Magazine: Laundry detergent brands are investing in the future

Klaudia Deregi
brand manager
Henkel Magyarország

Although the laundry detergent market is saturated, sales have kept developing in the last few years. Gels constitute the biggest segment in the category, followed by the segment of powders that is becoming less important and dynamically developing capsules. According to Klaudia Deregi, brand manager of Henkel Magyarország (Tomi, Biopon), the category of traditional laundry detergents contributed to the general growth, because sales of so-called fine detergents dropped in 2017.

Tamás Szirbucz
national account manager
Orbico Hungary

Tamás Szirbucz, national account manager of Orbico Hungary Kft. – the distributor of P&G products – told our magazine that shoppers preferred large-sized products in 2017: the company’s sales were up 1.6 percent in value and grew by 2.9 percent in volume, but calculated in actual products only 0.1 percent more laundry detergents were sold.

Zsuzsa Petrikovics
brand manager
Unilever Magyarország

Laundry detergent is typically purchased in promotion – especially the large formats. Zsuzsa Petrikovics, brand manager of Unilever Magyarország Kft. informed us that about 2/3 of volume sales is realised in promotion in the category. Hypermarkets are responsible for the majority of sales, but the shares of drugstores and discount supermarket are growing.

Bernadett Vékásy
brand manager
Henkel Magyarország

Experts say there is still great potential in fine laundry detergents. Bernadett Vékásy, brand manager of Henkel Magyarország (Persil) told Trade magazin that the main directions of their innovation work are environmental protection, sustainability, more concentrated washing efficiency and stain removal. In addition to the high quality of products, it is also important to offer consumers laundry detergents that can save them time and money. Mr Szirbucz told that their Ariel detergent capsule is a 3 in 1 solution: it contains stain removal and colour protection additives too. Gel products are the best-sellers among Ariel laundry detergents, and this indicates that simple use is important for shoppers; actually so important that they are willing to pay a higher price for these.

A Unilever survey has revealed that shoppers purchase 2-3 different brands, which have similar cleaning efficiency and belong to the same price category. They choose the product that represents the best solution at the moment of buying. Consumers like to try new products if they give them extra advantages and/or a better price-value ratio. The company’s Surf brand acquired a nearly 5-percent market share already in the year following its market introduction. Gel products are the most popular from the Surf portfolio. Color products are the best-sellers and the most popular variant is. As for their innovation work, Unilever takes part in an industry-level project that aims at increasing the concentration of liquid laundry detergents by 30 percent, in order to make laundry detergent production more sustainable.

Richárd Bóna
managing director
Monsun

Monsun Kft.’s managing director Richárd Bóna told our magazine that they market environmentally friendly products under the Souldrops brand name. He believes that awareness raising campaigns could make consumers more environmentally conscious. The company only sells laundry detergent gels with the Souldrops brand name.Universal and sensitive products realise the biggest sales in terms of volume. This year the company focuses on recycled plastic bottles, and with three laundry detergent gels and three washing-up products they plan to earn the right to use the EU Ecolabel marking. //