Chile

Demand for soft drinks is growing despite the challenges faced in 2022 and in the first half of 2023, characterised by high inflation and weakened demand. Major categories such as carbonates and bottled water have demonstrated resilience, while…

In 2022, price increases posed significant challenges for juice producers. The surge in inflation rates, reaching a 30-year high in Chile, impacted various categories, including juice. Within the category, supply chain disruptions and the…

Chile is by far the leading market in Latin America in terms of per capita consumption of tea. Demand for this hot drink recorded impressive growth in the early 2010s. Furthermore, it is usually an essential item in every Chilean household. However,…

While not as demanded as tea, but constantly growing, coffee in Chile has developed from an instant drink to warm up and wake up, to an enjoyable hot beverage, with local consumers increasingly able to distinguish quality, and thus, become more…

The ongoing war in Ukraine continues to impact bread production in Chile, as part of challenges felt on a wider scale. As Russia is one of the world's largest wheat exporters, disruptions to its wheat production and supply chain resulting from the…

Menswear continues to exhibited a notable slowdown in both value and retail volume growth in 2023 compared to 2022. This is in contrast to womenswear, which is demonstrating more robust expansion. Nevertheless, certain product categories such as…

Despite a weak performance in terms of retail volume sales in 2023, footwear in Chile is demonstrating robust current value growth, primarily driven by the men’s and women’s segments. Notably, a proportion of this growth can be attributed to price…

Childrenswear continues to experience a decline in value sales in 2023, a pattern consistent with the preceding year, and it remains one of the most heavily impacted categories within the broader apparel and footwear industry in the country. This…

As pandemic-related restrictions in Chile started to ease in 2021, local consumers began to spend greater time outside of the home, including participating in outdoor activities. This led to a rise in incidents requiring wound care, thereby boosting…

Airline operators have been severely impacted by the pandemic, leading to the collapse of some airlines and the restructuring of others. As the world moves towards normalcy, there is a slow recovery for airlines, albeit with a different cost…

Overall demand for vacuum cleaners is rising in 2023 following the previous year’s substantial declines. Heightened hygiene routines and the hub as a home mean that Chileans continue to pay greater attention to the cleanliness of their homes, and are…

After achieving dynamic volume growth in 2021, driven by greater access to financial liquidity for local consumers, demand for dishwashers notably declined in 2022. Struggling to maintain their international supply chains due to higher container…

Sports drinks has witnessed an impressive performance over much of the review period, with off-trade volume sales recording double-digit growth in 2021 and 2022. While volume sales in 2023 have marginally declined, overall demand remains…

Historically, when a consumer applied for a bank loan, the commitment was typically honoured until the debt was fully repaid because the process of making a change was costly and time-consuming. In 2020, Chile introduced the Financial Portability Law…

While in 2023, current value and retail volume growth of womenswear has not reached the impressive double-digit figures recorded in 2021 (resulting in a full recovery to pre-pandemic sales levels, following a notable drop in 2020 as a result of…

While demand for jeans continues to rise in 2023, value sales growth is more moderate, driven by the economy segment in Chile, and in particular, economy women's jeans, with the latter continuing to record remarkable double-digit retail volume…

Low GDP growth and the highest inflation in decades characterised the Chilean economy in 2022. These economic conditions limited the growth in sales of healthy snacks, because in general they have a higher unit price than traditional snacks. However,…

Demand for overall cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Chile fell in 2023, while value sales grew below the inflation rate. The main reason for this weak performance was the limited expansion of the local consumer base in recent years. The…

Although health and beauty specialists in Chile experienced a marginal decline in 2023 across the channel, value sales remained above pre-pandemic levels. Pharmacies holds the highest share overall, in both outlet and value terms, and continued to…

Despite consolidation of value share among five leading players, including Multitiendas Corona SA and Zara Chile SA, apparel and footwear specialists in Chile remained dominated in outlet terms by independent players in 2023. These operators serve…

In Chile and across Latin America, the security concern has taken centre stage, impacting many businesses nationwide, especially within consumer foodservice. A notable challenge that key players in this industry face is closely tied to the dynamics…

After registering two consecutive years of double-digit volume growth during the pandemic, retail volume and value sales of refrigeration appliances in Chile notably declined in 2022, as local consumers changed their purchasing habits. Without access…

Demand for microwaves was already declining in Chile prior to the pandemic, with this major appliance already present in over half of local households. Historically, there has also been a lack of important innovation to attract consumers. Access to…

Energy drinks has emerged as one of the most dynamic categories in Chilean soft drinks in recent years. With astounding growth over the review period, the category has gained a strong following, not only in the off-trade channel but also via…

Bottled water has emerged as one of the top-performing categories in 2023. Even in the face of challenging conditions in 2022, it demonstrated impressive resilience. In 2023, bottled water continues its upward trajectory by capitalising on…

While retail demand for hot drinks was starting to fall in line with a challenging scenario in late 2022, mainly driven by inflation and a worsening economic context, 2023 has been experiencing a deeper decline for most hot drinks in Chile. Tea is a…

The latest “National Survey on Cash Usage and Preferences” from Chile’s Central Bank reveals intriguing shifts in payment preferences post-pandemic. In 2022, despite another decline in value, the number of personal cash transactions rebounded to…

Inflation and reduced at-home consumption occasions are influencing retail volume sales of breakfast cereals in Chile, shaping the category’s dynamics in profound ways. Inflation is severely impacting the production costs of breakfast cereals.…

Hosiery, driven mainly by the non-sheer segment, has found itself in a challenging situation with weakening retail volume sales. Simultaneously, overall value is recording minimal growth. The stagnation in value and reduction in volume can be…

Raw milk is a fundamental ingredient in cheese production, and when the cost of this ingredient increases, producers face numerous challenges that can lead to significant setbacks. There are several reasons that link the increasing cost of raw milk…

Value sales of sports nutrition in Chile are experiencing a remarkable resurgence in 2023 with double-digit growth after a challenging 2022. A marginal drop in sales the previous year was primarily attributed to the significant reduction in Chileans’…

In 2023, acetaminophen continues to lead sales of analgesics in Chile, whilst also experiencing the highest growth rate in the category. This growth has remained steady since the onset of the pandemic, where acetaminophen became the preferred choice…

Extraordinary growth was experienced by mobile phones during the pandemic, when consumers had access to more money, given the help from the government, and the withdrawal of part of pension funds. In a year of normalisation, 2022 saw a significant…

Headphones is set to return to minimal growth in 2023, after seeing a slight retail volume decline in 2022, although continuous growth has been seen in current value terms due to price rises. The strong positive volume performance during the pandemic…

After experiencing a strong decrease in 2022 due to the ending of the government’s pandemic-related financial support that drove up sales the previous year and greater mobility outside of the home as restrictions eased, meaning less time spent…

The Payment Means Law in Chile has been a driving force behind the remarkable growth of pre-paid card transactions in the country. These financial cards have gained significant traction towards the end of the review period, with both banks and…

Eating well and healthily is not a simple task in Chile, as many packaged products with positive health-related attributes are usually far more expansive than standard, traditional products. At times, this has made it harder for products with healthy…

Consumers in Chile continue to show strong support for herbal/traditional products, especially when purchasing cough/cold remedies. This trend is not only driven by the longstanding preference for natural products among many Chileans but also due to…

Due to the lower price points of personal care appliances and the fact that the purchasing process tends to be much quicker than it is for more expensive consumer appliances, category sales have rebounded from the previous year’s decline.

Chileans have substantially increased their awareness of the dangers to health that many soft drinks pose for them, especially carbonates and juice, and they are showing interest in improving their overall health. Legislation and more publicly…

Paediatric consumer health is experiencing similar value growth rates to the previous year in Chile, although this is not aligned with the increasing demand for this category during 2023. A notable challenge has emerged as there have been stock…

The historical decrease in volume sales caused by the advance of technology and the popularisation of smartphones as an entertainment centre is expected to continue to hit in-car entertainment in Chile in 2023. Nevertheless, high inflation is set to…

The health and wellness industry continues to grow in importance post-pandemic as consumers become more aware of the negative health impact of processed foods, seeking healthier foods and beverages from a range of claims such as natural, organic,…

The dairy products and alternatives industry continues to experience significant increases, including rising costs for animal feed, consequently creating a worrying situation for dairy farmers and how they operate. As the expenses associated with…

After experiencing a strong decline in 2022, as a result of the waning impact of government subsidies to support the local economy during the pandemic, which helped drive up sales of small cooking appliances the previous year, category demand in…

After record growth in 2021, driven by greater financial liquidity available to Chileans through various government initiatives to support the local economy, demand for home laundry appliances notably declined in 2022. Since many Chileans had already…

Following a strong uptake for air treatment products during the first two years of the pandemic as Chileans spent considerable time at home, retail volume sales started to marginally fall in 2022, with even stronger declines in 2023. This performance…

As the inflation rate increased in the country, consumers became increasingly indecisive at the point of purchase in 2022, and price tended to elevate in importance in the decision-making process. In fact, the National Institute of Statistics (INE in…

Since the vaccination process against COVID-19 began in Chile and the impact of the pandemic started to wane, the home-cooking dynamic that emerged in 2020, when local consumers were forced to spend considerable time at home, has notably lost…

E-vapour products in Chile continued to record strong growth in 2023, driven by closed vaping systems. In particular, closed system single use recorded double-digit growth in both volume and value terms during the year, making it the most relevant…