Eastern Europe in the Washroom

Ceris Burns, International Marketing Manager with Kennedy Hygiene Products Limited talks to experts in Eastern Europe about the climate in their washroom hygiene markets.

Yesterday

Vera Kalinova Director of Kalvei, s.r.o, a Prague based hygiene distribution company, sets the scene for washroom hygiene in the Czech Republic: "15 years ago when we started out, there was almost no competition here. Customers hardly knew what a washroom dispenser was! Washroom dispensers were not common place in public toilets, schools, hospitals, restaurants, hotels or even offices. Back then it was quite usual to see tablets of soap, rolls of cheap toilet paper and some textile roller towel cabinets – mostly with wet dirty towels. That was as good as it got."

Hygiene standards grew rapidly in the Czech Republic during the first half of the nineties which meant that the majority of offices, hospitals, schools and factories purchased dispensers for their washrooms.

Vera Kalinova Director of Kalvei, s.r.o, a Prague based hygiene distribution company, sets the scene for washroom hygiene in the Czech Republic: "15 years ago when we started out, there was almost no competition here. Customers hardly knew what a washroom dispenser was! Washroom dispensers were not common place in public toilets, schools, hospitals, restaurants, hotels or even offices. Back then it was quite usual to see tablets of soap, rolls of cheap toilet paper and some textile roller towel cabinets – mostly with wet dirty towels. That was as good as it got." Hygiene standards grew rapidly in the Czech Republic during the first half of the nineties which meant that the majority of offices, hospitals, schools and factories purchased dispensers for their washrooms.

And Today

Today the picture is quite different. The market in the Czech Republic is sophisticated and most dispenser sales tend to be for new or reconstructed buildings only.

Washrooms are now kitted out with a full range of washroom dispensers, typically paper hand towel dispensers, soap dispensers, toilet tissue dispensers and air fresheners. Textile roller towel cabinets, feminine hygiene bins and toilet seat wipes dispensers are not widely used.

"Competition is strong within the Czech Republic", continues Vera. "We have to really take care of our customers. We run regular promotional offers and our Sales Representatives visit customers on an on-going basis to help analyse their company objectives and how we might help them achieve these".

Sensitive Pricing

Without doubt the most important factor within the Eastern European washroom market is price. Customers don´t usually consider the relationship between quality and price, neither do they calculate the annual costs to be incurred in operating the dispenser.

Maciej Polarczyk Director of Soko International, Poland, a Hygiene Distributor, sums up the situation in his country: "In this market there still aren´t enough customers who consider quality to be key. Due to this the market is very price sensitive. At present it is stable, not growing and dominated by mid quality products".

Poor Hygiene Standards

The market may be competitive in the Czech Republic but the standard of washroom hygiene across Eastern Europe is still a far cry from that of the West. Despite HACCP and other initiatives, improvement in washroom hygiene is very slow indeed. Typically facilities range from adequate in the Czech Republic, basic in Hungary to poor in Poland.

The key influence on differing hygiene standards here is the influx of tourists. Unfortunately, unlike its Czech and to a lesser extent, Hungarian neighbours, Poland has not taken off as a popular tourist destination. It is for this reason that hygiene standards here have not improved at the same rate as in the other two countries. After saying this for the main part, tourism has only affected standards within the four and five star establishment segment. Within industry, there is still considerable room for improvement. State Institutions often claim not to have sufficient money for even the most basic of improvements - even in Healthcare.

Three Finishes

Due to cost limitations the majority of dispensers installed in washrooms have a basic white finish. The relatively high levels of theft and vandalism in Eastern Europe sometimes lead to metal units being installed in washrooms rather than plastic. This appears however to be a false economy as replacement costs for metal are considerably higher than those of plastic.

In Hungary and Poland, stainless steel is considered to be the most prestigious of finishes and is often stipulated by architects for installation in new luxury buildings. Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic some high class establishments are starting to take chrome finished product.

Dispenser growth?

Paper hand towel dispensers, soap dispensers and toilet tissue dispensers are all installed on a regular basis across all Eastern European countries.

But what about growth?

Air Fresheners

If it smells clean it is perceived to be clean. The air freshener is a foot in the door even in less sophisticated markets. Air freshener installation is growing within Eastern Europe but the rate differs greatly across nations.

The fastest developing Eastern European market is the Czech Republic. Vera Kalinova talks about her experience in the sale and rental of air fresheners: "I believe it is very important for all washroom hygiene providers to offer effective and competitively priced air fresheners within their range. We started selling programmable air fresheners 8 years ago and are still selling the product very successfully. This year unit sales have increased but we don't just sell for installation in washrooms, we've also started installing them in meeting and conference rooms".

Vera continues: "It's also crucial to be able to offer a good range of fragrances too. In fact, air freshening fragrances are one of the few products where our customers look to quality rather than price".

"Each country has individual fragrance preferences and it is important that these preferences can be met. It depends on the mentality of a nation. In the Czech Republic people like fresh light fragrances, sweet spicy fragrances aren't very popular at all here. Sometimes customers like fruity fragrances but not green apple or lemon as these are considered to be old fashioned".

In sharp contrast, in Hungary air fresheners are few and far between. They are seen as being too expensive and too easily stolen. Alan Rees, Business Development Manager of Beltex Hungary, Hygiene Distrubution company comments: "Here it's a case of getting the clean washroom and the bare essentials right first, toilet tissue, clean(!) hand towels and soap and then let's think about fragrance!" Where fitted, in Hungary air fresheners tend to be programmable and fragrance favourites tend to be of the fruit and floral varieties.

Poland finds itself in a similar position. Air fresheners are occasionally used in washrooms but often domestic home air fresheners are used as cheaper alternatives to their heavier duty "professional" counterparts.

Quality Paper Hand Towels

Over the last few years people have started to demand a higher quality paper hand towel. This has been witnessed in the Czech Republic where there is a definite movement away from standard low quality green paper hand towels. This is another area where there is a partial movement towards quality.

Foam Soap Dispensers

Competitively priced foam soap dispensers are also increasing in popularity within the Czech Republic. Foam soap is considered pleasant to use and most importantly a cost effective consumable.

No Touch Please

Another growth area is the No Touch dispenser. These are now starting to be seen in limited numbers within luxury establishments across Eastern Europe with a slightly higher frequency in the Czech Republic.

No to Feminine Hygiene

Ladies who have to use away from home washrooms are still getting a hard deal confirms Maciej Polarczyk: "Feminine hygiene bins are rarely installed in Poland. In some cases standard waste bins are used with a liner to provide a cheap alternative. It seems however, that for the time being few people are showing an interest or are aware of products available for feminine hygiene".

Feminine hygiene bins are occasionally installed in the Czech Republic where a liner replacement service is always adopted. The design of units tends to be very basic as price remains the most important factor. Pedal operated bins are quite popular but in the end it comes down to price.

Toilet Seat Wipes for the future

Toilet seat wipes are not big business at the moment, customers don't yet recognise the importance of the product. It is however expected that this product will arrive sooner than later in Eastern Europe.

And Frustration…

On thing is certain, whatever the country all washroom players share the same frustrations….

"It's a customers' market but customers are not willing to pay more! Customers want better service and to receive products within 24 hours from receipt of order but aren´t prepared to pay more for it." Explains Vera. What's more, customers increasingly ask for dispensers free of charge and pay for refills only. Despite this, on occasion customers won´t accept being bound to a contract and buy refills elsewhere.

Ends