Home ›› 20 Apr 2022 ›› Front
The longstanding trend to use traditional soap in laundry cleaning is ebbing away giving place to detergent, a household name that has become very handy and that has commanded a great demand.
Sources said a good number of laundry soap factory owners have transformed their business into detergent producing plant in response to the growing demand for such cleaning products.
“I had been producing laundry soap since 1972, but I was very much drawn to producing detergent since 2008 sensing its great demand,” said Poritosh Kanti Shaha.
“I could not make good since the detergent market is dominated by brand products and by their promotional activities.”
The sale of detergents is growing at about 15 per cent per year while Unilever is the market leader with more than 65 per cent market share, industry people say.
According to Square Toiletries Marketing Head Jesmin Zaman, the demand for detergent is more than 2 lakh metric tonnes annually and the market size is nearly Tk 2,500 crore which was only Tk 500 crore more than a decade ago.
Md Abdul Wares, assistant vice-president, Kohinoor Chemical, echoed the same as Jesmin, saying local brands are doing better and making faster growth compared to their foreign peers.
“We are doing double-digit growth and our market share is nearly eight per cent,” he pointed out.
“Sales of detergent are gradually increasing. Now our year-on-year growth is nearly 22 per cent,” said Sabbir Hasan Nasir, executive director of ACI Logistics, which operates the biggest supermarket chain Shwapno.
“Under the supermarket platform, our local detergent growth is more than 10 per cent while that for foreign products is more than double.”
The major players in the market are Unilever Bangladesh, Square Toiletries Ltd, Kohinoor Chemicals, ACI toiletries Ltd, Keya Cosmetics, etc.
According to the BSTI, a total of 456 detergent factories have licenses to operate across the country while around 220 are in Dhaka.
The detergents available in the market include Rin, Wheel and Surf Excel of Unilever Bangladesh, Chaka and Super White of Square Toiletries Ltd, Keya Lemon, White Plus, Super Excel of Keya Cosmetics Ltd, Jet of Kallol Group, Smart, ACI supreme and Savlon detergent powder, Fast wash and Tibet of Kohinoor Chemical and Ghari and Uniwash, etc.
Considering the quality local companies are competing equally with their foreign peers, gradually developing and trying to grab the market, said Keya Cosmetics Ltd Manager Al Masud Kamal.
Foreign companies are always at the forefront in terms of their brand value and promotional activities while domestic firms are not able to do so, but still they are growing, observed an optimistic Masud.
Md Golam Sarwar, manager (distribution) of Kallol Group, said: “Though Unilever is dominating the market, our local detergent companies are also doing well.”
RSPL Health BD Ltd is a company of RSPL Group which has been operating in Bangladesh since 2013. Launching Ghari detergent in 2014 and Uniwash in 2017, it has carved out a significant market share.
Kohinoor Chemical witnesses nearly 15 per cent growth year on year and it has almost 15 per cent share in the detergent market. Bright wash, a type of detergent of Minister Group, is a recent entrant into the market.
“Our detergent is more available in rural markets than urban stores and our yearly growth is more than 15 per cent,” claimed KMG Kibria, Brand Manager of Minister Group.
Why laundry soaps yield to detergent
Now some leading consumer product groups are making new investments in washing powder production as consumers shifted their attention to detergent from traditional laundry soaps for their convenience, according to market experts.
“It is very easy and more convenient than laundry soaps. That is why consumers turned to detergent when it comes to either manually washing clothes or by washing machines,” opined Jesmin Zaman.
She added that detergent is more soluble and has better cleansing action than laundry soap. Apart from this, it can even be used with acidic water or hard water whereas laundry soap cannot be used.
Md Abdul Wares, assistant vice-president, Kohinoor Chemical, said promotional activities and brand values have played an important role in driving the market for brand products.
“One must create a brand value to grab the market. Branded companies get extra facilities for their name sake and for their promotional activities while local non-branded entities fall much short of it due to their capital shortfall,” added the business leader.
