Who Makes Purell? Meet the Ohio Family Behind Gojo Industries

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As fear of the coronavirus spreads, so many people have been buying Purell that Gojo Industries (the company that makes it) is boosting production of the hand sanitizer, a representative for the company confirmed to Business Insider.

The product is selling out on Amazon, with some vendors boosting prices to as much as $100 per bottle, as Business Insider's Bethany Biron recently reported.

"We have experienced several demand surges in the past during other outbreaks — and this is on the higher end of the spectrum but not unprecedented," Gojo Industries spokesperson Samantha Williams said in a statement shared with Business Insider. "We have added shifts and have team members working overtime – in accordance with our plans for situations like this."

WHO officially declared the coronavirus a pandemic on Wednesday.

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Gojo Industries, the company that makes Purell, is a family-owned business that started in Ohio in 1946 and invented Purell hand sanitizer in 1988. A Gojo spokesperson told Business Insider the company does not comment on its financial information because it's privately held, but corporate intelligence website Owler estimates the company's annual revenue at $560 million.

Here's a look at the 74-year-old company and the family behind it. 

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