First of three parts
All things considered, it’s relatively simple to get started selling gloves and pick up a few thousand bucks in the process. Get your reseller certificate, knock on some doors, lay out a good spiel, and you too can move some nitrile or latex or vinyl product.
But how do you grow those sales to $10,000, $100,000, or more? Where does the magic kick in and elevate the proceedings to a higher plane?
Why do prices of disposable gloves vary so much between products, and between those who sell them?
Why does inventory come and go? (Those hybrid vinyl/nitrile gloves that you may have loved during the pandemic are much harder to find now.)
The disposable glove market is in a vastly different position from the last couple of years. Yes, it’s still dynamic and unpredictable, but opportunities for glove distributors are everywhere.
The first two years of the pandemic caused havoc for everybody, and the glove market was certainly no exception. A global surge in demand for gloves sent manufacturers scrambling to keep up. The resulting fallout from being unable to deliver needed product pushed every manufacturer to increase production capacity. That led to ample supply coming online in the second half of 2022.
Is there a recession ahead? Some doomsayers believe there is.
Economist Nouriel Roubini, who correctly predicted the 2008 financial crisis, sees a “long and ugly” recession occurring in the U.S. and globally at the end of 2022 that could last all of 2023. (He also has a new book to sell, so keep that in mind.)
Even before the pandemic raised hygiene consciousness, many food service establishments were regular users of disposable gloves.
Avoiding cross-contamination and keeping bacteria at bay are always important considerations for food trucks, restaurants, commercial kitchens, and the like. Protecting customers is central to protecting the business from liability.
How do you find the right glove for the job?
We hear all the time that customers have trouble choosing—and sometimes it takes a few tries to get it right. Here are the top 6 disposable glove specs that should figure into any eventual choice.
If you thought the global supply chain would in 2022 be back to pre-pandemic status, you might want to reconsider.
A new survey of supply chain executives by Carl Marks Advisors, in partnership with SupplyChainBrain, underscores the deep and lasting impact of COVID-related supply chain disruptions.
People are probably tired of hearing about the dysfunctional supply chain, but unfortunately it’s still a concern. We can expect more challenges for the rest of 2022.
The availability of disposable gloves will feel the impact. That does not point to a looming shortage, but it does affect pricing, availability of certain sizes, or availability in certain parts of the country.
Numerous factors are affecting the cost of disposable gloves. Soaring oil prices, shipping rates that are expected to in some cases double, and logistics costs from compromised supply chains all add up to distributors potentially paying more for gloves in the second half of 2022.
Inflation is currently the worst it has been in four decades. Since late 2020, the global inflation rate has risen sharply, driven by such supply chain-related factors as raw materials, labor, shipping, and the lower cost of capital.
Other than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, headlines this year have been dominated by soaring oil and gas prices. In some parts of the U.S., gas has surpassed $6 a gallon.
Expensive fuel, of course, has a ripple effect throughout global economies. The disposable glove industry is no exception.
