Oral care industry : Trends and prospects

TRENDS

Oral care saw value sales increase by 3% in 2014, placing it roughly in line with the growth in the rest of the review period although slightly higher. Categories tend not to do particularly well or too poorly, considering that most people’s oral care routine is fairly well-established. While many categories managed to eke out low, single-digit growth, the continued high growth of electric toothbrushes and a good year for toothpaste made for relatively higher sales in 2014 as some consumers looked to trade up in those two categories.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Oral care in the US continued to be contested by four major players in 2014, namely The Procter & Gamble Co, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health, which together accounted for a retail value share of 72% in oral care. Procter & Gamble, with its Crest, Oral-B, Fixodent and Scope brands, maintained its position as the leading player, accounting for a 33% value share.

PROSPECTS

Oral care in the US is predicted to increase by a CAGR of 1% in value terms at constant 2014 prices over the forecast period. An inclination to trade up to more premium-positioned products, and ever-increasing levels of disposable income to enable this, point towards an increasingly positive market for oral care, whilst steady baseline demand for products that are considered a necessity should limit downwards pressure. New product innovation driven by technology and expanding skus should help drive sales of more premium positioned products, which is why the CAGR for the forecast period is expected to be higher than the flat CAGR experienced over the review period.

Recommended by : Steve Rogers ( steve_rogers2014@outlook.com )