By Ian Padley, Segment Marketing Lead, Tissue and
Towel, Ashland Hercules
Water Technologies
ARE YOU CAPTURING PREMIUM MARKET SHARE?
If you want to capture more of the valuable and
fast-growing premium tissue market, make your offering stand above
the rest. A focused strategic differentiation can bring you success
in this segment. Even in the economic downturn, there is a strong
market for premium tissue offerings, especially in the high-end
private label sector, as consumers trade down from branded products.
But where can tissue makers get product development
help? For many producers, a supplier partnership is an attractive
route for rapid product development, because only the largest
manufacturers still retain in-house R&D.
Choosing the right product differentiation can
add value to your
tissue products.
Would fragrance, lotion, biodegradability, or other enhancements
deliver the differentiation that will bring value to your bottom
line?
HOW IMPORTANT IS FRAGRANCE?
Fragrance is a very powerful memory cue, and it
takes only seconds after being introduced to a fragrance to make
a related association. For this reason, fragrances that evoke
positive images (such as luxury scents) can be a powerful added-value
function in high-end cosmetic tissue, for example. Other applications
might include a fragrance reminiscent of talcum powder (a strong
softness association) for infant boxed tissue, or a menthol type
fragrance for winter cold and flu season hankies. One drawback
has historically been the dissipation of the fragrance from the
opened tissue pack, as fragrance is, by its very nature, volatile.
For this reason, pressure-sensitive microcapsules of fragrance
are now preferred. These can be sprayed onto the tissue as water
based slurry and will only become active when the tissue is manipulated,
giving a burst of fragrance.
Bespoke and 'signature' fragrances
are also available.
Easy application
and low addition
requirements make
this a lower-cost
entry to added-value tissue.
Ashland Hercules offers a range of
Dimension™ fragrance
additives
in four
categories:
Aromatherapy, including rosemary/mint and
lavender;
Feel-good, including aloe, breatheasy and menthol;
Soft and caring, including:includes vanilla and infant-care
fragrance; and
Luxury, including a range of regional and gender
specific scents.
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HOW EASY IS LOTIONISING?
Now available is a range of hot-melt, liquid concentrate
and wax emulsion tissue lotions designed to meet the needs of
those looking to enter the lotionised tissue market segment. A
base product range can be customized for different fragrance and
care additives to allow the promotion of unique branded added-value
products or for the specification of product requirements in the
rapidly growing private label segment.
Ashland Hercules Dimension™ lotionising
technology is suitable for bath facial and toilet tissue and is
compatible with a wide range of popular commercial application
systems.
IS BIODEGRADABILITY AN ISSUE?
Aimed primarily at the market for septic tank system
users of toilet tissue, an easily applied, patented bioaugmentation
technology promotes vastly improved biodegradability in toilet
tissue. Dimensionâ„¢ L1700S converting additive
effectively replaces the supplemental additives many septic tank
users are obliged to use with a foolproof addition via the toilet
paper itself. The additive is activated upon flushing and works
to biodegrade organic material in the septic tank. Continuous
use helps maintain a clean, odour-free and efficient septic tank
system which significantly reduces maintenance and cleaning costs.
DOES ADHESIVE HAVE A ROLE?
Not always thought of as part of the value chain
for tissue, high
performance custom adhesive applications are now required to run
highly embossed or highly absorbent tissue. Ashland Hercules technologists
can formulate a Dimensionâ„¢converting
adhesive for any
part of the tissue converting operation from core assembly to
packing, for even the most demanding applications. TW
Ian Padley is Segment Marketing Lead, Tissue
and Towel,
with
Ashland
Hercules
Water
Technologies
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