Soaps and detergents: Specialty chemical makers seek business both with cleaning product innovators and the companies that follow them

The launch of Tide in 2004 by Procter & Gamble with a Touch of Downy laundry detergent spurred the laboratories of specialty chemical companies to develop ingredients that could be used in the two-in-one brands, in which the polymers and enzymes are used to create a cleaning chassis compatible with the softener system. Selling an innovative product that consumers fall for is often the only way marketers can achieve good growth and decent profits.