The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Canada is becoming an increasingly difficult market for any consumer goods brand that is not a leader in its category. The Globe's guest columnist David Soberman writes that the exit of Kleenex from facial tissues in the country has been one such example. Kleenex is the brand that pioneered the category. However, it does not have the biggest market share in this country. Mr. Soberman says insufficient competition in the Canadian grocery sector lies behind the departure of Kleenex. Mr. Soberman says any brand that is not in first place finds it hard to compete in the concentrated domestic market. This is especially so with the rise of private-label products from Canada's big grocers such as Loblaw's President's Choice. Because of the similarity across brands in these categories, consumers can be insensitive to which brand they use. This increases the importance of price in the consumer's decision criteria. Unless a company's volumes are significant, it is challenging for a company to turn a profit. In the case of facial tissues, Kruger commands a market share of about 35 per cent in Canada, while Kimberly Clark's Kleenex holds less than half that, at 16 per cent.