Darby Group Companies Makes Strategic Investment in American Nitrile

Darby Group Companies has invested in American Nitrile, the largest U.S. manufacturer of nitrile gloves, based in Grove City, Ohio. Darby is the first dental supplier to distribute American Nitrile’s DenTouch Gloves—a new glove designed to meet the unique needs of the dental market with patented compression tip technology that improves dexterity and simplifies handling of small, intricate instruments used by dentists and dental hygienists.

Darby Group Companies claims DenTouch is the biggest innovation in nitrile gloves in more than a decade.
 
The new DenTouch gloves boast several key advantages over their foreign-produced counterparts. The gloves offer superior protection by meeting a pinhole AQL of 1.5, exceeding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirement by 60%. With all manufacturing and R&D taking place in American Nitrile’s Ohio facility, the company can ensure ethical labor practices and sustainable manufacturing processes during every step of production. Furthermore, American Nitrile eliminates unpredictable trans-pacific shipping, port delays, and the need to carry high safety stock. The company also emphasizes sustainability at all levels, recycling up to 40 gallons of water per case of gloves and using 100% recycled and recyclable cardboard packaging.
 
“Darby Group Companies’ commitment to bringing best-in-class solutions to the dental market has been central to our investment strategy,” President Frank Massino said. “DenTouch gloves are a game-changer for the dental market because of their improved dexterity and unmatched ability to handle small instruments for more efficient and comfortable procedures. We are thrilled to bring the benefits of these gloves to dental practices and, in turn, to improve the quality of patient care, nationwide.”
 
Bringing the DenTouch glove to market is a natural undertaking for Darby Dental, which maintains an entire division dedicated to gloves. “Love Your Glove” by Darby provides customers with a vast selection of nitrile, polychloroprene, latex gloves and more, as well as expertise on fit and functionality though the company’s highly trained glove experts.
 
“Darby’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and bringing the highest quality products to market is a natural extension of our own commitment and mission,” American Nitrile CEO/Founder Jacob Block stated. “We are thrilled to leverage their experience, distribution network, and dedication to their customers to bring DenTouch gloves to market.”

Darby Dental Supply provides dental practices with access to more than 50,000 products as well as technology services, equipment repair, private label products, and dedicated glove, specialty, and capital equipment divisions. Darby began in 1947 as a single mail-order catalog in Brooklyn and has become one of the largest dental distributors in the United States, shipping more than 1 million orders annually.
 
Based in Grove City, Ohio, American Nitrile is a privately held company that manufactures medical and nonmedical gloves for healthcare, government, and industrial use. The company will make approximately 3.6 billion gloves per year in its 530,000-square-foot manufacturing facility when fully scaled in 2024. The American Nitrile team brings together entrepreneurs and operators with extensive manufacturing, supply chain, and PPE experience.