Household giants plan air-freshener war

SC Johnson and Procter & Gamble are gearing up for a battle over control of the UK’s &£300m air-freshening market.

According to industry sources, both companies plan new product launches next year, to cash in on one of the country’s fastest-growing home care markets.

SC Johnson is to launch Air Infusions, a room-spray line with several fragrance variants.

Meanwhile, P&G is planning to launch Air Effects under its Febreze brand. Air Effects is already available in the US. Sources expect both products to be given significant marketing spends.

The news comes as research released by Mintel this week shows that British consumers are spending millions of pounds on home fragrance products.

This year, the research group predicts that the market will be worth &£302m, with household fresheners outperforming all other sectors of the UK household cleaning market. It expects the market to grow by 47 per cent over the next five years.

Mintel senior consumer analyst Michelle Strutton says: “Time pressure and the increasing importance of leisure have eroded the traditional values that made housekeeping a priority.

“There has been a departure from impeccable housekeeping and a loss of the skills to keep a clean fresh house.”

She adds: “As such, there is now a clear demand for convenience cleaning products that command premium prices but allow consumers to spruce their homes up with minimal effort.”