K-C to launch Huggies body care range

Kimberly-Clark is planning a global launch of a bath and body range under its Huggies brand, and is considering bringing it to the UK.

The range features 20 new products, including shampoo, nappy rash cream and a baby lotion that is applied as a liquid and dries as a powder.

The bath and body range will be launched in the US in January, along with Scott extra-soft toilet roll and Pull-Ups training nappies with a wetness liner. The company is not planning to introduce the toilet roll or the nappies to the UK.

A Kimberly-Clark spokeswoman says the launch of the bath and body range is an “exciting development for the expansion of the brand” and that an assessment is under way exploring the possibility of launching the products in the UK. But she adds there are no firm plans at present.

The UK nappy market is dominated by Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies and Proctor & Gamble’s Pampers. Pampers has been the undisputed market leader since it launched in the UK in 1980, and posted a five per cent sales growth over the past year, taking a 60.2 per cent share of the market, according to IRI. By contrast, Huggies, which entered the UK in 1993, has seen its share of the market drop to 25.9 per cent