Colgate-Palmolive makes a little under half of the roughly 20bn toothpaste tubes produced globally, and Colgate and Crest together hold about 75% of a $22bn market.
Peter Miskell says industrial sugar consumption created a dental problem that made brushing, and therefore toothpaste, worth selling, though early toothpaste had no proven health benefit.
Stefan Habif says Colgate uses pressure gloves to design tubes that are easy to squeeze, including for people with arthritis, and hopes consumers will respect toothpaste more.
How two brands came to own the toothpaste you ignore
Toothpaste is a staple whose market was built by marketing more than by need. Sugar-driven tooth decay made brushing worth selling, and fluoride later supplied a real health claim. Today advertising and shelf space let Colgate and Crest dominate, while Colgate's experts insist the formula and packaging behind each tube take serious engineering.
Takeaways
Colgate and Crest control three quarters of sales. The two brands hold about 75% of a $22bn annual market. Roughly 20bn tubes are made globally, and Colgate makes a little under half. Oral care is Colgate-Palmolive's top category, and CTO Stefan Habif spends 40 to 50% of his time on toothpaste.
Advertising and shelf space keep rivals out. Peter Miskell argues the leaders stay on top through heavy advertising spend and through distribution and shelf space with big retailers. That spending keeps many would-be competitors out of the market entirely.
Sugar created the need toothpaste fills. Industrial sugar consumption in the nineteenth century drove a sharp rise in dental disease, and the response was to encourage brushing. Early brands sold toothpaste as a cosmetic that made brushing pleasant. Miskell calls it a classic product people did not really need.
Abrasive must scrub without feeling like sand. Most pastes combine an abrasive, fluoride, a foaming surfactant, a binder and flavour and colour. Calcium carbonate abrasive is tested with RDA measurements so it cleans without damaging teeth. Binders like xanthan gum or carrageenan form the gel when they meet liquid.
Small sensory tweaks shift consumer perception. Habif says slight changes to foam density and flavour change how a paste feels. Sensates add cooling or warming effects alongside the freshness of cleaning. Flavours vary by market, with clove and anise in India, jasmine in China and milder options for children who resist mint.
Tubes are engineered for speed and grip. Some lines across plants in the US, Mexico, Brazil, India and China fill 1,000 tubes a minute. Leite spent years on a single nozzle with separate channels for multicolour stripes. Habif's team uses pressure gloves to design tubes easy to squeeze, including for people with arthritis.
How toothpaste became a household staple
Egyptians, Greeks and Romans cleaned teeth with powders made from snail shells, crushed bones, ox hooves and human urine.
In 1873 Colgate and Company, a New York candle and soap maker, began selling aromatic toothpaste in jars at about half a day's wages for a labourer.
The tube arrived in the 1890s as a more sanitary option. Colgate built leadership by handing out millions of tubes at schools and marketing heavily.
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On this episode 4
Show 1
By the 1930s toothpaste was in 65% of American households.
In the 1950s Procter and Gamble launched Crest, the first widely commercialised fluoride toothpaste. An American Dental Association endorsement gave it a health claim, and Crest dominated for decades.