Bleach in France

PROSPECTS

Health and environmental concerns amongst consumers continue to negatively impact demand for bleach

Bleach continued to record a weak performance in 2019 in France, recording declining sales in both retail volume and current value terms. This is mainly linked to rising health and wellness concerns amongst the French population, in addition to greater awareness of the environment, regarding the use of harsh chemicals in the home, which is continuing to impact demand for chlorine-based bleach.

Ecological surface care brands containing natural ingredients offer alternative disinfecting and cleaning solutions to bleach

While traditionally, chlorine-base bleach was typically used by consumers for a range of applications such as cleaning, disinfecting, whitening and stain removal, the surge in awareness amongst the French population regarding environmental issues has led to the increasing search for alternative options across a wide range of home care solutions that they perceive to be just as effective as bleach but less harmful. Surface care, particularly multi-purpose cleaners, has witnessed the emergence of an increasing number of products that use natural ingredients that have traditionally been adopted by previous generations to clean their homes, including alcohol-based disinfectants and loose ingredients such as sodium bicarbonate, vinegar or essential oils.

Online bloggers promote use of natural ingredients in the home

In addition to the increasing penetration of ecological home care brands that offer competition to bleach, French consumers are also searching online for inspiration on how to prepare their own home-made cleaning solutions using natural ingredients. Online bloggers tend to be a strong source for environmentally-aware consumers, as they are encouraged to look to their kitchen cupboards to replace chemical-based cleaners.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Colgate-Palmolive retains dominance with many major producers lacking interest in the low-value category

Bleach remained a consolidated competitive landscape in 2019 in France, dominated by Colgate-Palmolive France SA and its La Croix brand, while private label also retained a strong presence due to the product’s low price and basic offer, with Carrefour, Leclerc, Auchan and Intermarché all following the leading player. With bleach offering weak margins due to its extremely low unit price and consumers continuing to lose interest in this product, many of the larger manufacturers have reduced their focus on this category to concentrate on developing their portfolios within more lucrative areas of home care.

Eau Écarlate continues to record strong growth with more acceptable alternative to chlorine-based bleach

Henkel’s brand Eau Écarlate continued to gain value share since its entry in 2016, recording another year of double-digit current value growth in 2016. Like several other players, Henkel is attempting to look at alternative solutions to chlorine-based bleach by launching oxygenated/phosphonate bleaching products.

Developments in home care disinfectants offer effective alternative solutions to bleach

Despite some development in terms of oxygenated/phosphonate bleaching products in France, consumers are increasingly likely to head to surface care for their cleaning and disinfecting requirements due to the emergence of alternative ecological options such as Maison Verte. Leading home care disinfectant brand Sanytol from Idéal SA is marketed as being chlorine-free and therefore some consumers are turning to products such as this for disinfecting, compounding the move away from conventional bleach.

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