Bitter price wars loom as demand for diapers rises

Mega Importers Limited has rattled the market with this week’s launch of a new diaper brand.

By WINSLEY MASESE

NAIROBI, KENYA: Innovation and new product development has triggering price wars but offering an opportunity for Kenyan mothers to get a variety of disposable diapers in supermarket shelves.

Unlike decades ago when the products were only available in up market areas, diapers have lately replaced washable nappies, forcing manufacturers to constantly embrace value addition.

The rise in demand has also resulted in the emergence of more manufacturers and dealers, fuelling price wars and battle for a share of the expanding market.

With at least 20 brands in the market, mothers are spoilt for choice, especially in the wake of aggressive marketing and high advertising spends by industry players.

Currently, the market giants include Pampers, Huggies, Bouncy, Bebedou, Tena among others. Annual sales for some manufactures are climbing by nearly 40 per cent.  

The manufacturers have now embraced continues product development and only last week, a new diaper brand was launched in Nairobi, rattling the market even further.

Dr Boniface Muiru of Mega Importers Limited says the Mamy Poko pull-up diapers will certainly make life easier for mothers. He says though slightly expensive than open diapers, it offers real value for money. Unlike the open or tape-style diapers that have defined the market over the years, Mamy Poko is worn like a pant. Each single diaper is laced with highly breathable material capable of absorbing up to five glasses of urine.

“Mamy Poko is different from whatever else we have in the market today. It is made by Unicharm, a leading company in Japan dealimg in personal care products, and imported by us. It has super absorbents and fun designs. We have confidence in its quality,” Muiru says.

Mamy Poko was unveiled at the Mega Importers stores on Bondo Road, Industrial area, Nairobi, where stocks are available as well as in leading stores across the country.

Affordable prices

In anticipation of high demand, Muiru says they intend to make the prices as affordable as possible. The diapers come in packs of 18s and 20s and each piece retails at Sh35, just Sh5 above the average cost of open diapers available in the market. 

“We need to change the mindset of Kenyans so that they embrace pants type diapers as opposed to open ones,” Muiru says, adding: “Our mission is really to make the Kenyan consumers happy by supplying diapers for all babies in all sizes. Mamy Poko pants are designed in a way that they absorb huge quantities of urine, lock it in the absorption core away from the skin, and uses skin friendly breathable materials that comfortably fits the baby.”

Cost challenges have led to a scenario where manufacturers break the packs into single diapers to sell according to customers’ purchasing power.

Although this may lead to higher cumulative costs compared to the purchase of packs, the kadogo (economy) way of selling the product often works to the convenience of low-end consumers.

When diapers were beginning to hit supermarket shelves two decades ago, the medium packet was retailing at around Sh250.

Today due to rising demands and escalating cost of production, it costs at least Sh700. The smaller packs of 8 to 6 diapers cost Sh270.

According to market researches, by last year, the market for disposable diapers hit the $30 billion mark, presenting manufacturers with the challenge of having to embrace more value and diversification to reach a wider constituency.