AFH Tissue Paper

Away From Home, or “AFH” in short, tissue paper products are produced to cover the need for the industrial type of tissue papers. These products are mainly used at hotels, restaurants, and catering (HoReCa), offices, industry, and the healthcare sector.

Simply put, paper towels, toilet papers, napkins, facial tissues, and the ones to use with dispensers are considered to be AFH tissue papers. These types of tissues usually also come with larger packages and/or larger rolls of tissues to be used by crowds.

Manufacturing AFH Tissue Paper

Away from home tissue paper products vary in sizes, shapes, qualities, and purpose of use and differ from consumer type of products.

Consumer types of products allow higher production in terms of rolls to be produced per minute while the industrial and heavy products require specific pieces of machinery features and reduced log-per-minute production speeds. In that matter, tissue paper manufacturers prefer to purchase AFH-specific rewinders to enhance production efficiency.

The Away From Home Market

Industrial types of tissue paper products are much needed in almost all public places, especially where people eat or drink. With the Coronavirus outbreak, many of these places were closed worldwide for the sake of public health. Thus, the use and demand for AFH tissue paper decreased dramatically and rapidly.

So, the question is will the market bounce back and go back to how it was? Let’s look at three major countries of the industry.

In the United States, hospitals and healthcare facilities enhanced the demand for AFH products in 2020 due to COVID-19. Other institutions, like schools and restaurants, ramped up cleaning frequency and investment in wipers despite the shutdowns.

In China, lockdowns showed a negative impact on the industry. The demand for AFH tissue paper products decreased. Away From Home adult incontinence, on the other hand, was boosted by increased usage in nursing homes and hospitals.

In Germany, people faced two major lockdowns that forced restaurants and coffee shops to close. Thus, value sales of away-from-home (AFH) tissue and hygiene declined sharply in 2020.

Researches state that once the restrictions are lifted and life goes back to pre-Corona times, the demand for AFH products will see a rise for people will go out to eat, socialize, and have fun.