Jagatjit Industries, the makers of Aristocrat whisky, on Thursday launched a hand sanitiser which it claims remains effective for 24 hours and hence needs to be applied only once a day.
Launched by SwanRose India, a company founded in April 2020 and founded by Roshni Sanah Jaiswal, the promoter of Jagatjit Industries, the hand sanitiser is being launched in India and the US under the brand Just Human. The company has said its claim of 24-hour efficacy is backed by GLP lab certification and the product got USFDA registration and DCGI clearance in India.
"Our target consumer is just about anyone, but our focus is on the most vulnerable. People such as parents with kids under the age of 12, senior citizens and people with co-morbidities," says Jaiswal. "Our focus is also on situations that expose you to be vulnerable like gyms, salons, movie halls, weddings and team sports like cricket, football, kabaddi, etc. Just Human is currently available on the company's website and on Amazon. We should be at your neighborhood store soon."
Available in 10ml, 50ml, 100ml and 250ml pack sizes, it is priced between Rs 60 and 275 and is significantly more expensive than the regular hand sanitisers in the market. A 50 ml bottle of sanitiser today costs about Rs 25, while Just Human costs Rs 175. Jaiswal however says since it is more long lasting as it need not be applied repeatedly during the day, it will be more economical to the consumer.
"The concentrate is being imported from the US and we are blending and bottling it here in India. So the cost is high but you would need to sanitise yourself multiple times with a regular sanitiser while with this you need to do the same only once a day. So if the regular sanitiser lasts 2-3 days, this bottle will last over 10 days," she says. "The peace of mind of not having to do it again and again is its main USP and is a bonus."
The main differentiator is the use of nano engineering in the hand sanitiser, a proprietary key derived from an original formulation developed over 30 years ago and already in use in a wide array of consumer products.
The sanitiser contains two specialised compounds that work together at a nano level. One compound is 70 per cent ethanol, as recommended by the CDC and WHO to kills germs and viruses instantly on hands, while the other compound - an antimicrobial - forms a bionic shield made of non-toxic molecules which bind to the hand to provide a protective coating. The molecules attach themselves to a surface and forms microscopic "spars". This molecule has been nano-engineered to bind and pierces the cell wall of any micro-organism, thereby instantly killing it.
"The moment your hands get dry in the case of a regular sanitiser. In this case however, once the sanitiser dries, the SPARS bind to the surface of the hand, providing a layer of active protection that lab testing shows lasts for 24 hours," Jaiswal says.
The global hand sanitiser market has grown more than six times since 2016 from under $1 billion to an estimated $6 billion in 2020.