People like a bit of luxury along with softness and strength in their toilet paper and suppliers have responded with stylish rolls that are fragranced, embossed, or impregnated with balm
Toilet roll is now anything but bog standard and its getting thicker, stronger, moister - and less multi-coloured.
Maybe most consumers don’t want patterns on their rolls, as decorated paper sales fell 28% to £5m [ACNielsen MAT to December 24, 2005].
Nor do they seem bothered if any trees suffer, as recycled paper sales fell 25% to £36.3m.
However, they are happy to fork out for soft loo rolls with added benefits, with sales of these products rising 22% to £105m last year.
Morrisons’ paper buyer Roger Pawson says: “During 2005, embossed, aloe vera, fragranced and decorated products arrived. This year, the manufacturers will continue to push the boundaries of thickness and strength.”
Andrex Quilts is one such premium product - launched last year and already worth £10m
[ACNielsen May - December, 2005]. Marketing manager Alex Pickering says it’s growing its value share by continuously innovating.
Georgia-Pacific has also launched its first super-premium toilet paper - Lotus Freshness - aimed particularly at young women. It contains a cleansing balm in an ultra soft, thick and quilted three-ply toilet tissue.
Meanwhile, SCA aims to grow the premium category with the launch of Triple Velvet toilet tissue - a three-ply product with a dimpled middle layer for softness, strength and absorbency. The brand has pushed larger pack sizes and sales are up 5.5% [ACNielsen 52 w/e November 26, 2005].
SCA has high hopes for its newcomer - backed by a heavy marketing spend.
And while colour is still an important variant for some who like to accessorise their bathrooms, some buyers are seeing a decline in colour sales, which has prompted Andrex to relaunch its colour range. Pickering says Andrex will carry a consolidated number of SKUs to help drive sales efficiency in the category.
Toilet tissue sales are down 0.1% to £793m [TNS] but kitchen towels are up 2.3% to £255m as brands such as Bounty encourage consumers to buy into concepts such as its Glass & Surfaces variant.
In tissues, Kimberly-Clark’s new Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissue launch is claimed to be the biggest category innovation since Kleenex Balsam launched in 1995.
Marc Zander, Kleenex marketing manager, says the the growth of medicinal tissues and pocket packs are key to the category.
“There is an increase in repertoire shoppers (shoppers who buy across multiple variants) and Kimberly-Clark has been able to tap into these growth areas with the launch of Kleenex Anti-Viral and the re-launch of Kleenex Ultrasoft.”
Toilet roll is now anything but bog standard and its getting thicker, stronger, moister - and less multi-coloured.
Maybe most consumers don’t want patterns on their rolls, as decorated paper sales fell 28% to £5m [ACNielsen MAT to December 24, 2005].
Nor do they seem bothered if any trees suffer, as recycled paper sales fell 25% to £36.3m.
However, they are happy to fork out for soft loo rolls with added benefits, with sales of these products rising 22% to £105m last year.
Morrisons’ paper buyer Roger Pawson says: “During 2005, embossed, aloe vera, fragranced and decorated products arrived. This year, the manufacturers will continue to push the boundaries of thickness and strength.”
Andrex Quilts is one such premium product - launched last year and already worth £10m
[ACNielsen May - December, 2005]. Marketing manager Alex Pickering says it’s growing its value share by continuously innovating.
Georgia-Pacific has also launched its first super-premium toilet paper - Lotus Freshness - aimed particularly at young women. It contains a cleansing balm in an ultra soft, thick and quilted three-ply toilet tissue.
Meanwhile, SCA aims to grow the premium category with the launch of Triple Velvet toilet tissue - a three-ply product with a dimpled middle layer for softness, strength and absorbency. The brand has pushed larger pack sizes and sales are up 5.5% [ACNielsen 52 w/e November 26, 2005].
SCA has high hopes for its newcomer - backed by a heavy marketing spend.
And while colour is still an important variant for some who like to accessorise their bathrooms, some buyers are seeing a decline in colour sales, which has prompted Andrex to relaunch its colour range. Pickering says Andrex will carry a consolidated number of SKUs to help drive sales efficiency in the category.
Toilet tissue sales are down 0.1% to £793m [TNS] but kitchen towels are up 2.3% to £255m as brands such as Bounty encourage consumers to buy into concepts such as its Glass & Surfaces variant.
In tissues, Kimberly-Clark’s new Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissue launch is claimed to be the biggest category innovation since Kleenex Balsam launched in 1995.
Marc Zander, Kleenex marketing manager, says the the growth of medicinal tissues and pocket packs are key to the category.
“There is an increase in repertoire shoppers (shoppers who buy across multiple variants) and Kimberly-Clark has been able to tap into these growth areas with the launch of Kleenex Anti-Viral and the re-launch of Kleenex Ultrasoft.”
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