Some surprising trends

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/6-7

Barbara Horváth
senior category manager
Essity Hungary

“The moist toilet tissue category presents a very different picture, starting the year very well in both value and volume”,

says Barbara Horváth, senior category manager of Essity Hungary Kft.

The toilet paper market expanded by 2.6% in value in the 12 month-period ending in March 2024, but contracted by 11% in package volume and 7.9% in roll number.

Réka Forgách
brand manager
Essity Hungary

At the end of 2023 Essity Hungary Kft. entered the market with ECO Comfort toilet paper, made from 100% recycled paper, without bleach and chemicals. Another innovation they introduced last year is the Odor Block technology. This development in the Deluxe 3-ply scented toilet paper range offers innovative bathroom odour neutralisation.

The dry toilet paper market is declining, while the market of moist toilet tissues is growing dynamically

Promotion hunters

Orsolya Varga
marketing manager
Vajda-Papír

“The Hungarian consumer confidence index remains low and most shoppers are waiting for and looking for special prices and promotional offers in every category. Obviously consumers are buying for less at a time, because they prefer to visit stores more often in case there is a better offer waiting for them”,

explains Orsolya Varga, marketing manager of Vajda-Papír Kft.

In 2024 Vajda-Papír Kft. will take further steps towards compactness, as it has done with the Ooops! Maxi 6-roll toilet paper, which has 400 sheets per roll in order to offer the most paper per unit of packaging material used, maximising value for money while being environmentally friendly. The packaging of the company’s products is made from 100% recyclable materials, which can be recycled into raw materials over time. Ooops! toilet papers have switched to environmentally conscious packaging materials, with 60% recycled plastic ensuring the move towards circular economy.

Discount supermarkets are the main places for buying

The decline in purchasing power has pushed consumers towards discounters even more, a trend that was already going strong in the past.

Attila Kecskeméti
COO
Magyar Piszke Papír

“Other channels find it difficult to counter the perception that consumers appreciate discounters – especially for their private label products – as the best place for shopping when it comes to price, even if in many cases in the past year certain products were offered at the same or lower prices in supermarket-type stores”,

stresses Attila Kecskeméti, chief operating officer of Magyar Piszke Papír Kft.

Magyar Piszke Papír Kft. has made great progress by opting for the development of plastic-free toilet paper with a high sheet count, large sheet size and small tube diameter, in recycled box packaging. In recent months they have focused on the launch of shrink film free toilet paper.

Value for money is a major issue, and packages of 16 and 24 rolls are most popular

Three-ply is the favourite

Value for money is a very important product choice factor and 3-ply toilet paper remains the most popular, with demand being the biggest for 16- and 24-roll products.

Gábor Vizur
category manager
Sofidel Hungary

“Consumers continue to focus on sustainability and market players are also placing a strong emphasis on this in their practices and communication”,

points out Gábor Vizur, category manager at Sofidel Hungary Kft.

For the first time, the 16+ rolls category has exceeded the 50% market share in value at the expense of the 10 rolls or fewer category. Two- and three-ply toilet papers account for the bulk of consumption.

Since last year Sofidel Hungary Kft. has been present in the market with a new 3-ply product range called Regina Delicate, which is softer and of higher quality than their previous products. This year they are launching the new Regina Infinity 4-roll product, with more than three times the amount of soft paper on each roll, so that consumers will find 500 sheets of toilet paper per roll compared to the traditional 150 sheets a roll.

Yesterday’s new consumer need is today’s basic feature

Sándor Gödri
sales director
Metsä Tissue HU

Sándor Gödri, sales director of Metsa Tissue HU Kft. thinks consumers are more and more conscious, and he believes that store chains should help them to make decisions based on price/metre or price/sheet rather than price/roll.

“There is already a Hungarian retail chain that backs this awareness raising trend and we hope more will follow”,

says the sales director.

In 2023 Metsa Tissue rolled out the Tento Family Delicate 32-roll 3-ply and Tento Family Delicate 12-roll 3-ply products, aiming to satisfy the needs of low-income consumers in the 10 rolls or more category; both products have 14m of toilet paper per roll. So far the company has only been present in the market with a 24-roll product, but now they have entered new segments. //

An innovation trend that is also backed by retailers is the development of more compact products containing more paper per unit volume