Today, sucking up spills, blowing your nose, and wiping your butts are expensive tasks. The reason is that the average price of paper products is rising rapidly. Kitchen rolls rose 17.7%, toilet paper rose 13.6%, and facial tissues rose at a slower rate of 2.3%.
For kitchen rolls, the 5.3% decline in sales was largely due to rising prices. Even when customers buy buns, they choose the cheaper retail range.
While private label sales rose marginally by 0.2%, brand sales fell 12.5%. The top ten brands Plenty and Breeze fell even faster, down 27.3% and 32.8%, respectively. In total the couple threw away 9.2 million bales, resulting in a loss of £13.8 million.
Multi-product supplier Essity says this is largely due to supply issues earlier in the year. “We are pleased to say that these issues have now been resolved, but this has resulted in major retailers losing some promotions, which has impacted sales,” said marketing director Ruth Gresty.
“We have strong plans for 2024 to increase sales of our flagship product Plenty Original, reminding consumers of superior performance, quality and convenience.”
The supplier is hoping to lure lapsed consumers back to the brand with the launch of a cheaper Plenty Everyday model.
This will help meet the growing demand for value brands, which will boost sales of brands such as Blossom Soft, Jack’s and Renova.
Ash Ismail, NIQ’s head of analytics, said the successes “can be attributed to a competitive pricing strategy that aligns with overall consumer preference for cost-effective paper products.”
For brands experiencing declining sales, there is some consolation. Graham Cox, chief operating officer of paper products supplier Accrol, said part of the reason was that people were buying more units of paper. He points to the success of “double roll” products, which are twice the size of conventional products.
“This helps drive value for consumers and has a huge positive impact on our carbon footprint, allowing the group to use 15% fewer vehicles on the same square meters of production,” he explained.
Oversize sheet brand Accrol, recently renamed Magnum, has seen significant growth over the past year, Cox said.
“Over the last 12 months we have been developing the range to compete on absorbency and durability. On-shelf prices are very competitive with leading brands.”
Value also plays a key role at Kleenex. While brand sales fell 2.4%, private label sales rose 7.2%.
“Private label products have grown significantly in both value and volume, mainly due to their competitive pricing,” said NIQ’s Ismail.
Matt Stone, chief marketing officer for Kleenex owner Kimberly-Clark, said another reason for the success is the comparison to 2022, when private labels are struggling with supply.
“We saw some organic gains in 2023 as private label availability increased, although Kleenex was able to maintain the vast majority of the volume it generated in 2022.”
In fact, the brand’s sales increased 0.7%, bucking the overall downward trend in branded facial wipes sales.
Nicky, the second-ranked brand, bucks this trend. Sales volume increased by 96.5% and value increased by 151.8%. “This growth is primarily due to strategic price reductions and increased competition from private label products,” explains Ismail.
Sales of eco-friendly brand The Cheeky Panda have similarly increased. They grew by 6.7%, thanks in part to the introduction of less expensive cube boxes.
The rest of the top 10 brands were less fortunate. Take Handy Andies and its cousin Essity Cushelle: their combined sales fell by 4.6 million cases. “As we work on a pan-European project, distribution volumes for both brands have decreased, which is impacting our supply capabilities,” explains Essity’s Gresty.
Handy Andies will relaunch next year with new formats and designs and, more importantly, Essity will reduce its use of Cushelle facial tissues and focus on toilet paper.
Aldi is once again raising awareness of bowel cancer. In September, the company began listing symptoms of the deadly disease on its own brand of toilet paper packaging. In 2022, the discounter took a similar step with toilet paper packaging. In support of Bowel Cancer UK’s #GetOnARoll campaign, the products now include a summary of bowel cancer symptoms and a QR code allowing customers to find out more.
The toilet roll landscape has changed in one key way this year: brands are outperforming private labels. The number of units in the first increased by 4%, and in the second decreased by 3%.
But the key driver of these results is the same as in other industries: price. NIQ’s Ismail noted that both Nicky and Little Duck saw significant growth as they lowered prices below private label levels. Their total cost is £40.4 million.
Luca Lolli, business director of Nicky owner Sofidel, said the brand is “for everyone, all families and all customers. It offers high quality products at excellent value for money.”
Meanwhile, Little Duck owner Task Consumer Products said its brand has benefited from increased distribution and visibility, as well as its brand being seen as offering good value for money while delivering quality.
On the other hand, market leader Andrex managed to maintain sales. Although the price increased by 13%, it was in line with the market average. “The category benefits and patchwork segment’s share have increased over this period as consumers seek higher quality products,” said Kimberly-Clark’s Stone brand owner.
He pointed to Andrex’s growing range of supreme quality Supreme Quilts. The brand also benefited from the launch of Andrex Mega Rolls. “This helps us provide customers with the same high-quality product at a better price by using less packaging and stronger rolls.”
The brand’s explosive growth means Essity-owned Gresty remains optimistic about the year ahead. Although Britons are “likely to be more frugal”, she believes sales are “unlikely to be significantly affected”. After all, as she concluded, “Toilet paper is a necessity.”
Eco-friendly brand Who Gives a Crap successfully launched in May in Waitrose, marking the first time the fast-growing DTC business has launched in brick-and-mortar stores. The four SKUs – four and eight packs of bamboo toilet paper, eight packs of recycled toilet paper and recycled beauty wipes (retail: £1.65 to £9.99) – are available across the retailer’s 240 stores. Who Gives Crap predicts that the beautifully packaged range will protect over 133,000 square meters of forest within the first 18 months.
Post time: Jun-04-2024