Essity quizzes smaller competitor
A local toilet paper company says it feels threatened and bullied by a larger counterpart after a letter demanded it back up sustainability claims on its website.
The letter from Essity, the toilet paper manufacturer that has currently locked out 145 employees over pay disagreements, was sent to a smaller toilet paper competitor, With Small (formerly known as Smart Ass).
With Small managing director Tony Small said he was surprised to receive the letter from Essity.
‘‘It would be easy for us to answer their questions as we can provide them with all of the facts but to be honest receiving the letter did not sit well coming from a company of Essity’s size.
‘‘It felt like they were trying to bully us,’’ he said.
‘‘We are always willing to have a conversation or meet our competitors for a coffee, which I have suggested but they have declined – instead informing us that after September 12 they intend to consider their options.
‘‘We don’t want to get our solicitors involved but we also don’t want big multinational companies like this threatening smaller, independent, Kiwi-owned businesses.’’
The letter, from Essity Australasia marketing manager Anne Lindsay, said the company was concerned with the rise of ‘‘greenwashing’’, a form of marketing in which sustainability is deceptively used to persuade the public that an organisation is environmentally friendly.
It asked for proof of six sustainability statements on With Small’s website, in writing before September 12 – all of which With Small responded to.
In emailed replies to questions, Lindsay said:
‘‘As all companies do, we monitor key product claims to avoid any potential consumer confusion.
‘‘As a routine follow-up we have asked for a handful of website claims to be substantiated.
‘‘Because this communication is with competitors we have certain formalities and have requested a response in writing.’’
Kath Dewar, managing director of ethical marketing brand Goodsense, said that while the letter was heavy-handed from a dominant player, it could be justified.
‘‘We are all entitled to clarify promotional claims, as members of the public and companies, and both the Commerce Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have provision for competitors to lay claims against other companies,’’ she said.
‘‘I expect Essity will lay complaints about any competitors they don’t hear back from by their deadline. If they do, the next letters the smaller companies get might be from the ASA or the Commerce Commission, and that would be tough as they [the smaller companies] are no doubt trying to do the right thing.’’
Under New Zealand law, the Fair Trading Act required all companies to be able to substantiate claims, including environmental claims, before they were made on websites or in other promotional material.
‘‘It is really important all companies making environmental claims can substantiate them because otherwise the public can be easily misled,’’ Dewar said.