Magazine: The feeling of personal responsibility moves not mountains but categories

Among consumers living a healthier life there are more and more who like to buy ‘natural’ and eco-friendly household cleaning products. Sales of these keep growing and shoppers can choose from an ever-wider selection of products. Drugstores and hypermarkets are important in sales, but specialist shops and supermarkets also contribute to the sales growth.

Zsuzsa Petrikovics
brand manager
Unilever Magyarország

Zsuzsa Petrikovics, brand manager of Unilever Magyarország told our magazine that eco-friendly household cleaning products make up for 1-3 percent of the product category. Sales of this ‘green’ segment are increasing by two-digit numbers year after year. Stores also dedicate bigger shelf space to these products now than they used to.

Gábor Sélley
sales director
FCB Hungary

Gábor Sélley, sales director of FCB Hungary Zrt. informed that natural cleaning products can now be found in every retail channel. The company’s expectation is that soon discount supermarkets will also start selling eco-friendly cleaners. Attila Linczmayer, marketing manager of Florin Chemical and Trade Zrt. shares the view that shoppers show more interest in these products than before. He told that the share of eco-friendly cleaning products in total category sales is still small, but this share keeps increasing. Marijana Herbut-Beckei, marketing manager of Henkel Laundry & Home Care opines that an environmentally conscious group of consumers have appeared in the category of household cleaning products. These shoppers are willing to pay more for a product if it has all the advantages that they expect. They also tend to buy online more frequently than the average.

Ms Petrikovics explained that in the household cleaning product category price and efficiency are still the most important buying decision factors. However, there is a new group of consumers, called ‘green consumers’, which has switched to eco-friendly products; some of them did this because of some kind of personal motivation (sensitive skin, birth of a baby, etc.), while others care about the environment.

Attila Linczmayer
marketing manager
Florin

Mr Linczmayer added that it is characteristic of shoppers buying these products that they remain loyal to their favourite products, no matter how heavily traditional cleaning products are promoted.

FCB Hungary Zrt. distributes Frosch products in Hungary. Mr Sélley told Trade magazin that the eco-friendly features of these cleaners are more important than other factors. Their buyers know what they want from a product and stick with it. Ms Herbut-Beckei informed that besides meeting shopper requirements, Henkel’s innovative products also prioritise environmental and sustainability considerations. At group level 100 percent of packaging material used by Henkel will be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. In 2018 the Clin, Bref and Pur brands will launch new ProNature products. Clin and Pur ProNature products marked with the Ecolabel are packaged in 100-percent recycled plastic and in 95.5-percent they are made from components coming from sustainable sources that are easily degrading too.

This year Unilever introduced a new eco-friendly laundry detergent and cleaning product brand, Seventh Generation. Products are made from plant-based components and contain no unnecessary additives such as colouring, optical bleaching agent, phosphates, etc. The packaging is made from recycled plastic and it is recyclable, and the Leaping Bunny certification proves that the products weren’t tested on animals; they are also EU Ecolabel certified.

Frosch products have been present on store shelves for more than 30 years. These cleaners stand alone in the market because they are almost completely free from microplastics. The packaging is made from recycled plastic. As regards marketing communication, the main direction is protecting sea and ocean wildlife, and sustainable production. This year the brand won the Green Brands recognition in Hungary too. In 2017 Florin bought Chemität Kft. and they started developing a modern, eco-friendly product range. The Chemität range consists of a hypoallergenic laundry detergent liquid, an eco-friendly bathroom cleaner liquid, a toilet cleaner, a washing-up liquid, a universal surface cleaner, a kitchen cleaner and a window cleaner. The products are Ecolabel-certified and their packaging is 100-percent recyclable. //