Our business

Offering and market position

Essity’s offering includes toilet paper, household towels, handkerchiefs, facial tissues, wet wipes and napkins. Products are sold under brands such as Edet, Lotus, Regio, Tempo, Vinda and Zewa, and as retailers’ brands. Essity is the world’s second largest supplier of consumer tissue. In Europe, Essity is the market leader and holds a market share that is approximately twice the size of the second largest player. Essity also holds strong positions in several emerging markets, such as Russia and Colombia, where the company is the market leader, and in Mexico, where it holds the number two position. Essity is number one in China through its majority shareholding in Vinda.

Products sold under Essity’s own brands account for approximately 66% of sales. The remaining approximately 34% are sold as retailers’ brands. Essity’s brand portfolio comprises many strong brands. Lotus, Tempo and Zewa are the leading brands in, for example, France, Germany and Russia, while Cushelle, Velvet and Plenty are strong brands in the UK and Ireland, and Edet in the Nordic region and the Netherlands. Tempo is the market leader in handkerchiefs in Hong Kong and Morocco. In Latin America, Essity holds leading positions in Mexico with the Regio brand and in Colombia with the Familia brand. Vinda is the leading brand in China.

Strategy

In the markets where Essity is present, the strategy is to be the leading supplier of strong brands by maintaining a high pace of innovation and successful brand marketing. We are also focused on expanding our product categories to further strengthen the customer offering. The launch of innovative products strengthens Essity’s brands and market positions. During the year, we launched seven innovations, including a moist toilet paper under the Lotus and Tempo brands, among others. A new Tempo handkerchief was also launched.

For Consumer Tissue, Essity has assigned priority to increasing profitability by reducing costs and optimizing sourcing, production and distribution efficiency. In Europe, the aim is to further strengthen Essity’s leading market position and its own Consumer Tissue brands and to grow the branded share of total sales. In parallel, we aim to be the best supplier of retailers’ brands.

To improve efficiency and further increase value creation in the Consumer Tissue and Professional Hygiene business areas, Tissue Roadmap was launched in 2016. This is a plan to optimize the supply chain, increase cost and capital efficiency and secure capacity for potential future growth. In addition, the aim is to enable faster production adaptation in conjunction with innovations and product upgrades. Tissue Roadmap balances structural and organic efficiency opportunities in the supply chain with capacity expansion in selected markets.