FRANCE: INCREASING SUCCESS OF WASHING TABLETS

Article Abstract:

Procter & Gamble expects to pump FFr 600mn (including FFr 125mn in France) in communication in Europe by the end of 1999, to support its Ariel Tablets. The company has invested more than FFr 1bn in the r&d into the new product, which will be available in October 1999 in France. The new product comes in a moment where Procter's rival Lever has taken over as the best seller in the washing product department of French hypermarkets with a 31.1% market share by value, leaving Procter behind with 30%. Lever, the first player in tablets in France (March 1998), boasts the highest turnover in the segment of with its Skip Tablets product. The transfer of users of standard washing powders (the segment fell 21.9% by volume in the year ended in June 1999) and of users of compact washing liquid (down 8.6%) are some of the reasons behind the success of tablets, worth 8.3% of the total market by value today. Tablets, which have a strong potential in France as 85% of consumers have not tried them yet, should account for one quarter of the total sales of washing products within five years, Lever believes. Henkel, the other player in the market with X-Tra Tabs and Le Chat Tabs, anticipates a 12% market share for tablets before the end of 1999. While manufacturers do their best to anticipate the demand's evolution, super and hypermarkets (competitors in the tablet business though the own-label brands take a modest 3.6% share of the washing product market by value) tend to eliminate a number of products. There is an average 125 washing products displayed in hypermarkets (95 in supermarkets), with consumers spending a long 52 seconds on average to find the right product.

Capital expenditures, Company Planning/Goals, Advertising, Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing, Advertising Activity, Liquid Soaps, Henkel KGAA, Lever, Procter and Gamble Brionne

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FRANCE: REVIEW OF THE MINERAL WATER MARKET

Article Abstract:

The French market of mineral water marketed in supermarkets and hypermarkets represented 5.377bn litres, up 6.4%, for over FFr 10bn, up 5.7%, for the twelve months ending September 1999. The market is driven by still mineral water, which hods a 53.1% value market share, up 7.2%, followed by plain sparkling water, with a 25.9% value market share, up 4.7%, flavoured sparkling water with a 2.3% market share, up 4.7%, sparkling spring water with a 1.4% market share, up 4%, and still spring water with a 14.9%market share, up 3.3%. However, flavoured still water, which holds a 2.4% market share, dropped 1.9%. The lowest priced spring waters posted a 16.3% rise in value. Still water positioned on the health niche rose faster, up 8% in volume for the twelve months ending 3 October 1999, than its sparkling water counterpart, which was up 2.8%. The major brands appear to be focusing increasingly on the health niche. According to Danone, health is a daily preoccupation for 81% of bottled water consumers.

Bottled Water, Bottled Water Manufacturing, Statistical Data Included, Bottled drinking water

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