Soapmaker Papoutsanis eyes gains from the virus

Papoutsanis, the company which set up modern Greece’s first industrial-scale soap producing plant in 1870, expects its losses this year from the shuttering of hotels to be offset by soaring supermarket sales. The increase in demand as people wash their hands more frequently – due to the coronavirus outbreak – has seen its factory increase output in recent days.

The pandemic has considerably affected the mix of Papoutsanis’ sales. The company announced that demand for its brand products such as soap bars and foam has grown considerably. The same applies to the products (mainly soap bars) it produces for other companies, such as Unilever, or supermarket chains who sell them under their private labels.

It follows a year of 27 percent annual growth in Papoutsanis’ turnover.