From its biggest site in Europe, Kao will support the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt with measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic in the coming weeks. In cooperation with the Hessian Pharmacists' Association, the Japanese manufacturer donates packaging of well-known brands such as Goldwell and John Frieda to pharmacies in Darmstadt so that they can fill their hand-made disinfectants and thus overcome their packaging shortage. In addition to that, the production of hand disinfectants in the company's Darmstadt production facility will start in mid-April. Kao Manufacturing GmbH initially plans to produce 10,000 liters and intends to continue this depending on the availability of ethanol on the market. The products will then be allocated to Hessian hospitals via the State of Hesse.
Kao is also active at its other European locations with local measures to support the authorities and the population. Kao UK has already donated Molton Brown hand lotions to employees of the British health service NHS and other products from Molton Brown, John Frieda and Bioré to the British charities Beauty Bank and Hygiene Bank.
"Supporting the cities and comunities in which we operate as a company is part of our heritage", says Guido Kirchhoff, Vice President Supply Chain EMEA. "In addition to ensuring the safety and health of our employees, which is a top priority for us at the moment, we want to make our contribution with these activities to help flatten the curve."