Jérôme Lemaire, President – North America, Reckitt
As the company behind some of the world’s best-known and most trusted health and hygiene consumer brands – including Lysol, Finish, Mucinex, Biofreeze, Airborne, and Durex – Reckitt’s success comes by championing a customer-centric approach. In an interview with Invest:, Reckitt President for North America Jérôme Lemaire highlighted efforts to future-proof the company, and the importance of putting the consumer first in all innovation decisions. “When it comes to innovation and decision-making, it is all about the consumer,” Lemaire said.
What market or operational changes have most impacted your operations in the past year?
In an effort to future-proof the company, we announced a year ago that we would be sharpening our portfolio to become a more efficient, world-class consumer health and hygiene company focused on 11 high-growth, high-margin Powerbrands. As part of this strategy, we shared our intentions to exit our portfolio of leading household brands, including Air Wick, RID-X, and Woolite (referred to as Essential Home). Recently, we executed on these plans by entering an agreement with Advent International, a leading global private equity investor, to divest our Essential Home business. This transaction represents a significant step forward in reshaping Reckitt and future-proofing our portfolio to deliver topline growth with the right earnings model and brands, offering us an enduring competitive advantage that goes beyond science or brand equity.
How are the shifts in the company portfolio set to accelerate growth and align with long-term priorities for the company?
We believe good health starts at home and that hygiene is the foundation of health. Our whole portfolio has been refocused on our health and hygiene brands to enable us to become even better at what we are doing best. Generations of Americans have relied on our iconic brands – Including Lysol, Finish, Mucinex, Biofreeze, Airborne and Durex – to care for the ones they love. Our strong consumer focus, category expertise, science-backed innovation, and in-market executional excellence enable us to deliver superior, premium products that meet the evolving needs of our consumers. Ultimately, we aim to become a world-class consumer health and hygiene company that makes consumers’ lives easier, cleaner and healthier.
How would you describe the landscape for the health and hygiene sector?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on the health and hygiene sector. If you zoom out, we are in an industry where there have been nascent trends happening over the past 10 to 15 years that have accelerated over the short term. With increasing pressure on healthcare systems, the vast majority of consumers now have a heightened awareness about the need to take greater ownership of their health and wellness. This trend is not limited to seniors. People of all ages are being proactive about self-care. Our industry is expanding as a result of evolving consumer needs. Reckitt is responding by increasing access to superior OTC health and wellness solutions, tools and education, which all drive better outcomes.
If you take a look at Lysol, named America’s most trusted all-purpose cleaning brand in 2025, sales today compared to 2018 have grown by more than 50%, illustrating the increased focus consumers have on taking care of their health and protecting against germs. We are in a place where consumers are becoming proactive in every aspect related to their health, and this is a fantastic source of inspiration when it comes to innovation.
How is the company addressing challenges and opportunities in today’s market, particularly in North America?
Reckitt operates across four global categories: self-care, germ protection, intimate wellness, and household care. The resilience of our brands is rooted in our deep commitment to consumers. Everyone at Reckitt shares a strong connection with the people who use our products – you might even say we’re obsessed with the consumer. We’re constantly engaging with consumers through focus groups, product trials, and in-depth conversations to understand their needs and how they use our products. This is what drives the innovation of our brands.
We also continue to make significant investments in our business operations and U.S. manufacturing footprint to strengthen resiliency. This includes not only opening new manufacturing sites but also strengthening our existing supply chain overall. Many of our products are seasonal, but we learned from the pandemic that this can change overnight. As such, it is important to create a responsive supply chain.
For example, post-pandemic, we have seen significant volatility in upper-respiratory ailments with in-season and off-season surges as well as longer-than-average cold and flu seasons, creating unpredictability. To meet future demand, we are investing $200 million to open our largest OTC manufacturing facility in the U.S. in North Carolina, which will support additional capacity for our Mucinex brand as well as Biofreeze and other brands. Additionally, with sustained demand for germ-kill products like our Lysol brand, we are also investing in production lines at our existing manufacturing sites to expand capacity for our high-demand products, such as Lysol disinfecting wipes. We are especially proud to have our flagship manufacturing site for our Lysol brand in Belle Mead, New Jersey.
What does innovation look like across your global offerings?
When it comes to innovation and decision-making, it is all about the consumer. We follow the marketing concept known as “get the job done,” which means consumers are not buying products; they are buying a solution to get the job done. We need to zoom out to understand why consumers are making certain choices. At our flagship R&D center in Montvale, New Jersey, we have world-leading innovation development capabilities in disinfection, microbiology, surface care, laundry and personal care. This includes consumer science and sensory labs where our team regularly invites consumers in to test fragrances and perform product usage trials with their direct input. These efforts help us deeply understand consumer preferences and identify pain points we can address through innovation and design. Our close connection with consumers is a powerful driver of creativity within our R&D team. While science plays a critical role, our innovation journey always begins with the consumer. We encourage our experts from across disciplines to engage directly with consumers to uncover the real needs and challenges our innovations must address. This consumer-centric approach is the foundation of everything we develop.
What are the top priorities for Reckitt in the near term?
Our goal is to win with consumers by delivering the highest quality and most relevant solutions. It all stems from our deep consumer connection. We strive to be the best at serving their needs – making everyday life simpler and helping them tackle essential health and hygiene tasks. Given the seasonal nature of our portfolio, it’s also critical that we are the partner of choice for our customers. That means building best-in-class relationships with our retailer partners. At the same time, we are committed to fostering a great culture – because we want Reckitt to be an extraordinary place to work.
