Hand-washing or dishwasher?

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2023/5

Liza Boldizsár, brand manager of Henkel Magyarország Kft.:

Liza Boldizsár
brand manager
Henkel Magyarország

“Like-for like sales of washing-up liquids soared by more than 20% in drugstores and developed by 16% in hypermarkets in 2022. Their sales performance also improved nicely in other retail channels, such as supermarkets and discount supermarkets, but not so much in terms of volume”.

Dishwasher tablet sales also increased in 2022, by 16.2%, which was driven by value growth. In this segment discounters were the engine of sales growth, where value sales were up 24% last year. Sales grew in drugstores too, by a hefty 20.6%.

Low temperature, high efficiency

Réka Biró-Kőszegvári
brand manager
Henkel Magyarország

From Henkel Magyarország Kft.’s washing-up products Aloe Vera performed the best in the balm segment, and Lemon variants did the best in the power segment. As for dishwasher tablets and gel pods, premium category products came up with the strongest performance in 2022.

Réka Biró-Kőszegvári, brand manager of Henkel Magyarország Kft.:

“2023 is expected to be the year of economising, and the latest innovation by the Somat brand is related to this trend: improved Somat products can be used in ECO mode at low temperature with the same cleaning efficiency, but saving up to 20% energy”.

Dóra Pongrácz-Polgár, brand marketing manager of Reckitt Hygiene & Home Hungary Kft.:

Dóra Pongrácz-Polgár
brand marketing manager
Reckitt Hygiene & Home Hungary

“The popularity of premium products is growing year after year, and this trend was even stronger in 2022. Sales of multifunctional premium dishwasher tablets and pods surged, while those of basic variants fell considerably”.

The share of multifunctional, premium dishwasher capsules increases sharply

Saving water is a priority

The Finish brand has remained the market leading dishwasher product with its 35.5% share. Dóra Pongrácz-Polgár informed that April brings the debut of the company’s strongest-ever dishwasher tablet, Finish Ultimate Plus. What is more, most Finisih products are getting a recyclable packaging.

FCB Hungary Zrt. is the distributor of German eco-friendly Frosch products, and at the moment they are present in the Hungarian market with 17 different washing-up and dishwasher products. One of the most popular is the company’s Baby product, which is the perfect choice for washing not only the feeding bottles and containers of babies, but also their toys and high chairs.

Gábor Sélley
sales director
FCB Hungary

Gábor Sélley, sales director of FCB Hungary Zrt.:

“In 2022 we launched another special product range called Zero. These products have been developed especially for consumers living with some kind of skin allergy. Zero products contain no fragrances or allergens, and they are dermatologically tested”.

Strengthening “eco trend”

Katalin István
marketing director
Herbow International

Katalin István, marketing director of Herbow International Zrt.:

“Consumer consciousness is a strengthening trend in the category. Shoppers are showing bigger interest in products made with natural ingredients. Then most important factors, based on which consumers decide which product to buy, are scent, skin- and eco-friendly formula and packaging, and no animal testing and being vegan”.

In 2022 Herbow’s most successful washing-up product was Herbow baby, a fragrance allergen free product that contains soapnut extract, and can also be used to clean various surfaces. In 2023 Souldrops and Herbow joined forces for a stronger market presence for both brands. Souldrops washing-up gels are made from eco-friendly plant-based components.

Eco-consciousness is becoming a more widespread approach

Price-sensitive sponge and cloth segments

Alexandra Litkei
jr. marketing manager
Freudenberg Háztartási
Cikkek

Because of the high inflation, sponge volume sales dropped 3.4% and cloth volume sales fell 6.8% in 2022, according to NielsenIQ.

Alexandra Litkei, junior marketing manager of Vileda – Freudenberg Háztartási Cikkek Bt.:

“Private label products are becoming more dominant in the category, but Vileda has managed to hold on to its market leader position. Sponge and cloth products are a very price-sensitive category. Private labels and sales in promotion are getting stronger in this segment”.

Vileda is fighting bacteria with the help of its Ultra Fresh range. As these cloths and sponges contain silver chloride ions, they can prevent the reproduction of bacteria and by this their bad smell too.

In the wipes and sponges segment, on-pack promotions are the most popular

Online is coming up

Andrej Botos
marketing manager
Bonus

Andrej Botos, marketing manager of Bonus Kft.:

“Despite the exchange rate fluctuation, we were able to realise a 5% volume sales growth with imported exclusive cleaning supplies, and our value sales grew above the inflation level. Online sales of our products continued to grow”.

For many years now the same sponges, cloths and scrub sponges have been the most popular from Bonus Kft.’s products. However, in the mop segment the premium mop called MicroMOP is now sold in larger quantities than the former best-seller, the classic cotton mop head. Before Easter the company came out with a special, limited edition 3-colour MicroMOP Soft mop set, which sold out in just one week. From 2023 the scrub layer on sponges is made from 100% recycled PET bottle, while the soft part contains 30% natural ingredients, which they would like to increase to 50% this year. //