44|Retail News|January / February 2020|www.retailnews.ie
Paper Products
No issues for tissues
The paper products market continues to thrive in Ireland, with most of the main manufacturers making commitments to environmental sustainability. IRISH consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their paper product choices. Sustainability and flushability are two top features for consumers when considering tissue and hygiene products, according to the latest report into the Irish tissue and hygiene market from Euromonitor International. Private label continues to perform well in this category but multinational brands still dominate. Even though there are a number of significant challenges, the outlook remains reasonably positive for the majority of categories within tissue and hygiene, according to Euromonitor. Despite growing concerns about the environmental impact of retail tissue products, a number of leading brands have started to introduce bigger packs to attract customers, according
to Euromonitor. All the leading brands, particularly in toilet paper and paper towels, have launched larger volume packs. As retail tissue has become increasingly competitive, there has been upwards pressure on the existing brands to maintain their value shares. This pressure has been exacerbated by the fact that the environmental impact of tissue products has generally led to increased manufacturing input costs in the form of levies and regulation. In the away-from-home tissue category, wipes of all kinds are under increasing public scrutiny thanks to a number of high profile cases of environmental damage involving wipes. Although wet wipes have evolved significantly to contain less chemicals and less plastic, pressure still remains through diminished consumer sentiment
for these products, according to Euromonitor. However, growing tourist numbers should help to support growth in away-from-home tissue, they predict. Essity Ireland Limited Cushelle is the number one brand in the market over the last 12 months with 17.3% value share of the toilet tissue category (Source: Kantar Worldpanel MAT Data to December 31, 2019) and has exciting brand plans to continue growing in 2020. Cushelle will run a strong advertising campaign, featuring Kenny the Koala, throughout 2020, beginning with TV and VOD for Cushelle Quilted with a TV tag to help drive awareness of Cushelle facial tissues. Many of you will have watched the upsetting news reports about the devastating bushfires in Australia that have claimed the homes and
