The Personal Care Wipes Market
The personal care wipes market is
ever expanding. Supported by rising incomes across the globe and consumer
demand for this convenient way to cleanse, the market continues to gain new
products from both veterans in the industry and entrepreneurs hoping to launch
the next big thing.
Of course, baby wipes have always,
and still do, dominate the personal care space. While the baby wipes market is
stable in developed regions such as the U.S., since it already has a high per capita
consumption, one trend analysts have witnessed in this market is volume growth
of private label, according to Svetlana Uduslivaia, head of industry research,
Euromonitor International. “In some cases we see that private label shows it’s
slightly declining in value, but in reality it’s just the low pricing trend – private labelers can afford to keep the
prices low and drive volume up, and essentially they’re taking consumers into
this sphere and away from branded products. This is, of course, a challenge for
branded products to maintain this competitive pricing.”
The last several years have seen a
number of retailers either adding new private label baby wipes or upgrading
their offerings.
Walmart upped its game in the baby
care space when it relaunched its Parent’s Choice brand last year. The massive
retailer added seven new baby wipes to the line, including Parent’s Choice
Cotton Wipes, made with recycled T-shirts, and wipes seasonal scents including
White Tea & Honey and Fresh Woodlands. German retailer Aldi, which
continues to grow its presence in the U.S., also added baby wipes to its new
line of Little Journey baby care products.
Online giant Amazon is doing
especially well in this space. In fact, its line of Elements baby wipes, which
launched in 2014, have seen record growth in 2017, according to eCommerce
market tracker One Click Retail. The Amazon Elements line of baby wipes nearly
doubled its 2016 estimated sales with 94% year-on-year growth, the company
says.
“Amazon has done well, but if
we are to take the entire baby wipes universe and not just online retail,
they’re still a small brand compared to more established branded products,”
Uduslivaia says. “But since Amazon has been competing well online, this has
presented another challenge for branded products to essentially keep pace from
a pricing perspective. This isn’t a new trend—this is something we’ve seen
before—but we’re really seeing private label being out there and really pushing
prices down.”
One growing category outside of
baby wipes is moist toilet tissue. While the wipes industry continues to
grapple with challenges from municipal governments that accuse flushable wipes
of causing millions of dollars in damages to sewer systems, the dispersible
substrates have opportunities for growth, even in developed markets.
“While this whole issue of
flushability is still very much out there, wet toilet paper or moist toilet
wipes continue to grow,” Uduslivaia says. “Even in the developed markets this
is a category that’s not as developed as baby wipes or even facial wipes, so
there’s definitely opportunity there to build and develop that space.”
One challenge that can hold
flushable wipes back, she notes, is how much manufacturers can charge. In
mass retail, when new moist toilet tissue brands launch, there have been a lot
of pricing pressures to get them within a certain price point.
Despite some of these challenges,
the flushable wipes market continues to see innovation. “This category is
definitely getting a little bit more into the space where consumers are more
aware of what they are and there are habits that are being formed with using
this product, so this definitely creates a platform to grow them further,” she
says.
Face Wipes Continue to Shine
Another trend Euromonitor analysts
have noticed in the personal care wipes market are polarizing tendencies in the
facial care wipes category. On one hand, some consumers are looking for the
most basic facial cleansing products that won’t break the bank, and on the
other hand, some wipes enthusiasts are looking for products that offer value
added features and specialty ingredients—wipes that offer certain claims such
as “detoxifying”—which tend to sell for a higher price point.
The latter trend can certainly be
seen in some of 2017’s newest product launches in facial care wipes. Burt’s
Bees, a popular natural skincare products brand, debuted Micellar Cleansing
Towelettes. Infused with natural ingredients like Australian White Cypress Oil,
responsibly sourced from discarded branches, and Honey Extract, the
multitasking cleanser uses micellar technology to trap and lift away dirt, oil
and other impurities for a fresh and clean complexion without rinsing.
The company Biossance is also
making natural and added value claims with its newest launch—Squalane + Antioxidant
Cleansing Cloths. The alcohol-free and biodegradable wipes are intended to
remove long wear makeup, condition lashes and brows and hydrate skin. While the
term “antioxidant” has become a well-known buzzword in the beauty care
industry, Biossance describes squalane as its own mega-moisturizing molecule
that instantly hydrates while locking in essential moisture. While the human
body produces its own version of this molecule, the amount decreases over time.
The patented technology from Biossance creates 100% plant-derived squalane
sustainably from sugarcane.
Another company looking to expand
its sales in wipes is Yes To, which is using fruits and vegetables to entice
shoppers in the skin care aisle. New Yes To Carrots Vitamin-Enriched Kale Wipes
are infused with carrots and kale for a wellness-boosting cleanse. The wipes
cleanse, remove makeup and nourish skin all in one swipe. A nonwoven-based
paper facial mask with a similar formulation is also being launched soon—the
Yes To Carrots Vitamin-Enriched Kale Paper Mask.
Yes To is expanding its paper mask
offerings even more in 2018 with the addition of Yes to Super Eye Masks,
available in formulations featuring blueberry, coconut, cucumber or grapefruit
versions. According to the company, the fun-shaped, colorful paper eye masks
provide targeted treatment for the eye area and are formulated with key Yes To
ingredients to recharge, calm, boost glow and energize the eye area.
The growing facial mask trend has
also led Yes To to develop its Yes to Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Paper Mask
Beauty Box. Already available as a single mask that’s formulated with charcoal,
to detoxify and cleanse pores, the new beauty box features a 10-pack of the
masks that dispense one at a time, just like wipes.
“Masking is becoming part of
many women’s skincare regimen and is often done on a daily basis,” says Ingrid
Jackel, CEO of Yes To, Inc. “Since the Yes To single use Charcoal Paper Mask is
the #1 natural facial mask in our class of trade (based on the latest IRI data
12 weeks ending week of Dec. 3), providing 10 in a box, that dispenses one at a
time, at an amazing value (greater than 30% savings based on the SRP of the Yes
To single use Charcoal paper mask) is very appealing.”
Wipes Save the Day
Diamond Wipes, a wet wipes
manufacturer that also has its own brand of cleansing and makeup remover wipes
under the La Fresh name, has developed a truly unique kind of wipe intended for
firefighters.
The new decontamination (“decon”)
body wipes, called Hero Wipes, are specially formulated to remove toxic,
cancer-causing carcinogens from the vulnerable skin of firefighters before they
leave the scene of a fire.
“Hero Wipes was developed
after a conversation that a Diamond Wipes team member had with a firefighter,
who had conveyed a serious need for decontamination wipes for the firefighting
community,” says Eve Yen, founder and CEO of Diamond Wipes International, Inc.
“The conversation was quite powerful in that it centered around the staggering
rates of cancer among firefighters. It was with that very conversation in mind
that the company progressed with a new focus and priority: making the best
decontamination wipe available.”
While firefighters have used some
form of on-site decontamination for years, Yen says they commonly use baby
wipes. “Standard baby wipes are not formulated to remove harmful carcinogens,
and other wipes available have not been tested or shown to be effective,” she
adds.
Hero Wipes were independently
tested and shown to be extremely effective in absorbing and clearing away
harmful toxins that are linked to cancer. Specifically, Hero Wipes were shown
to remove 98% of the toxic flame retardant TCEP and 83% of the carcinogen Benzopyrene,
which is found in soot.
Launched at the end of last year,
Hero Wipes was established with a patent-pending balanced blend of ingredients
that are shown to isolate and trap harmful chemical compounds within the wipe.
They are intended for vigorous usage – each wipe is thick, tough, stretchable
and virtually indestructible compared to run-of-the-mill baby wipes, so they
won’t breakdown. Moreover, with its proven formula, Hero Wipes are ideal for
the on-scene decon protocol as usage of an effective wipe limits the amount of
time harmful carcinogens lingers on the skin.
Marking its 24th year of doing
business in the wipes market, Diamond Wipes is very encouraged by the growth
it’s seen. “Given our new venture with Hero Wipes, we do believe that
innovation of new function and application in the wipes market is a key,” Yen
says. “With Hero Wipes, we stepped a bit outside our comfort zone by moving
into fire safety. We found it to be both a gratifying move and one that
challenged us, because we learned exactly how important it was to get the
product right.”
Source: www.nonwovens-industry.com