Magazine: Cleanliness is more important than ever before!

Zsuzsa Petrikovics
brand manager
Unilever Magyarország

Zsuzsa Petrikovics, brand manager of Unilever Magyarország Kft. reported to Trade magazin that sales in the cleaning product category grew by a single-digit number in 2019. Then in March-April 2020 sales doubled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Consumers show increasing interest in convenience products, such as cloths and toilet rim blocks. Demand is also on the rise for natural and eco-friendly cleaning products. Three-quarters of sales are generated by drugstores, hypermarkets and discount supermarkets.

Beatrix Szécsényi
senior trade & customer
marketing manager
Reckitt Benckiser

Beatrix Szécsényi, Reckitt Benckiser (Hungary) Kft.’s senior trade & customer marketing manager added that the sub-category of disinfectant surface cleaners expanded above the average in 2019 (according to Nielsen). This growth was driven by the Dettol brand, which was launched in 2018. Sprays have a bit bigger value share, but sales of wet wipes were increasing faster in this segment. Shoppers are making online purchases more frequently and large-sized products are increasingly popular.

Hygiene has become a top priority

In the toilet bowl freshener category, consumers started buying more premium products in 2019. Another trend in the category was the growing importance of eco-products – informed Eszter Seres, brand manager of Henkel Magyarország Kft.

Edit Oláh
marketing manager
Vileda–Freudenberg
Háztartási Cikkek

Edit Oláh, Vileda – Freudenberg Háztartási Cikkek Bt.’s marketing manager talked to our magazine about the jump in cleaning product and equipment sales in early 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as hygiene and cleanliness became very important for people. Vileda’s foot pedal-equipped mop and bucket set is used by a growing number of people, because it makes the daily housework easier. The company’s electric and microfibre products support more frequent and thorough cleaning – they remove or kill 99 percent of bacteria in our homes. Bonus Kft. is a Hungarian Product trademark user and the company’s mop heads are now available in more that 20 percent of shops. Marketing manager Andrej Botos said there are more and more conscious shoppers – and purchasing managers as well.

Sales soar on coupon days

Eszter Seres
brand manager
Henkel Magyarország

Ms Seres called attention to the fact that toilet bowl cleaner and freshener sales strengthen a little in the spring and before Christmas. Coupon redeeming days organised by Glamour magazine in the spring and autumn are two periods that generate considerable sales.

Ms Petrikovics agreed that sales increase on these coupon das, and she also talked to us about demand rising for their Szavo Anti-mould product in the winter months.

Andrej Botos
marketing manager
Bonus

Mr Botos revealed that from the two big cleaning periods the spring one generated 15 percent higher sales in 2019. In the Christmas period the company is going to enter the market with a new product. Ms Szécsényi pointed it out that the autumn-winter months are very important in disinfectant surface cleaner sales. The company’s Dettol Universal surface cleaner spray and wet wipe range kills 99.9 percent of tested bacteria and viruses.

The green trend sets a new direction

Unilever makes great efforts to take its product portfolio in a more sustainable direction. In 2020 they came out with Cif ecorefill for the Cif Power & Shine spray product. This contains 75 percent less plastic and requires 87 percent fewer trucks for transportation. Henkel Magyarország Kft.’s best-selling toilet bowl fresheners were the Classic Power Aktiv and Premium Color Aktiv product lines. As a reaction to the global green trend, the company launched Bref Pronature toilet bowl freshener balls in the Hungarian market: their plastic holder and carton base are made of 100-percent recycled material and both of them are 100-percent recyclable as well. January 2020 brought the debut of Bref Pronature Bathroom Cleaner, a 100-percent recycled plastic product with a 99.9-percent natural formula.

Category sales doubled in March-April 2020

Eco-friendly characteristics both inside and outside

In July Reckitt Benckiser (Hungary) Kft. rolled out a Dettol refill product that contains 70 percent less plastic than the 500ml Dettol spray. Vileda – Freudenberg Háztartási Cikkek Bt.’s most popular products are Ultramax flat mop and the Vileda Turbo mop and bucket set with a foot pedal operated wringer. Vileda Steam fights dirt in a natural way, so there is no need for chemicals – it can kill up to 99 percent of bacteria in the homes of consumers. This year an XXL version of the product was developed. Bonus Kft.’s packaging innovation work focuses on reducing the company’s ecological footprint. They set the goal of making 50 percent of their packaging designs to be degradable plastic or paper from 2021. In the third quarter of 2020 they will put the new products Grill and Kitchen SmartPACK on the market.

Natural, degradable ingredients and packaging of recyclable plastic are more often considered by customers

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