Northern California business voices of the pandemic: EO Products, Marin County
When the coronavirus outbreak hit the scene in early 2020, EO Products co-founder Susan Griffin-Black teamed up with her business partner, ex-husband and good friend Brad Black in pure Rosie the Riveter style.
The San Rafael soap products manufacturer retooled to make hand sanitizer as viable means to help the nation navigate the crisis.
What has changed for your business?
We have spent several months taking stock of our relationships with our partners and how we aligned or missed in order to best know how to move forward.
We had volatility in demand — beyond what we could have predicted in both the 2020 surge and the rapid decline our business experienced in 2021. Our attention to forecasting is sharper, and we take the time to examine what we got right, where we missed a trend and how we can improve planning going forward. This same scrutiny is needed now more than ever as input costs are rising on all fronts — from labor and benefits to ingredients and freight.
What was your worst fear?
Our worst fear is always ‘going out of business,’ of course. We were moving at a very fast and furious pace, which is uncharacteristic. We have been believers in managed growth, and the demand in 2020 was beyond anything we’ve experienced.
Additionally, the pandemic brought even more concerns. Can we keep our employees safe? Could we produce enough? Were we allocating supply fairly? I still worry we alienated customers with some of the sudden changes to our assortment.
In 2020, we had to stop producing hundreds of items that were beloved by our community but that were deemed non-essential in the pandemic.
What did you do about it?
We’ve made efforts to diversify our product mix and repair relationships with our customers. We have started re-releasing items again on our website, starting with some favorites for EO like shampoo and conditioner. It takes time to reboot and, in some cases, we are making tweaks to improve a product to meet the needs of today’s consumer.
As you look back, what was the most prevailing, memorable aspect to the pandemic?
What stands out to me is the power and strength of the relationships that we have established over the last 27 years.
Relationships saved the day. When our sales fell, we were able to regroup, right size and renegotiate with our suppliers, so that we could align on solutions. These were mostly long-term partnerships that allowed for this flexibility, and we’re so grateful to them. We have just returned from the Natural Products Expo West — a great reunion and celebration of sorts — and after not seeing our community for 3 years, we have renewed our connection and inspiration for the future.