Deodorants are the big winners of the return to office movement

• Consumer goods giant Unilever reported strong deodorant sales in the third quarter of 2023.
• That helped to drive an 8% on-year growth in Unilever's personal care sector.

People returning to the office and going out socializing again are driving the sales of deodorants, according to consumer goods giant Unilever.

Strong deodorant sales — which saw a 15% growth in the third quarter of 2023 — helped drive an 8% on-year bump in the sales of the maker of popular brands such as Dove, Rexona, and Impulse.

"Many people didn't use deodorant as much when they were in lockdown and working from home, and some recovery in that is coming through," said Graeme Pitkethly, the group's finance director, per The Guardian.

Deodorant sales were particularly robust in Latin America and Europe, the company in its third-quarter earnings release.

Unilever reported a similar strong deodorant sales growth last year and saw a big demand surge for deodorants after people started socializing as COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns eased.

The product's continued strong performance is likely evidence that return-to-office mandates are firmly in place the world over following the pandemic, prompting people to pay more attention to their personal care as they are forced to head back to the workplace.

Overall, Unilever reported a 5.2% rise in underlying sales in the third quarter of the year from a year ago, meeting analysts' average forecast. Underlying price growth for the third quarter was 5.8% while underlying volumes were 0.6% lower than a year ago.

Unilever's share prices close 2.6% lower at 3,909.25 British pence, or $47.44, on Thursday.

Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.