The Sun Products Corporation (now Henkel North American Consumer Goods Inc.) was a United States-based manufacturer of

laundry detergent Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form. While powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share o ...

fabric softener A fabric softener (American English) or fabric conditioner (British English) is a conditioner that is applied to laundry during the rinse cycle in a washing machine to reduce harshness in clothes that are dried in air after machine washing. In con ...

s, and other household care products. With annual sales of $2.0 billion, the company's brands included All, Wisk (withdrawn),

Snuggle Snuggle is a brand of fabric softener sold by Henkel North American Consumer Goods in the United States and Canada. The brand was introduced in 1983 by Unilever. The product is available in sheets or liquid (in concentrate and ready-to-use for ...

, Sun, Surf, and

Sunlight Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when t ...

. Sun Products holds the second largest market share in the $10 billion North American fabric care market as of 2010. In addition, Sun Products was the manufacturing partner for many retailer brand laundry and dish products in North America. Sun Products maintains manufacturing facilities in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...

;

Pasadena, Texas Pasadena () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 151,950, making it the twentieth most populous city in the state of Texas, as well as the second-largest cit ...

; Dyersburg, Tennessee; and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, Utah. Sun Products has research and development facilities in

Trumbull, Connecticut Trumbull is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders on the cities of Bridgeport and Shelton and the towns of Stratford, Fairfield, Easton and Monroe. The population was 36,827 during the 2020 census. Trumbul ...

; Salt Lake City, Utah;

Bentonville, Arkansas Bentonville is the tenth-largest city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers adjacent to the east. The city is the birthplace of and world headquarters locatio ...

, and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada.

History

The predecessor of Sun Products was founded by Dan Huish in 1975 under the name Huish Detergents, Inc. It grew to become the largest manufacturer of retailer/store brands of laundry and dish detergent products in addition to its own Sun brand. In March 2007,

Vestar Capital Partners Vestar Capital Partners is an American private equity firm focusing on leveraged buyout transactions in middle-market companies in the United States."About Us"8/27/08 The firm, which was founded in 1988, is headquartered in New York City with offic ...

acquired a majority stake in the company. In 2007, the company acquired the White Rain hair care brand from Florida-based Diamond Products Company. In 2012, it sold the White Rain brand to High Ridge Brands, which owns other former brands of

Alberto-Culver Alberto-Culver was an American corporation with international sales whose principal business was manufacturing hair and skin beauty care products under such brands as Alberto VO5, Andrew Collnge, St. Ives (skin care products), TRESemmé, FDS, ...

. In September 2008, Vestar Capital Partners acquired the North American (United States, Canada and Puerto Rico) laundry business of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

, which included the Wisk, All, Surf, Sunlight, and Snuggle brands. The former Unilever businesses were combined with Huish Detergents, Inc. to form The Sun Products Corporation. On June 24, 2016, Henkel North American Consumer Goods Inc., a subsidiary of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA agreed to acquire The Sun Products Corporation for $3.6 billion. In July 2017, operations of Sun Products was relocated to

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

in order to consolidate its operations with

The Dial Corporation Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods, and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufacturer of personal care and household cleaning products, and is a ...

and be closer to parent Henkel's North American headquarters (Henkel Corporation) in

Rocky Hill, Connecticut Rocky Hill is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,845 at the 2020 census. It was originally land of the Wangunks (a tribe of Native Americans). Europeans began to settle the area of Rocky Hill in 1650, as ...

. After consolidation, the business was renamed Henkel North American Consumer Goods (Henkel Corporation) in 2018.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

Sun Detergent
Companies based in Fairfield County, Connecticut Wilton, Connecticut 2016 mergers and acquisitions American subsidiaries of foreign companies Henkel brands