Consumer facial tissue brand Kleenex will soon be no more in Canada, as the company that makes the iconic product has decided to exit a major part of its business in this country.
Kimberly-Clark, which makes many other paper product brands, including Cottonelle, Huggies, Poise and Depend, says it has made the decision to stop making the consumer-focused versions of Kleenex facial tissues in Canada, even as its other products will stay on the shelves.
“We have been operating in a highly constrained supply environment, and despite our best efforts we have been faced with some unique complexities on the Kleenex business,” said Todd Fisher, Kimberly-Clark’s Canadian vice-president and general manager, in an emailed statement.
“This decision is one that will allow us to shift our resources to better focus on other brands in Canada and meet the needs of our consumers with continued innovation and value,” he said.
While the company’s decision has been met with confusion among consumers, analyst Zachary Evershed with National Bank says the move didn’t come as a surprise to him.
“While this is breaking news to the financial community, we confirmed through our channel checks that industry players have been aware of the impending exit for a few months now, as [Kimberly-Clark’s] customers have been making inquiries to secure replacement supply,” he said in a note to clients.
Consumers choosing to go cheap
Evershed says the decision was likely made because profit margins on the product were thin to begin with, and inflation has consumers choosing cheaper options wherever they can.
“With the recent burst of inflation, consumers are trading down from branded labels to private label store brands,” he said in an interview with CBC News.
“It’s very difficult to ship tissue economically — you are moving a lot of air and you