More than likely, when you’re looking for a tissue to sneeze or blow your nose into, you aren’t paying much attention to the brand name on the box. If you’re buying tissues for your home, however, you might be more likely to look twice, especially if you know you’ll be using a lot of them to combat your allergies or a cold.
Facial tissue is one of those simple items that can profoundly impact your comfort, especially when you’re sick. Because of this, many people are deeply loyal to a specific tissue brand and even to a type of product within that brand.
Companies are also often loyal to particular brands not because their tissues are particularly luxurious but because they’re affordable and easy to incorporate into their facilities.
So what are the brands ruling the facial tissue market? There are nearly too many to count, especially since there are so many private labels like Walmart’s Great Value, but here are ten of the largest ones in the world:
Puffs. Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.
Parent Company: Procter and Gamble
Procter and Gamble 2020 Net Sales Baby, Feminine, and Family Care Sector: $18.46 billion
Puffs are one of the largest facial tissue brands in the U.S. and are known for their soft, lotion tissues. The brand started in 1960 when Procter and Gamble replaced its recently acquired Charmin Facial Tissues with Puffs Basic Facial Tissues.
In the 80s, Puffs released its product Puffs Plus Lotion, making it the first facial tissue brand to add moisturizer to its tissues. Since then, this product has arguably become Puffs’ most recognized product.
Puffs market its products with its animated characters, the Puffs Pals. It also has worked to become more sustainable by working with a variety of environmental and forestry organizations and pledging to plant a tree to replace each one the company cuts down.
Puffs products include Puffs Plus Lotion, Puffs Ultra Soft, Puffs Plus Lotion with the Scent of Vicks, Puffs Simple Softness, and Puffs To Go.
Kleenex. Irving, Texas, U.S.A.
Parent Company: Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark 2020 Net Sales Consumer Tissue Sector: $6.72 billion
Kleenex has the honor of being the name many people call any facial tissue, no matter the actual brand. The first Kleenex Brand tissues were released in 1924 as cold cream and makeup removers. They weren’t used as disposable handkerchiefs until 1929, which is when their popularity soared.
Kleenex came out with its Ultra Soft and Kleenex Balsam product lines in the 90s, helping it compete with Puffs.
Today, the brand offers a wide variety of tissues, including Kleenex Allergy Comfort Tissues, Kleenex The Original Tissues, and Kleenex Extra Large Tissues. It also sells its products in an assortment of packaging, including travel packs and Kleenex Collection Oval and Cube Tissues (tissue boxes with trendy designs on them).
Kleenex also now offers wipes, hand sanitizer, and face masks.
Cushelle. Stockholm, Sweden
Parent Company: Essity
Essity 2020 Net Sales Consumer Tissue Sector: $6.04 billion
Cushelle is most popular in the U.K. and Ireland and was created as a rebranding of Charmin products in those markets. Although the brand is best known for its toilet paper, it recently launched a facial tissue line, opening up a new branch of business.
The brand came about when Procter and Gamble sold its European operations, including Charmin, to SCA. SCA rebranded Charmin as Cushelle, and today the brand is owned by Essity, a global hygiene product company that spun off from SCA.
Today, Cushelle is recognized by its Koala Bear mascot and offers four different facial tissue packaging styles. It also boasts that its tissues will survive the washing machine.
Lotus. Stockholm, Sweden
Parent Company: Essity
Essity 2020 Net Sales Consumer Tissue Sector: $6.04 billion
An Essity brand that mainly serves France, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, Lotus produces toilet paper, wet toilet paper, facial tissue, and cotton swabs, offering a wide variety of products within each category.
However, as far as facial tissues go, Lotus offers seven product choices: Classic Pure White, Sensitive, Menthol Eucalyptol, Ultra, Lotion, Protect, and Pure Natural, almost all of which come in both boxes and cases. Its Pure Natural products boast no added color, fragrance, or bleach, resulting in cream-colored tissues.
Like its sister brand Cushelle, Lotus says that its tissues can survive a run through the washing machine.
SCA Tissue North America. Stockholm, Sweden
Parent Company: Essity
Essity 2020 Net Sales Consumer Tissue Sector: $6.04 billion
Tork is most commonly recognized for its products designed for commercial use. From paper towels to napkin dispensers, Tork offers solutions to all of the little, necessary details at businesses and other non-home facilities.
One of these details is facial tissue, so the next time you grab a tissue at a public restroom or in a hotel, there’s a good chance you’ll be using a Tork product.
Tork sells their facial tissues in classic cube boxes as well as flat boxes, allowing organizations to easily put them in built-in holders in their facilities. The brand also offers three types of facial tissue: Premium, Advanced, and Universal, allowing purchasers to choose from several different price points and levels of softness.
Customers can research Tork products on the brand’s website and then purchase them through third-party distributors.
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Tempo. Stockholm, Sweden
Parent Company: Essity
Essity 2020 Net Sales Consumer Tissue Sector: $6.04 billion
The Tempo tissue brand serves Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, but it started in Germany in 1929.
Tempo tissues are thicker than most American tissues, as they are four-ply instead of the U.S.’s typical two-ply. The brand is best known for its travel packs of tissues since these were their original handkerchief-replacing products.
The brand offers customers the choice of natural, scented, antibacterial, or moisturizing tissues, all of which are machine washable. In addition, Tempo now offers wet wipes, flushable moist toilet tissues, and masks, and in 2015 it released its Tempo Light tissues, which are thinner three-ply tissues.
Vinda. Xinhui District, Jiangmen, China
Parent Company: Essity
Essity 2020 Net Sales Consumer Tissue Sector: $6.04 billion
Vinda is a Chinese hygiene company, but the brand is now majority-owned by Essity. Vinda’s products are popular in China, and it sells in other countries as well.
The brand offers several lines of facial tissue as well as wet wipes and toilet paper. Some of Vinda’s facial tissue products include its best-selling Classic Blue line and its Feel series that features fun packaging designs for younger customers.
Vinda’s facial tissue products come in soft packs as well as rolls, which are consistently the number one seller in China.
Hearttex. Anhai Town, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, China
Parent Company: Hengan
Hengan 2019 Revenue: $3.5 billion
Hearttex is a Chinese brand that offers a variety of facial tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, and baby wipe products. Its offerings include Cloud Sense, the green tea scented Tea Silk Series, and the Heart Soft series, in addition to the more basic versions of its products.
The brand has won a number of awards since 1999, and in 2019, its toilet paper was listed on the “2019 Tmall Beauty Awards” and “My Favorite Chinese Brands in 2019.” It also won the Most Innovative Brand Award at the Golden Mouse Digital Marketing Awards.
Hearttex has two sister brands: PINO, which aims to reach youth with its trendy marketing, and Bamboo π (pronounced “bamboo pie”), which is popular with high-earning customers who like using its environmentally friendly, bamboo-based products.
Regina. Porcari, Lucca, Italy
Parent Company: Sofidel Group
Sofidel Group’s 2020 Net Sales: $2.66 billion
Sofidel’s self-proclaimed most famous brand, Regina, is mainly present in Europe, especially in Italy. Regina has been around for about 30 years and offers various products, including paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, and facial tissues.
Regina’s offerings differ from country to country, but it offers two facial tissue product lines in its most popular market in Italy. Its WWF Collection works with the WWF to help protect the environment, and its Cartoon line features an ant named Milla as its mascot, making these products popular with children.
In the U.K., on the other hand, Regina offers a line called Regina Skin, which features facial tissues packaged in thin, brightly colored travel packs.
Softis. Porcari, Lucca, Italy
Parent Company: Sofidel Group
Sofidel Group’s 2020 Net Sales: $2.66 billion
The Softis brand primarily serves German and Austrian markets. As its name implies, it is recognized for its soft facial and toilet tissue products, and it offers one toilet paper and five facial tissue product lines.
Some of these, such as its newest offering, Softis Skin, demonstrate its close relationship with the other brand via their parent company, Sofidel Group.
Other Softis product lines include Softis Box, Softis Super Soft, Softis Aloe Vera, and Softis Active, which include anti-inflammatory ingredients that help soothe allergies.
Sofidel Group has a number of other facial tissue brands, but Softis and Regina are some of their most popular, earning them both a spot on this list.
