Soft Hands, Sold-Out Shelves: The Hand Sanitizer Everyone’s Talking About (Win!)

If you thought hand sanitizer had peaked, Nutrius is here to prove otherwise. Best known for its cult-favourite Coco Bliss Brazilian Body Butter Cream, the Canadian brand has just launched ultra-moisturizing hand sanitizers at Walmart Canada—and they’re flying off shelves. In this Q&A, Charles Wachsberg, CEO of Nutrius, shares how the brand turned a daily essential into a feel-good staple, why familiar scents like Coco Bliss, Berry Bliss, and Botanical Bliss are resonating with shoppers, and what it means to see a Toronto-founded brand make such a major splash nationwide. —Vita Daily

Hand sanitizer isn’t usually considered a “thrilling” beauty category—so how did Nutrius manage to turn it into something people are genuinely excited to buy (and hoard)?

Nutrius is a game changing brand focused on innovation and an enhanced customer experience. Pushing boundaries to deliver this result is foundational to the Nutrius ethos and is reflected in our new spray hand sanitizers.

Nutrius spray sanitizers offer the same 99.9% germ kill rate claim expectation but they achieve this result with an elevated and elegant dispensing system and a luxurious skin deposition result.

Additionally, our delectable and winning brand scents are incorporated into each of the sanitizer formulas to leave skin feeling delightfully refreshed and smelling great, without the strong and unpleasant “alcohol” odour so typical of most hand sanitizers.

Lastly, every Nutrius hand sanitizer is formulated to deliver exceptional skin feel, moisturization and performance without the tackiness, stickiness or chafing which is routinely experienced in alternative hand sanitizer brands. They are a must try!!

Coco Bliss already has cult status. What made you decide to bring your most-loved body butter scents into hand sanitizers—and were you surprised by how fast they flew off Walmart shelves?

All Nutrius products are celebrated for their affordable luxury propositions and for their uncompromising performance. They are similarly recognized for their customized scents which are applied throughout the expanded product range.

Coco Bliss is our original scent and is globally appreciated and identified as the “core” fragrance, despite the adjacent popularity of the newer Berry Bliss and Botanical Bliss additions. We understood that a premium Nutrius hand sanitizer would be appreciated by the growing Nutrius community for its preferred fragrance profile, heightened performance, and for its novel dispensing system in relation to other brands and products. We are thrilled to have developed this item and to have delivered this value and innovation to and for our cherished customers who have come to expect excellence from Nutrius.

We will always deliver upon our promise of excellence and seek to earn the praise and support of our loyal community of satisfied patrons in everything that we do and in every product we create at Nutrius.

Ultra-moisturizing and non-sticky feels almost too good to be true. What was the biggest challenge in creating a sanitizer that actually feels like skincare?

Being true to our values and to our unequivocal commitment to exceed the expectations of our customers requires us to create and commercialize products of distinction that have no rivals in the marketplace. With this goal in mind, every challenge becomes more of an opportunity to be imagined and realized and for a “void” to be satisfied and conquered.

Hand sanitizers have always been acknowledged for their germ killing performance, but they have never delivered a truly desired or effective sensorial experience… until now. At Nutrius, our objective in creating our sanitizers was to deliver a product that would deliver a holistic and complete customer experience- a true beauty product with novel skin feel, scenting and quality that will also help keep you and your family safe from harmful germs-the perfect hand sanitizer. The end result is a completely satisfied and delighted customer and an executed product that is worthy of the high standards we have for the Nutrius brand.

Seeing empty shelves at Walmart is a moment. What was it like for the team to spot real-time sellouts across Canada, especially as a Toronto-based brand?

Nutrius is a treasured Canadian brand and innovation. We obviously take great pride in satisfying Canadians with exceptional and uncompromising products that are best in industry and which we have painstakingly designed, developed, and executed.

A sellout success does obviously validate our assumptions and efforts but it also means that we need to get quickly get back to work to replenish our stock so that our customers don’t have to manage without their preferred brand selections. We are focused on meeting any future demand for our great products. Expect Nutrius hand sanitizers to be back in stock very soon at Walmart, on Amazon, and elsewhere.

If someone is new to Nutrius and only grabs one scent to toss in their bag, which one should they start with—and why?

Truthfully, there is no perfect answer to that question. Scent is quite personal and subjective and the Nutrius community is very connected to their specific preferences. Whether it’s Coco Bliss, Berry Bliss, or Botanical Bliss, each scent will delight in its own unique and personal way. No matter which scent you do ultimately choose, every Nutrius product we make will meet and exceed all expectations. This is our unshakable brand promise and commitment and at all times we hope that we can earn your trust and that you will give us a try.

Win! 1 of 5 Nutrius Hand Sanitizer Gift Sets!

Congrats Kari D. of Calgary, AB, Cathy B. of Lakefield, ON, Marie S. of Coquitlam, BC, Shyla M. of Saskatoon, SK and Darlene C. of Kirkland Lake, ON, who will each receive a Nutrius hand sanitizer gift set (three hand sanitizers, one of each scent)! Please note: if you are the winner, you will receive a DM (direct message) in Instagram directly from @vitadailymedia. Please be wary of fake accounts, which often use similar handles with an extra or missing letter, number or symbol. We will never ask for a payment or for your credit card number, and we will never ask you to click through a link. If you are unsure whether you have been contacted, via Instagram, by us or a fake account, email us before responding. Full contest rules/regulations here.