The Problem With Hog Hair

“The problem with hog hair is the awful smell when it heats up.” “Other than that,” he went on to say, “it is the best choice for high speed burnishing floor pads.” I overheard this at the Jan-San show. We were there in Chicago with our client. They manufactured the commercial cleaning pads he was talking about as did a half dozen others. For thirty years it had been a basic commodity in the trade. That was precisely the problem, commodity…along with the odor – especially noticeable in environments like medical centers. And that was the opportunity. Problem-opportunity, a perfect environment!

We gathered the client’s R&D team. Hog hair worked because of the texture and oily lanolin in the hair. “What if there was a similar product in the plant kingdom,” we asked? Our persistence led to coconut fiber, actually the strands inside the coconut hull. A few months later we introduced the coconut pad to the medical community. It was as good as hog without the smell and our client was the only one with it. Say goodbye to “commodity pricing.”

One final problem. Pasteurizing the fiber stripped away the delightful coconut smell. We suggested they add two drops of coconut extract to each pad when they packed them. “It will last long enough for the janitor to notice,” we reasoned, “he’s the one who will place the re-order anyway.” It worked. It’s still working.

If there’s a better way to market your company, we’ll know it.