and personal-care name, which extends into oral care and deodorant. According to the company's own brand roster, its wider stable of power brands also spans oral, health and household categories, among them Trojan, OxiClean, First Response, Orajel, Waterpik, Zicam and TheraBreath [4].

Acquisitions & strategy

Much of Church & Dwight's personal-care portfolio was built by acquisition. In 2001 it acquired the consumer products business of Carter-Wallace, a deal that brought personal-care brands including Nair and First Response [1]. In 2006 it purchased Orange Glo International, adding the OxiClean, Kaboom and Orange Glo brands [1].

The company then moved further into beauty and grooming. Its UK arm acquired the Batiste dry-shampoo brand from Vivalis Ltd in 2011 [3], and in 2016 it bought Spencer Forrest, Inc., the maker of Toppik hair-fiber products [1]. In 2017 it acquired Waterpik from MidOcean Partners for $1 billion [1], followed in 2021 by the oral-care brand TheraBreath for $580 million [1]. In 2022 it added Hero Cosmetics, the company behind the Mighty Patch line, for a reported $630 million [1].

Ownership

Church & Dwight is a public company. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CHD, and it is a component of the S&P 500 index [1].

Brands in the group