Where are Huggies, Curash and Tooshies baby wipes made? All three are manufactured overseas, primarily in China and Singapore. We visited four Australian retailers and checked the country of origin on every baby wipe product on the shelf. Imported products dominated at every store, taking up between 74% and 100% of the visible shelf space. Only one retailer, Chemist Warehouse, gave Australian-made products more than 10% of the shelf. One retailer had zero Australian-made baby wipes on the shelf at all.
A quick recap
In April 2026, we walked into a Woolworths store and covered every baby wipe product on the shelf with a flag of its country of origin. The result was hard to ignore: around 73% of the visible shelf space was taken up by products made in China, with Singapore-made products at 11%, and Australian-made and Irish-made products each accounting for roughly 8%.
We said at the time that it was one store, one chain, one snapshot, and that we planned to repeat the exercise. So that’s what we did. Over the following weeks, we visited a Coles, a Chemist Warehouse and a Foodland, applying the same method each time: walk the baby wipes aisle, check the country of origin on every pack, and overlay a flag to visualise the result.
What we found
Coles
Visual shelf space breakdown:
- China: ~61%
- Singapore: ~22%
- Ireland: ~11%
- Australia: ~6%
Coles carried a broader range than Woolworths, and China’s dominance was less extreme in percentage terms, but Australian-made products still accounted for only around 6% of the visible shelf. Singapore emerged as a notable secondary source, accounting for roughly a fifth of the shelf.
Chemist Warehouse
Visual shelf space breakdown:
- China: ~58%
- Australia: ~26%
- Ireland: ~8%
- Singapore: ~8%
Chemist Warehouse was the standout performer for Australian-made representation, with roughly a quarter of the baby wipes shelf space going to locally manufactured products. This was the only retailer where Australian-made wipes occupied a visible, meaningful share of the aisle. China still held the majority, but the gap was far narrower than at any supermarket we surveyed.
Foodland
Visual shelf space breakdown:
- Singapore: ~55%
- China: ~45%
- Australia: 0%
- Ireland: 0%
Zero Australian-made baby wipes on the shelf.
This was the most surprising result in the series, and the most disappointing. Foodland is a proudly South Australian retailer. Its own website states that it carries “an extensive range of products under the Foodland Brand,” and that “more than 50% of these are from SA manufacturers and the balance of the range is sourced only from Australian manufacturers.” Individual Foodland stores describe themselves as having a “strong commitment to stocking local and Australian-made products” and “strongly emphasise supporting local and South Australian products on our shelves.”
That commitment is clearly visible in Foodland’s fresh produce, bakery, deli and pantry aisles, where South Australian provenance is a genuine point of difference. But when it comes to baby wipes, the shelf tells a different story. Every product we found was manufactured overseas.
We’re not suggesting this is deliberate or reflects a lack of care. Foodland’s individual store owners make their own ranging decisions through the Metcash supply network, and baby wipes are a small category within a large store. But the gap between the brand’s stated values and what actually appears on this particular shelf is worth noting, especially given that Australian-made options do exist and are stocked by other retailers.
The full picture so far
|
Retailer |
China |
Singapore |
Ireland |
Australia |
|
Woolworths |
~73% |
~11% |
~8% |
~8% |
|
Coles |
~61% |
~22% |
~11% |
~6% |
|
Chemist Warehouse |
~58% |
~8% |
~8% |
~26% |
|
Foodland |
~45% |
~55% |
— |
0% |
A few patterns are becoming clearer:
China dominates everywhere, but the degree varies. At Woolworths, Chinese-made products took up nearly three-quarters of the shelf. At Coles and Chemist Warehouse, the figure sat around 58–61%. At Foodland it was 45%, though in that case the balance shifted to Singapore rather than Australia.
Singapore is a bigger player than most people would expect. The presence of Singapore-made products was notable across all three new stores, and at Foodland it was actually the dominant source country. We also found that some brands, including Huggies, appear to source from different countries depending on the specific product variant. A Huggies pack at one retailer may say Made in China while the same brand at another says Made in Singapore, a detail that reinforces how fluid country of origin can be in this category.
Australian-made representation varies enormously by retailer. From 26% at Chemist Warehouse down to 0% at Foodland. The brands making wipes locally (GAIA, Bunjie, and ourselves at Kine) exist and are available, but their shelf presence depends entirely on individual retailer ranging decisions.
The brands shoppers know best are almost all imported. Huggies, Curash, Tooshies, and Thank You are the names most Australian parents would recognise. All are manufactured overseas, primarily in China and Singapore.
The caveats (still important)
Everything we said in Part 1 still applies:
- Each audit is one store, one visit, one point in time. We haven’t surveyed multiple locations within any single chain.
- We measured visual shelf space (what a shopper sees), not sales volume.
- Stock levels, promotions and supplier relationships shift constantly.
- We haven’t yet audited ALDI or Big W, and online-only brands are not captured.
This is an indicative picture, not a definitive market analysis. But with four retailers now surveyed, the pattern is consistent enough to be worth paying attention to.
What’s next
We’re planning to extend this series to ALDI and Big W, and check out multiple of all stores, to make sure it wasn't a once off. We’d also like to expand beyond baby wipes into other wipe categories (hand wipes, surface wipes, face wipes) to see whether the pattern holds across the broader shelf.
If you’ve done your own audit at a local store, or if you’re a retailer who’d like to talk about ranging Australian-made options, we’d like to hear from you.
Published by Mark Yates, Founder, Kine Australia.
