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Reckitt makes and sells household cleaning products, health remedies, and personal care brands that people use every day.
Reckitt is a maker of everyday products that most people never think about as coming from one company. It sells the disinfectant you spray on a kitchen counter, the painkiller you swallow for a headache, the soap in the shower, and the baby formula you feed an infant. You will find its brands in supermarkets, pharmacies, and discount stores across the world.
The business splits into a few big buckets. Health sells over-the-counter medicines and supplements, including Nurofen painkillers and Strepsils throat lozenges, and it also has a large infant nutrition arm built on Enfamil formula. Hygiene covers cleaning and disinfection products, like Lysol sprays and wipes and Harpic toilet cleaner. And there is a smaller nutrition and wellness business for things like vitamins and cold remedies. The company earns money by selling these products to retailers, who then sell them to shoppers, and shoppers keep coming back because the brands feel familiar and trustworthy. What makes Reckitt interesting is that it mostly sells boring, repeat-purchase stuff. People buy the same disinfectant and the same painkiller again and again, which gives the company steady revenue and pricing power. But that steadiness has been tested. In 2024 the company faced a serious problem: its Mead Johnson infant formula business, which it bought in 2017 for about $17 billion, was hit by a US legal ruling over a premature baby's illness, and the stock fell sharply. Reckitt has since moved to sell off that baby formula unit, admitting the acquisition did not work out. The company also sold its Air Wick and Finish home-care brands to a private buyer as it tries to focus on its stronger health and hygiene names.
Reckitt traces its roots to a 19th-century British starch and blue dye maker, and it became the giant it is today through decades of buying up brands. Its biggest markets are the US and Europe, and it competes with Procter & Gamble in cleaning and with Haleon in consumer health. The core lesson is that Reckitt is a collection of famous brands that people grab off the shelf without a second thought, which is a good business when the brands are strong and a painful one when a big bet goes wrong.
Saved answer 路 last researched 5 Nov 2026