86. Toothpaste

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Economics of Everyday Things – Episode 86: Toothpaste

Introduction

In Episode 86 of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett delves into the seemingly mundane but profoundly intricate world of toothpaste. Exploring its history, market dynamics, production processes, and the science behind its formulation, Crockett uncovers how this everyday product is a marvel of modern engineering and economics.

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The Toothpaste Market: Dominance and Dynamics

Crockett begins by highlighting the vast scale of toothpaste consumption. "Over the course of your life, it's likely you'll brush your teeth more than 50,000 times. In the process, you'll go through 450 tubes, almost 170 pounds of toothpaste," he states at [01:03]. This immense usage underscores toothpaste's significance as a daily essential.

Market Leaders: Colgate and Crest

Crockett introduces Stefan Habif, the Chief Technology Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, who emphasizes the company's dominance in the oral care industry. At [02:03], Habif notes, "Colgate Oral care is our number one category. More households purchase at least one Colgate product a year than any other brand in the world, including Coca Cola."

Together with Crest, these two giants control approximately 75% of the global toothpaste market, valued at $22 billion annually. Maintaining this dominance requires continuous innovation, from flavor adjustments to packaging designs.

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Historical Evolution of Toothpaste

Ancient Practices

Toothpaste has been a part of human hygiene for millennia. Crockett narrates, "Humans have practiced oral care for at least 9,000 years. Ancient civilizations cleaned their teeth by chewing on sticks or using crude toothpicks." Early formulations included natural ingredients like snail shells and crushed bones, evolving over centuries to become more palatable.

Industrial Revolution and Mass Production

The 19th century marked a pivotal shift. Professor Peter Miskel from the University of Reading explains at [03:58], "Sugar went from being a luxury in pre-industrial times to much more of a staple. New industrial food products created a problem of dental hygiene that hadn't existed in anything like the same way previously."

With the rise of processed sugars, dental diseases surged, prompting the need for effective oral care products. Colgate capitalized on this trend by introducing aromatic toothpaste in 1873, initially sold in jars. By the 1890s, the introduction of the toothpaste tube revolutionized the market by offering a more sanitary and convenient packaging solution. This innovation, coupled with aggressive marketing and mass production, made toothpaste accessible to a broader audience. By the 1930s, toothpaste was present in 65% of American households.

From Cosmetic to Health Benefits

Initially marketed for cosmetic benefits—fresh breath and a sparkling smile—toothpaste's role evolved significantly in the 1950s. The introduction of Crest by Procter & Gamble, the first fluoride-based toothpaste, transformed toothpaste from a mere cosmetic product to one with proven health benefits. As Miskel remarks at [06:07], "It was more use this product, it'll make you feel better about yourself. Kind of a classic example of a product that you didn't really need." The endorsement from the American Dental Association gave toothpaste scientific credibility, solidifying its place in daily hygiene routines.

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The Science Behind Toothpaste Production

Formulation and Ingredients

Sergio Leyte, Colgate's Global Head of Research and Development for Oral Care Products, provides an in-depth look at the composition of toothpaste. At [10:33], Leyte explains, "You have something to clean your teeth and abrasive. You have your active ingredient, the fluoride. You also have a surfactant, a detergent that helps you do the nice foaming in your mouth and reach hard areas." These core components—abrasives, fluoride, surfactants, binders, flavorings, and colors—work in harmony to ensure effective cleaning and consumer satisfaction.

Abrasive Materials and RDA Testing

The abrasiveness of toothpaste is crucial for effective cleaning without damaging tooth enamel. Leyte mentions at [11:31], "You cannot go too abrasive, right? You don't want to sand in your mouth." Colgate employs Radioactive Dentin Abrasion (RDA) testing to measure the abrasiveness, ensuring it scrubs teeth without causing harm.

Foaminess and Sensory Experience

Stefan Habif discusses the importance of foam texture in user experience at [12:02]. "You could have a very compact foam, like a lather, and it will give you a different experience than an open, airy foam." Adjusting the level of foaminess influences how consumers perceive the toothpaste's effectiveness and freshness.

Flavor Engineering

Flavor is a significant factor in consumer preference. Leyte elaborates at [12:57], "We have a whole team of flavorists on staff who carefully select just the right amount of mintiness to add to a formula." Additionally, flavor preferences vary globally. For instance, in India, flavors incorporate clove oil and anise to cater to regional tastes, while in China, more floral scents like jasmine are preferred.

Production and Packaging Innovations

The manufacturing process is a testament to modern engineering. Leyte describes the production facilities, where raw materials are meticulously blended and filled into tubes. The design of the toothpaste tube itself has undergone numerous refinements to enhance functionality and reduce waste. At [15:39], Leyte shares, "That same nozzle, instead of carrying one color of toothpaste, it has multiple channels inside separated by a wall." This innovation allows for the creation of multicolored toothpaste without compromising consistency.

Maximizing Product Usage

One common consumer complaint is the difficulty in extracting the last bits of toothpaste from the tube. Colgate addresses this by optimizing tube design. Habif explains at [16:35], "We're able to design the right tube with the right paste with the right size orifice to be able to maximize the experience for the consumer." This design consideration ensures that users can efficiently use the product, accommodating varying strengths and dexterities.

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Global Market and Regional Preferences

Toothpaste formulations are tailored to meet regional tastes and dietary habits. Habif notes at [13:40], "Flavors really link to the kind of food that you like in the different regions. In some cases, people want to feel similar taste in their toothpaste that they have in the flavor of their food." This localization strategy ensures that toothpaste remains appealing across diverse markets, enhancing global sales and brand loyalty.

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Conclusion: The Marvel of Modern Toothpaste

Crockett wraps up the episode by reflecting on the complexity behind a product that many take for granted. Stefan Habif urges listeners to appreciate the scientific and engineering efforts invested in toothpaste, stating at [17:33], "There are many brilliant people, scientists, passionate people in the factory that have made this product just for you and this product is a great contributor to your health and your well-being. So please be nice to it and use it with a bit of respect and love."

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Final Thoughts

Episode 86 of The Economics of Everyday Things offers an enlightening exploration of toothpaste, revealing it as much more than a daily necessity. From its historical roots and market evolution to the intricate science of its production, toothpaste embodies the intersection of consumer behavior, industrial innovation, and global economics. This episode encourages listeners to look beyond the surface of everyday items and recognize the complex systems that sustain them.

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Credits

This episode was produced by Zachary Crockett and Sarah Lilly, mixed by Jeremy Johnston, with contributions from Daniel Moritz Rapson, Jeff Sawyer, and Brian Minaji.

Transcript

[Discover Representative]

Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, and every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn [e-mail] credit card based on the February 2024 Nelson Report is anyone out.

[LinkedIn Sales Navigator Representative]

There another salesperson enduring the endless search? Exhausting if you want to get right to the right conversations, you need LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Whether you're looking for new leads or strengthening existing relationships at your top accounts, get right to the right conversations with LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Try LinkedIn Sales Navigator now with a free 60 day trial at LinkedIn.com trial that's LinkedIn.com trial terms and conditions apply.

[Zachary Crockett]

Over the course of your life, it's likely you'll brush your teeth more than 50,000 times. In the process, you'll go through 450 tubes, almost 170 pounds of toothpaste. Toothpaste is one of the first things you use every morning and one of the last things you use every night. But you might not give it much thought unless you're someone like Stefan Habif.

[Stefan Habif]

I would have to say I spend about 40 to 50% of my time thinking and dreaming about toothpaste. I'm even counting the time home and when I'm sleeping.

[Zachary Crockett]

Habif is one of the people responsible for creating the toothpaste in your bathroom cabinet. He's the chief technology officer at Colgate Palmolive. It's a multinational corporation that makes many of the household products at the drugstore. Speedstick deodorant, Irish Spring Body Wash, Palm Olive dish soap. But none is more significant for the company than its flagship toothpaste brand.

[Stefan Habif]

Colgate Oral care is our number one category. More households purchase at least one Colgate product a year than any other brand in the world, including Coca Cola. They are about 20 billion toothpaste tubes produced globally, and at Colgate, we make a little less than half of all these tubes.

[Zachary Crockett]

There's a good chance your toothpaste of choice is made by Colgate or its leading competitor, Crest. Together, these two brands control around 75% of the $22 billion a year global toothpaste market. And staying at the top requires constantly thinking about everything from the precise level of mintiness in the formula to to the speed at which the paste comes out of the tube.

[Stefan Habif]

You Want to make sure that there is easy evacuation also, you don't want it to come out too liquidy and too much comes out. So it's a whole science. Believe it or not.

[Zachary Crockett]

For the Freakonomics radio network, this is the economics of everyday things. I'm Zachary Crockett. Today, toothpaste humans have practiced oral care for at least 9,000 years. Ancient civilizations cleaned their teeth by chewing on sticks or using crude toothpicks. And they also understood that teeth could be cleaned by scrubbing them with some kind of paste. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all had their own formulations of dental powders made from natural ingredients like snail shells, crushed bones, ox hooves and human urine. Over many centuries, these formulas evolved to include more palatable and aromatic ingredients. But it wasn't until the 1800s that modern toothpaste became a widely marketed product.

[Peter Miskel]

What really changes in the 19th century is patterns of diet.

[Zachary Crockett]

Peter Miskel is a professor of international business history at the University of Reading in the uk. He's researched how toothpaste became a household staple.

[Peter Miskel]

Sugar went from being a luxury in pre industrial times to much more of a staple. New industrial food products created a problem of dental hygiene that hadn't existed in anything like the same way previously.

[Zachary Crockett]

In the wake of industrialization, there was a sharp rise in dental disease. And researchers came to understand that processed sugars and carbohydrates caused a buildup in plaque. That's a sticky film of bacteria that leads to decay.

[Peter Miskel]

Once that became established, the response really was to encourage the act of brushing. And a number of early toothpaste brands emerged. As you know, here's a product that will make the process of brushing your teeth a little bit more enjoyable.

[Zachary Crockett]

One of the first to pounce on this trend was Colgate Company, a New York based manufacturer of candles and soaps. In 1873, it started to sell an aromatic toothpaste. It tasted like detergent and was packaged in jars.

[Peter Miskel]

The family would share the jar. They'd each be dipping their fresh into this. And you can just imagine the scenario.

[Zachary Crockett]

In the 1890s, the toothpaste tube was developed, giving consumers a more sanitary option. Colgate emerged as a market leader by handing out millions of tubes at schools and spending heavily on marketing. At first, toothpaste was prohibitively expensive. It cost the equivalent of half a day's wages for a laborer. But as mass production ramped up, it became less of a luxury and more of an everyday necessity. By the 1930s, toothpaste could be found in 65% of American households.

[Peter Miskel]

It went from being a product that most people had never heard of to a household staple that most people would have had in their bathrooms or in their cupboards.

[Zachary Crockett]

Initially, toothpaste was marketed as a cosmetic product with social benefits. It made your breath smell good, gave you a nice smile, and made people want to interact with you. There wasn't any proven health benefit to toothpaste that came from the act of brushing, not the paste itself.

[Peter Miskel]

It was more use this product, it'll make you feel better about yourself. Kind of a classic example of a product that you didn't really need. So the question is, how do you create that sense of a product being just more than a commodity?

[Zachary Crockett]

The answer came in the 1950s when Procter and Gamble released Crest, the first widely commercialized toothpaste to use fluoride. Fluoride is a natural mineral that prevents tooth decay. And for the first time, toothpaste became not just a cosmetic product, but one with real health benefits. After gaining an endorsement from the American Dental association, toothpaste achieved scientific credibility.

[Peter Miskel]

Their sales rocketed and they continued to dominate the market for several decades.

[Zachary Crockett]

Today, the market is still dominated by Colgate and Crest, the original titans of toothpaste.

[Peter Miskel]

The leading players, they're the really big consumer goods giants. It's really the advertising spend that probably keeps a lot of others out of that space. It's the distribution infrastructure that sits behind that. It's being able to get shelf space with the big retailers in the prime locations.

[Zachary Crockett]

Toothpaste may seem like a simple product, but behind every ingredient, the abrasives, the foaming agents, the flavorings, there's a complex and precise scientific process and it has to be pulled off at astronomical scale.

[Stefan Habif]

Some of our most efficient factory, you see 1000 tubes a minute going down the line, being filled. Literally. Your eye cannot capture the moment it goes that fast.

[Zachary Crockett]

That's coming up.

[MultiCare Representative]

For 140 years, MultiCare has been in Washington prioritizing long term solutions, partnering with local communities and expanding access to care. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn [e-mail] Are you still quoting 30 year old movies?

[Discover Representative]

Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your car, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn [e-mail] creditcard based on the February 2024 Nelson Report is Anyone out there?

[LinkedIn Sales Navigator Representative]

Another salesperson enduring the endless search. Exhausting. If you want to get right to the right conversations, you need LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Whether you're looking for new leads or strengthening existing relationships at your top accounts, get right to the right conversations with LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Try LinkedIn Sales Navigator now with a free 60 day [e-mail] trial. That's LinkedIn.com trial.

[Sergio Leyte]

Terms and conditions apply.

[Zachary Crockett]

Walk down the oral care aisle at a drugstore and you'll find dozens of different toothpaste formulas. Some extol therapeutic advantages like extra cavity protection. Others promise cosmetic benefits like whitening. There are toothpastes in all different flavors. Toothpastes for kids, toothpastes for people with sensitive teeth. There's Max Clean, Max Fresh, Double Fresh, Triple Action, Sparkling White Optic White Optic White Renewal. On and on and on. Many of these variations are sold by Colgate and they all come across the desk of Sergio Leyte.

[Sergio Leyte]

We have our flagship toothpaste, the Red box of Colgate. Very good minty profile. Then we have our multi benefit toothpaste. We have whitening, we have sensitivity toothpaste. We have one that is a young crowd favorite called Max Fresh. That's refreshing Bed breath type of toothpaste will get you ready to enjoy life.

[Zachary Crockett]

Leyte is Colgate's global head of research and development for oral care products. He oversees a team that comes up with Colgate's toothpaste formulas. Regardless of all the fancy variations on the market, he says most toothpastes come down to a few key ingredients.

[Sergio Leyte]

You have something to clean your teeth and abrasive. You have your active ingredient, the fluoride. You also have a surfactant, a detergent that helps you do the nice foaming in your mouth and reach hard areas. We have one thing that we call a binder, like xanthan gun, carrageenan. So these are components that when they met the liquid, they form the gel, you see, Right. That's why toothpaste has that jelly appearance, if you will, that kind of a semi solid. And last but not least, you get the flavor and colors. There are other details, but these are the core things you need to make a toothpaste.

[Zachary Crockett]

There's a complex process behind each one of these components. For instance, the abrasive material might be calcium carbonate, a natural mineral that Colgate sources from mines in the U.S. brazil and Italy. It's crushed up into a fine powder and shipped to Colgate's factories in giant bags. And it has to be just the right amount of graininess.

[Sergio Leyte]

You Cannot go too abrasive, right? You don't want to sand in your mouth. So we measure rda Radioactive dentin abrasion.

[Zachary Crockett]

With RDA testing, toothpaste companies examine the amount of tooth structure that's worn away by toothpaste. The abrasive has to be strong enough to provide a scrubbing effect, but not so intense that it destroys your teeth. There's also a science to producing a toothpaste with just the right amount of foaminess. Again, here's Stefan Habif, Colgate's chief technology officer, who also works on these formulations.

[Stefan Habif]

You could have a very compact foam, like a lather, and it will give you a different experience than an open, airy foam. So we adjust the level and the agent that we use to have very different experiences when you use the product. So we really have some expertise on these sensory. These slight differences that don't seem to be very big, but make a big difference in the consumer perception.

[Zachary Crockett]

One thing that consumers are very sensitive to is toothpaste flavoring. Colgate has a whole team of flavorists on staff who carefully select just the right amount of mintiness to add to a formula. The flavoring agents are often mixed with sensates, chemicals that produce a cooling or warming effect in the mouth.

[Stefan Habif]

The freshness, obviously, is what people look for when they want to have the sense that their mouth is clean. It comes from the act of cleaning, but it comes also from these sensates that are present in the flavor.

[Zachary Crockett]

In America, many of the most popular toothpastes have a minty flavor, but that's not the case in other parts of the world.

[Stefan Habif]

Flavors really link to the kind of food that you like in the different regions. In some cases, people want to feel similar taste in their toothpaste that they have in the flavor of their food.

[Sergio Leyte]

Let's say India, where we have a big presence. The flavors are what we call more spicy. So imagine there is a little bit more clove oil in the flavor, more anise. You still get that undertone of mint, but you have other notes which are much more critical. China, we have flavors that are more what we call more oral perfume. They feels more floral, more jasmine.

[Zachary Crockett]

Flavor also has to be adjusted for kids.

[Sergio Leyte]

Kids tend to resist. You cannot give a too spicy, too minty flavor. The kids won't brush, so you have to tone down a little bit the flavor, so the kids will be able to brush.

[Zachary Crockett]

Once all of the ingredients in a toothpaste are dialed in, they're mixed together in giant factories. Colgate has production facilities all over the world, in the U.S. mexico, Brazil, India, and China.

[Sergio Leyte]

In the production area, you will feel the nice minty smell of the toothpaste. You can imagine large containers, large warehouses where the raw materials and packaging material are there. So you have liquids, powders, the flavors, the colors. Those components are blended. Go through pumps and pipes to our finishing lines, which are normally separated from the mixers by massive buildings. And that's where it's filled in the tubes that we receive at home.

[Zachary Crockett]

For a plain white toothpaste, the product is dispensed from a nozzle into an open tube, and the tube is sealed at the end. But multicolored toothpaste, that comes out of the tube and stripes, that's a special feat of modern engineering.

[Sergio Leyte]

I worked many years on that in my life. That same nozzle, instead of carrying one color of toothpaste, it has multiple channels inside separated by a wall. You run, let's say, green color in other channels, the blue color, in other channels, the white color. And then the filling machine is able to fill at the same time those colors in the tube. We fill. And immediately that toothpaste has to stand still. It cannot be runny, it cannot move around. So you close the tube, you get your stripes inside.

[Zachary Crockett]

Even the toothpaste tube itself is the result of years of tinkering. From a sanitation standpoint, it's much better than those jars from the 1800s. But consumers still gripe a lot about not being able to get the last dabs of product out. Colgate spends a lot of time trying to minimize consumer waste.

[Stefan Habif]

It is designed to make sure that you can get the most product out of your tube. In our laboratory, we're using pressure gloves. That enables us to measure the force it takes to get the paste out. So we're able to design the right tube with the right paste with the right size orifice to be able to maximize the experience for the consumer. It's really important to make sure that everybody can do it. You might have somebody who has arthritis. You might have somebody with a different strength, like a kid.

[Zachary Crockett]

Sergio Leyte and Stefan Habif know that for most people, toothpaste is just another product in the bathroom cabinet. A commodity that could be easily replaced by their main competitor's product. But for them, it's also a marvel of engineering science and modern health.

[Stefan Habif]

I would hope that people have a bit more respect for that little product that's there. You just put it at the bottom of your drawer. You don't think twice about it. There are many people, brilliant people, scientists, passionate people in the factory that have made this product just for you and this product is a great contributor to your health and your well being. So please be nice to it and use it with a bit of respect and love.

[Zachary Crockett]

For the economics of everyday things. I'm Zachary Crockett. This episode was produced by me and Sarah Lilly and mixed by Jeremy Johnston. We had help from Daniel Moritz Rapson and thanks to listeners Jeff Sawyer and Brian Minaji for suggesting this topic. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to email us@everyday thingsreconomics.com Our inbox is always open. All right, until next week.

[Peter Miskel]

I'm speaking to you from the uk, which I think we pride ourselves on being the home of bad teeth. We kind of invented a lot of these problems and exported them to the world.

[Zachary Crockett]

The Freakonomics Radio Network the Hidden side of Everything Stitcher.

[MultiCare Representative]

Our state has changed a lot in the last 140 years. We know because Multicare has been here guided by a single making our communities healthier. That comes from making courageous decisions, partnering with local communities to grow programs and services, and expanding healthcare access to those who need it most. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn [e-mail] how well do you understand your own mind?

[Shankar Vedantam]

It feels like we should all be experts in ourselves, but our minds are a lot more mysterious than we realize. My name is Shankar Vedantam and I host a podcast called Hidden Brain. In each episode we explore research based insights that will help you to better understand yourself and the people around you. Join us wherever you get your podcasts and discover your hidden brain.

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[Stefan Habif]

Nothing ever fits.

[Shankar Vedantam]

Everything I own was a birthday present.

[Sergio Leyte]

I got this Hawaiian shirt on vacation.

[Zachary Crockett]

10 years ago and now I'm the Hawaiian shirt guy.

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[Zachary Crockett]

That was easy.

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