Traditional toothpowder losing lustre

Traditional black toothpowder makers now face tough competition, as consumer choices gradually shift to branded white tooth powder and paste amid beefed up marketing campaign on oral health.
“The demand for traditional tooth powder is low compared with the branded ones. I can sell two or three containers of traditional powder a month now. But the demand for white ones and toothpaste are rising,” said M Delwar, owner Dada Confectionary, of a retail store at Karwan Bazar.
So are experiences of other retailers. The sales of non-branded toothpowder, made of mainly ash and herbal medicinal tree like neem, have marked a drastic fall.
Traditional toothpowder makers, who usually concentrate on regional markets, began to face competition after Unilever (Bangladesh) Ltd and Square Toiletries entered the segment with their brands Pepsodent and Magic in the late 90s.
Prior to the entry of the two, black toothpowder makers enjoyed a dominance in the Tk 50 crore market.
The entry of the two companies influenced consumer sentiment as these brands placed promises of checking germ at relatively low prices.
“People are shifting to white toothpowder from black ones at a faster rate. It's mainly because of a rise in oral health consciousness,” said a senior official of Unilever (BD).
Other factors, including people's increased purchasing capacity on a rise in economic activities, have also encouraged many of the low-income group to switch over to white ones.
Influenced by continuous marketing campaign, some are also shifting directly to toothpaste, the market of which is growing between 12-15 percent a year, industry insiders said.
But traditional toothpowder makers, who operate mostly on a small scale with weak capital base, are yet to respond to the competition through the improvement in product quality and adoption of marketing strategy.
As a result, black toothpowder makers witnessed a sharp decline in their market share in the last decade. Now the share of the white tooth powder makers is about 60 percent of the Tk 90 crore market, according to the sector people.
“The new generation appears to be more willing to use toothpaste. We can sell about 65,000 containers a month on an average, while it was about 100,000 containers five years back,” said Golam Sorrowar, deputy sales manager of AP (Dhaka), the manufacturer of toothpowder AP Dashanchurna.
Sorrowar, however, claimed that its toothpowder sales are recovering.
Malik Mohammed Sayeed, head of marketing of Square Toiletries, observed that toothpowder market is not growing in terms of volume as many consumers start using toothpaste.
“It is increasing in terms of value with a clear sign that traditional black toothpowder makers are losing out,” he said.

[email protected]