Home ›› 17 Oct 2021 ›› Front
The market size of beauty soaps in Bangladesh quadrupled within a decade and locally manufactured soaps are able to meet more than 80 per cent of domestic demand.
Industry insiders attributed the increased market demand to consumers’ health consciousness and a sense of personal hygiene along with their purchasing capacity.
A wider range of choices and captivating commercial played a key part in drawing attention of consumers, thereby boosting the demand.
The stakeholders observed that the Covid-19 pandemic also put some impact on the rising demand as it drove people to become more aware of their health, but failed to provide any intelligible statistics for the market size.
The annual demand for soaps — both for bathing and laundry—in Bangladesh is around 90,000 metric tonnes, said industry insiders.
There are two categories of bathing soap — beauty soap and health soap — and only seven companies are controlling the beauty soap market.
The Bangladesh Cosmetics and Toiletries Manufacturers Association (BCTMA) said local soap manufacturers now dominate more than 80 per cent of the beauty soap market and less than 20 per cent of such soaps are imported.
The beauty soap category now makes up 80 per cent of the soap market in Bangladesh while the health soap category covers 20 per cent market share, according to the association.
Munir Ahmad Khan, a BCTMA member, also managing director of J & J Essential Products Ltd, said the market value of beauty soaps is currently estimated at more than Tk 2,880 crore while its market size was Tk 720 crore in 2010.
Most manufacturers focus primarily on meeting the local market demand, but some of them have started exporting cosmetics and toiletries.
A United International University research titled “A Comparative Review Among Beauty Soaps: In Dhaka City” found 43 per cent of denizens in Dhaka buy 3 to 4 beauty soaps per month, 37 per cent purchase 5 to 6, and 12 per cent get hold of 1 to 2 beauty soaps per month.
Years ago, anyone travelling abroad used to have a long shopping list of toiletries, mostly luxury soaps, but now the same quality products are being manufactured locally, said Rakib Ahmed, a retailer in Jatrabari area.
Unilever Bangladesh Limited, with its brands Lux and Lifebuoy, leads the soap market with around 50 per cent market share in bathing soap followed by Kohinoor Chemicals Co Ltd, Keya Cosmetic Ltd, Square Toiletries Ltd, ACI (Cosmetic), and Reckitt Benckiser (Bangladesh) Ltd, according to an analysis carried out by EBL Securities Limited for its clients.
Among the popular beauty soaps — Lux of Unilever Bangladesh Limited, Sandalina and Tibet of Kohinoor Chemical Co Ltd, Keya Beauty Soap of Keya Cosmetics Ltd, Meril Beauty Soap of Square Toiletries— are dominating the market.
Among health soaps — Lifebuoy of Unilever, Savlon of ACI Limited, Dettol of Reckitt Benckiser, Neem of Millat Chemical Ltd — are popular brands.
A Jatrabari grocer Md Hamid Ali said Lux, Sandalina, Meril, Keya, Lifebuoy, Dettol and Savlon brand soaps are selling well now.
“But the demand for Lux, Sandalina, and Lifebuoy are high compared to that of Meril, Keya, Dettol and Savlon brands,” he added.
The retailer asserted that some brands such as Neem of Millat Chemical Ltd, Lily Beauty Soap of Lily Cosmetics, Camelia Beauty Soap of Marks & Allys Ltd, and Sandal soap of ACI are not available in the market now.
According to Millat Chemical Managing Director Mehfuz Zaman, actually they produce Neem brand health soap as a promotional tool, not for commercial purposes.
The Fortune Business Insider finds that the global soap market size was $ 34.09 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $ 55.29 billion by 2027, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 5.0 per cent during the forecast period.
A cross-section of consumers has a variety of preferences and most of them are happy with the locally produced soaps for their satisfactory performance and a reasonable price.
Md Yeasin, a private service holder, was found shopping soap at Swapno Super Shop at Dania.
Asked about it, the consumer said he was happy with the locally item.
“I have no preference to any particular brand but somehow Lux is a top priority over any other brands among my family members,” he said.
