The oral hygiene market is doing well. The tooth-whitening segment, which has seen much innovation in the past two years, is a point of special focus for cosmetics brands. This is confirmed by the latest new products launched in late 2013 and early 2014, which include toothpastes designed specifically for men.
A dynamic market
The oral hygiene market is currently very dynamic. In France, supermarkets account for 70% of its sales, with the remaining 30% in pharmacies, for a total of more than one billion euros in 2013. Other retail outlets (cosmetics shops and organic shops) do not sell many oral hygiene products, if they sell them at all.
French supermarkets alone generated 710 million euros in sales in 2013*. These sales are divided amongst four categories: toothpaste (approximately 63% of the market, or 450 million euros in sales), manual toothbrushes (21%, losing ground in favour of electric brushes), followed by mouthwash (9% and growing fast) and electric toothbrushes (7%). The tooth-whitening segment in France, which accounts for 30% of supermarket toothpaste sales, is growing. In 2013, it reached 92 million euros in sales, which represents a 1.7% increase in value as compared to 2012. It is the toothpaste market's second-most valuable segment, after therapeutic toothpaste and before all-in-ones, fresh toothpaste, basic toothpaste, and toothpaste formulated for children.
A competitive segment
The tooth-whitening segment is primarily driven by the supermarket leaders. The leading brand is Signal (Unilever group) with a market share of 41.1% in value in supermarkets, followed by Colgate …
