Insects are afraid, but not of the crisis

Despite the recession the insecticide and insect repellent category remained stable. People are increasingly afraid of dangerous mosquitos and ticks. The latter have not been killed by the local authorities in the past two years, so individual protection remains the only tool – says Nóra Tremmel, marketing and sales director at Spotless Hungary.
Domestic trends are similar to those in Western Europe – consumers prefer less aggressive methods and many are less inclined to use aerosol products. As a part of this trend, electronic mosquito repellents and zappers sell better. Partly this is the reason why Vape managed to grow in both value and volume. Gabriella Lajtos, product manager at Sara Lee Hungary Zrt. highlighted that the flying insect zapper segment was up in the past period, while the crawling insect- and moth-killer segments were down. The three most important retail channels are still hypermarkets, drugstores and traditional shops, where the traditional Chemotox brand’s presence is strong. The category of repellents applied directly to the skin expands dynamically. This year Vape will introduce Vape derm 2in1 and Vape herbal 2in1 mosquito and tick repellent creams, which at the same time are calming sticks too. In 2009, Chemotox expanded its product range with an electronic portfolio, with which they managed to achieve an 8.9-percent value share. This year Chemotox’s new product is Ragacsos flypaper. Last year Vape’s unique innovation was the builtin thermostat of electronic mosquito zappers. This year they will release three new products, including the multi insect aerosol product. In 2010, Vape will launch its tick map website, where customers can mark the place where they found ticks. This social initiative fills a huge gap, as the authorities will not make such a map this year.