The past few weeks have been a wild ride for stock markets. After peaking in mid-September, volatility returned and sent major indexes down nearly 7% and back up to record highs by mid-day Friday. There’s still plenty of reason to worry. From global conflicts and dwindling economic activity to the end of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program, the market has a right to be on edge. (For more, see: How Low-Volatility ETFs Can Enhance Your Success .)

But investors shouldn’t bail-out of stocks completely.

In this environment, investors should look at consumer staples stocks as a defensive play. After all, people will need to brush their teeth and wash their hair, even if they need to sell their electric car and stop hanging out on Facebook (FB ).

Staples ETFs Riding High

Companies like Procter & Gamble (PG ) may not be exciting, but they tend to be predictable. That’s because consumers will buy their products regardless of what the broader economy is doing.

Purveyors of soap, food and toilet paper in the broad S&P 1500 have been quite resilient during this period of market volatility. The sector has made a 1.84% gain since the broader market peaked on September 19th. That contrasts to the 1.18% decline for consumer discretionary stocks of companies that produce “wants” rather than “needs.” That kind of resiliency is main draw of the staples sector and is exactly why investors may want to shift some of their portfolio assets toward it.

Consumer staples stocks also usually have healthy cash flows and dividends. Moreover, their non-cyclical nature makes them perfect additions for a portfolio looking for shelter. According to a new Morningstar research note. the extremely popular Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP ) has been meaningfully less volatile than the broader market over the last 10 years.

Given the sector’s defensive nature, consumer staples should continue to outperform if equity markets take a bearish posture and volatility remains in place.

Making the Right Staples Play

While the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF is one of the most popular choices for investors, it’s not the only way to add consumer staples to your portfolio. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC ) tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index, which holds 101 different manufacturers of food, beverages, and tobacco, as well as producers of nondurable household goods and personal products. Top holdings include P&G and Colgate-Palmolive (CL ). Some investors may take umbrage to the fact that VDC includes retailers of consumer staples like grocery and drug stores. For those investors not wanting exposure to stocks like Kroger (KR ), may want to consider using the iShares US Consumer Goods (IYK ). (For more, see: A Guide To Investing In Consumer Staples .)

Another interesting, but broad play on the staples theme could be two smart-beta ETFs tracking the sector: the Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Staples (RHS ) and First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX (FXG ). RHS simply weights all the consumer stocks in the S&P 500 equally, rather by market cap, while FXG uses screens and momentum strategies to identify the best performing staples stocks. Both funds have done quite well over the last few years; however, their smart-beta strategies occasionally have been volatile, which may defeat the point of investing in staples in the first place.

For those investors looking to really fight volatility, B&G Foods (BGS ) could an interesting buy. The more boring the staples are the better, and nothing could be more boring than pickles, taco shells and canned beans. The firm recently reported a loss for the third quarter; however, that loss was mostly due to issues at its specialty brands. Its core foods businesses continue to supply big cash flows for the stock, which in turn powers its hefty 4.9% dividend. Equally as boring is baking soda and kitty litter. Church & Dwight (CHD ) continues to benefit from its core brands as well as its lower-priced offerings as cash-strapped consumers trade down.

The Bottom Line

Volatility has once again crept back into the market in the face of uncertainty. That means it could be time for investors to get defensive. Consumer staples stocks are a good hedge against uncertainty. The purveyors of dish soap, deodorant and breakfast cereal feature strong cash flows, high dividends and non-cyclical earnings that will help power through any market chop.