New owner of the Neve brand now has 24.3% of the toilet paper market in traded value
Suzano , the world’s largest pulp producer and a global reference in the manufacture of bioproducts developed from the cultivation of eucalyptus, concluded this Thursday (1st) the purchase of the Tissue business – toilet paper, reusable cloths, napkins and facial tissues – from Kimberly-Clark in Brazil. With the acquisition, the company becomes the national market leader in toilet paper in terms of transaction value, according to NielsenIQ 1 . Data from March/April of this year indicate that Suzano’s market share, already considering the acquired brands, is 24.3%, equivalent to 2 percentage points above the runner-up.
The agreement between the companies includes a factory located in Mogi das Cruzes (SP), with an installed capacity of approximately 130,000 tons per year, and ownership of the Neve and Grand Hotel brands. Other global brands used by Kimberly-Clark in the Brazilian market, such as Scott and Kleenex, in addition to the KC Professional line, will be licensed to Suzano for a specified period.
The Mogi das Cruzes unit becomes part of Suzano’s consumer goods manufacturing complex, which already has units in the municipalities of Mucuri (BA), Imperatriz (MA), Cachoeiro de Itapemirim (ES), Belém (PA) and Maracanaú (CE).
After the acquisition, Suzano also has an even broader portfolio of consumer goods products, with brands of toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, reusable cloths, wet wipes, paper handkerchiefs and dry wipes, in addition to a specific service line for the Away from Home market . Suzano entered the consumer goods segment in 2017 and, in just six years of operation, the company has already reached 2nd place in terms of market volume, with the already consolidated Mimmo family among its main toilet paper brands.
“We are very confident that the geographical complementarity of brands and product categories resulting from this operation will allow us to be even closer to our customers and end consumers. This will be one of the many evolutions that we will be able to achieve from the union of so many talents”, says the executive director of Consumer Goods and Corporate Relations at Suzano, Luís Bueno.
- Nielsen Retail – Total Brazil
According to consultancy Fastmarkets RISI, per capita consumption of tissue is still low in Brazil compared to other countries. In 2021, the country recorded a consumption of 6.3 kg/inhabitant while the United States had 26 kg/inhabitant, Chile 14.5 kg/inhabitant and Mexico 9.7 kg/inhabitant. A scenario that highlights the enormous growth potential of the segment in Brazil.
“We see a very relevant opportunity to develop the tissue market in Brazil, especially to reach the levels of our neighbors in Latin America. As part of this evolution, we are investing in innovation to bring high quality products to the market, in order to contribute to the migration and consolidation of double and triple ply toilet paper in the country”, emphasizes Bueno.
The agreement between Suzano and Kimberly-Clark was announced in October 2022 and received final approval from the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) in April of this year. The procedures foreseen for the conclusion of the transaction, including the segregation of Kimberly-Clark’s Tissue assets, were finalized in the following weeks, as originally planned.
The operation reinforces Suzano’s confidence in offering brands with greater added value and a better experience for consumers, in line with the change in the consumption habits of Brazilian men and women in search of better quality products. According to NielsenIQ data 2 , the market share in terms of volume of double and triple ply toilet papers jumped from 67% in 2020 to 74% in 2022, a variation provided by new habits in personal cleaning, greater awareness of the performance of these products compared to single-ply paper and a greater offer of products with differentiated quality.
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