08/13/2008 07h53
Química Amparo launches soap with ecological appeal
Valor Econômico 08/13/2008
On Monday morning,
Química Amparo, owner of the Ypê brand, assembled the sales force of Curitiba and São Paulo, in order to present its new arm in the powder soap market. After two years of researches, which expended R$ 5 million (US$ 3.18 million), the enterprise created a phosphate-free product, a component that, when getting into the rivers after washing clothes accelerates the plants development and affects the aquatic ecosystem. With the ecological appeal and the new formula, the company, which adopted the Tixan brand in order to act in the intermediary segment, will use the name Ypê to compete for the high performance one, in which there are Unilever's Omo and Procter & Gamble's Ariel. The launching is being produced in a new plant, in Amparo (SP), whose investment was not revealed. On Sunday, the company will air a publicity campaign in the television networks which will show fish, water and, of course, clean clothes. "We notice that people are increasingly worried about environment", affirms general director Waldir Beira Júnior. Waldir Beira Júnior passed on to the sellers that are in the capital of Paraná the information that will be presented to retailers and consumers. "This product requires a more detailed technical explanation", he says. The powder soap will get to the consumer with prices that will go from R$ 4,60 (US 2,93) to R$ 5 (US$ 3,18) about 15% higher than Tixan. With the Ipê powder soap, Amparo intends to gain 5% of the market within two years. It took the company three years to get to a 5% market share with the Tixan brand, which currently has a share of about 10%,. Today Tixan is made in the unit that Amparo has in Salto (SP) and the executive assures that the sales of the product will continue growing, so as to gain a bigger share of the segment, whose activities reach near R$ 3 billion (US$ 1,91 billion) per year. Beira Júnior says that Amparo will maintain the strategy of growing organically, but will be "on alert for opportunities" of buying competitors. According to him, the propositions that have come have been studied. There were four propositions in the year and all of them were discarded.
