International brands in China are losing market share to domestic companies in everyday items ranging from fruit juice and make-up to toothbrushes, according to a large-scale survey released on Tuesday, as multinationals struggle to adapt to changing tastes in the world’s largest consumer market.
White-collar Chinese consumers with rising incomes are switching to pricier premium brands in categories of fast moving consumer goods ranging from water to juice and shampoo. The trend has even reached toilet tissue, where there has been a switch from two- to three-ply.
But domestic companies have been quicker to capture the premium market, with brands owned by multinationals such as Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever losing market share in 18 of 26 FMCG categories last year, and gaining in just four, according to a survey of 40,000 households by Bain and Kantar Worldpanel.