Romanians spend EUR2.3 on toothpaste per year, two times less than the Polish or Czechs and over three times less than Germans, according with Euromonitor data.
A 100-ml tube of Colgate Advanced Clean toothpaste costs RON10.53 (EUR2.4) on coradrive.ro, meaning Romanians annually buy just one tube. The price of specialized or niche products can go as high as RON20 (EUR5).
“Romanians use a 100-ml toothpaste tube per year, according to volume data provided by market research companies,” confirms Helen Tomlison, general manager of GSK Consumer Healthcare Romania. The company includes toothpaste brands Sensodyne, Aquafresh, Parodontax in its portfolio.
She specified that the sum spent on toothbrushes, namely around EUR13 million, is added to the one spent by Romanians on toothpaste. Romanians buy annually around 11 million toothbrushes, meaning each Romanian changes his or her toothbrush every two years. By comparison, most Germans change their toothbrushes every three months.
However, according to market data, there are significant gaps between the consumption habits of people living in urban areas and people living in rural ones.
Overall, Romanians spend just EUR2.3 per annum on toothpaste, the smallest sum spent in the region. Toothpaste prices are similar or even higher than on other markets in Europe, but salaries lag behind in Romania.
In this context, Romania lags behind in the region and in Europe by the average expenses per capita on personal care products, illustrating people’s poor education and the underdevelopment of the economy.
The domestic toothpaste market is dominated by three international giants, namely Colgate-Palmolive, P&G and GSK.
“On the segment of classic toothpaste there is no more room for new players, as the three giant dominate the market. However, there’s still room for maneuver on the niche segments we also want to tap,” says Kostas Fidanakis, commercial manager of InterstarChim, including cleaning products such as Rivex or Bio Carpet in its portfolio. Beside its own products, the company also distributes other brands in Romania, such as Vileda or Lactasyd and is in talks to add a toothpaste brand. The executive did not provide further details, though.
He specifies, though, he’s not considering investing in toothpaste. Romania holds no more toothpaste plant after Colgate-Palmolive decided to halt production in Brasov in 2008.
While on the toothpaste market, the battle is fought between international giants, on the segment of toothbrushes private labels are also edging in.
“We estimate private labels have come to hold around 12% of the toothbrush market,” says Helen Tomlison. These products manufactured under the brands of international retailers such as Cora or Carrefour are battling Colgate or Oral B toothbrushes, some of the best known on the market.
Tomlison expects domestic sales of toothpaste to rise by 2-3% this year, in line with what happened in 2013.
“In the future, there are opportunities on the market as the level of consumption is still low. All market players continue to invest. In 2013, we had two-digit growth, just like this year,” Helen Tomlison told ZF.
In 2013, GSK Consumer Healthcare reached revenue of EUR33 million. This is one of the four units of the British giant in Romania. in 2012, the group had gross sales of above EUR830 million in Romania.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)