stockrowWhat it does
Colgate-Palmolive sells oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition products. It is headquartered in New York City and led by Chairman, President and CEO Noel Wallace.
Its oral care products include Colgate toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash, as well as products for dentists and other oral health professionals. Personal care brands include Palmolive and Softsoap hand soap, Irish Spring body wash, Speed Stick deodorant and EltaMD skin care. Home care products include Palmolive dishwashing liquid, Fabuloso household cleaners and Suavitel fabric conditioner.
The Hill’s Pet Nutrition business sells food for dogs and cats. Hill’s Science Diet serves everyday nutritional needs, while Hill’s Prescription Diet offers therapeutic foods designed to support animals at different stages of health. Prime100 sells fresh pet food in Australia.
Colgate-Palmolive markets products in over 200 countries and territories. Its household and personal care goods reach consumers through retailers, wholesalers and distributors; Hill’s products are sold through pet retailers, veterinarians and online retailers. The company also sells some products directly to consumers. Its operations include manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities in regions around the world.
How it makes money
Colgate-Palmolive makes money by manufacturing and selling branded consumer products and pet foods. Its two product segments are Oral, Personal and Home Care, and Pet Nutrition. The first is managed through regional businesses; the second operates through Hill’s.
In FY2025, total Oral, Personal and Home Care revenue was $15.8 billion and Pet Nutrition revenue was $4.6 billion.
Oral care includes toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash. Personal care covers products ranging from soap and deodorant to skin care, while home care includes cleaners, dishwashing liquids and fabric conditioners. These are products used in everyday routines, although purchases can shift among brands and price points. Hill’s sells both everyday pet food and therapeutic diets, with veterinarians among its sales channels.
The company uses advertising, promotion and product innovation to support demand. It sells products at multiple price points and seeks to grow higher-priced offerings as well as support its established brands. Pricing is also a way to respond to changes in material and other costs. In the third quarter of 2026, Colgate-Palmolive reported organic sales growth across all four product categories and said pricing and productivity initiatives helped offset cost pressure.
The company also seeks to lower costs through its funding-the-growth initiatives. These include changes to materials and packaging, supplier consolidation and manufacturing efficiency. Savings can support spending on activities such as advertising and product development.
| Segment | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Oral, Personal and Home Care | $15.8 billion | 77.4% | 0.97% |
| Pet Nutrition | $4.6 billion | 22.6% | 2.90% |
Customers and how it sells
Colgate-Palmolive sells oral, personal and home care products to retailers, wholesalers and distributors. Its customers include large-format retailers, discounters and e-commerce retailers. Hill’s sells principally through authorized pet supply retailers, veterinarians and e-commerce retailers. Some products also reach consumers directly.
Walmart, Inc.’s share of revenue was 11.0% in FY2025. No other customer represented more than 10% of net sales in 2025. The company uses its own sales teams as well as distributors and brokers to reach customers.
Products are marketed in over 200 countries and territories. Approximately two-thirds of net sales come from outside the United States, and approximately 45% come from emerging markets, including Latin America, Asia excluding Japan, Africa/Eurasia and Central Europe. The Oral, Personal and Home Care business is managed across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa/Eurasia.
Colgate-Palmolive had 33,600 employees at the end of FY2025, based in over 100 countries. Hill’s products are marketed in over 80 countries and territories, including Prime100 fresh pet food sold in Australia.
| Segment | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Oral, Personal and Home Care | $15.8 billion | 77.4% | 0.97% |
| Pet Nutrition | $4.6 billion | 22.6% | 2.90% |
Suppliers and costs
Colgate-Palmolive manufactures and sources products and materials around the world, with major manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities in each region. It buys most raw and packaging materials from other companies, generally with several sources available. No single material or supplier accounts for a significant portion of its total material requirements.
Some key materials nevertheless come from a single supplier or a limited group of suppliers. Qualifying replacements can take time and investment because they may have to meet industry, government or company standards. Materials include resins, oils, pulp, corn, poultry and soybeans, whose prices fluctuate with commodity markets.
Other costs include manufacturing, distribution, logistics, advertising and promotion. Colgate-Palmolive said raw and packaging costs remained a headwind in the third quarter of 2026, especially for resins, petrochemicals, pulp and paper. It also said rising fuel costs were affecting freight costs. The company uses pricing and productivity programs to help offset these pressures, and said its fourth-quarter commodity costs were largely locked in.
- Revenue$20.4B
- Cost of revenue−$8.1B
- Selling, general and administrative−$7.9B
- Other operating costs−$1.0B
- Operating income$3.3B
Competitive position
Colgate-Palmolive competes with multinational and local businesses across its product categories, as well as with retailers’ private-label products. Online and direct-to-consumer channels have also enabled new entrants. Competition takes place through price, promotions, product introductions and expansion into different markets and sales channels. No individual competitors are named in the available company material.
The company has global market-share leadership in toothpaste and manual toothbrushes and describes itself as a leader in liquid hand soap. It was reported on 30 October 2026 that its global toothpaste share was 41.4% year to date. Hill’s competes in specialty pet nutrition; Colgate-Palmolive said the category was sluggish and competition had increased in the third quarter of 2026.
Our reading: Brand recognition and toothpaste market share are meaningful competitive strengths, supported by broad distribution and continuing advertising, but shoppers can still choose rival or private-label products. Our reading: Hill’s therapeutic diets and veterinary channel provide a differentiated position, though increased competition limits the protection those features offer. Our reading: Trademark ownership supports the brands, but the company does not depend on a single patent across its business.
Retailers also have bargaining power. Some control consumer data and analytics, while competition for shoppers’ attention increasingly extends across online, social and traditional retail channels.
Growth opportunities
Colgate-Palmolive’s 2030 strategy focuses on extending the reach of its brands, developing products, generating demand across retail and digital channels, and using data and artificial intelligence. It also intends to improve efficiency through its Strategic Growth and Productivity Program, which aims to simplify the organization and optimize the supply chain.
In the United States, the company is working on a turnaround that includes supporting established brands, increasing the pace of innovation and focusing on higher-value products. Colgate-Palmolive said it had seen toothpaste market-share improvement but that the reset remained a work in progress. It is also scaling PromoAI and an internal AI platform intended to speed up new-product ideas.
Hill’s is targeting opportunities in cat food and wet food. Colgate-Palmolive said increased wet-food capacity contributed to improvements in the business, and it has launched single-protein diets. Prime100 gives Hill’s a position in fresh pet food in Australia.
Geographically, emerging markets led sales growth in the third quarter of 2026, with contributions from India, Brazil and China. The company also said European growth benefited from whitening products, the Colgate Total relaunch and elmex. These initiatives sit alongside its continuing investment in advertising and promotion.
- $17.4BFY2021
- $18.0BFY2022
- $19.5BFY2023
- $20.1BFY2024
- $20.4BFY2025
Structural risks
- International exposure: Foreign currency movements can reduce the dollar value of overseas revenue, profits and cash flows or increase supply costs. Trade restrictions, tariffs, political instability and limits on moving cash can also affect operations.
- Costs and supply: Commodity prices fluctuate, and some important materials have limited sources. Supply chains can be disrupted by logistics problems, loss of suppliers, capacity constraints or problems at manufacturing and distribution sites.
- Competition and consumer demand: Shoppers can switch to private-label or lower-priced products. Colgate-Palmolive expects category softness seen in 2025 to continue into 2026, potentially reducing volumes or shifting demand toward lower-margin products.
- Retailer power: Some key retailers have greater bargaining strength and exclusive access to consumer data. Changes in retail channels also require the company to generate demand across physical stores, e-commerce and social media.
- Acquisitions and brand performance: Acquired businesses may be difficult to integrate or may not deliver expected benefits. In 2025, Colgate-Palmolive reduced its outlook for skin health, primarily Filorga, after weaker-than-expected performance and lower category growth, particularly in China.
Bottom line
Our reading
Our reading: Colgate-Palmolive combines widely distributed household and oral care brands with a specialty pet food business that uses veterinary and retail channels. Its brands and geographic reach support the business, but they do not remove exposure to retailer bargaining power, private labels or commodity costs. Growth depends in part on sustaining innovation and advertising while managing those costs and improving the U.S. business.