Oral Care in Costa Rica

PROSPECTS

Professional positioning and whitening claims keep setting the pace in 2018

As a rising number of Costa Ricans become aware of the importance of keeping appropriate oral care to support overall health and wellness, new value proposals in 2018 continued to focus on preventive and therapeutic approaches. There was growing attention to gum health, as well to aesthetic and functional dental issues such as teeth whitening and sensitivity.

Gum-health awareness will gain additional relevance

Being the most relevant concept under development in the offer of oral care in Costa Rica during 2017-2018, periodontal conditions and gum health awareness are anticipated to continue impacting the sales of more specialised and traditional oral care categories in the country over the forecast period. Prevention strategies and the development of new oral care concepts, such as the importance of keeping healthy oral bacteria to support dental and overall health and wellness, are expected to gain additional relevance and boost sales of more specialised oral care products between 2018 and 2023.

Other developments to focus on homoeopathic, vegan and organic formulations

Other types of segmentation efforts will focus on further development of different herbal and fluoride-free formulations using claims such homoeopathic, vegan and even organic to gain additional sales momentum over the forecast period. This scenario will keep developing in hand with additional point of sale availability across specialised health food shops and high-end grocery retailers across the country.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Major global players Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble continue to lead the oral care offer in 2018

Major global manufacturers Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble remained the most relevant players in oral sales in Costa Rica in 2018. These global players continued to hoard a significant portion of value sales, benefiting from broad levels of brand awareness, segmentation and vast availability throughout most grocery retailers as well as in most drugstores across the country, where they are capable of competing through very affordable unit prices.

Traditional retailers offer the most basic products whilst Automercado and other high-end modern grocery retailers offer more specialised ones

Traditional grocery retailers continue to offer the most basic and more generic toothpastes and toothbrushes in Costa Rica, whilst high-end modern grocery outlets such as Automercado have continued to expand the range of products available, paying additional attention to providing a wide assortment of specialised products. In such context, it is worth highlighting examples such as Bilka’s homoeopathic/fluoride-free formulations as well as the gum health specialist Perriot’s range of toothbrushes and dental floss, which keep posting good sales momentum.

Product innovation and more affordable proposals will gain further penetration

As Costa Ricans continue adopting healthier lifestyles and incorporating different types of personal wellbeing practices in their daily routines, the oral care offer will likely see additional levels of innovation over the forecast period. We expected to see active promotion of oral probiotics balanced with functional herbs and essential oils, including more customised therapeutic proposals associated with gum conditions, in line with recommendations by local doctors and naturopaths.

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