行行出狀元 國產紙尿褲品牌異軍突起

From toothpaste to ice cream to disposable nappies, modern Chinese life has been transformed by imports. But many of those erstwhile alien products now bear Chinese brand names.

從牙膏到冰淇淋、再到紙尿褲，進口產品已令中國現代生活面貌一新。但如今，曾經的舶來品中出現了許多中國品牌。

More and more mainlanders are brushing their teeth with Yunnan Baiyao toothpaste, eating Yili ice cream or putting nappies made by Hengan on their babies. Multinationals still have a strong, sometimes dominant, presence in these markets, but mainland brands are exploiting local knowhow and speed to market.

現在，越來越多的中國內地人用雲南白藥(Yunnan Baiyao)牙膏刷牙，吃伊利(Yili)冰淇淋，或者給嬰兒使用恆安(Hengan)紙尿褲。跨國公司在這些市場仍擁有強大、有時是支配性的地位，但中國國產品牌開始利用本地知識快速開拓市場。

Disposable nappies are a case in point: many Chinese grannies did not use them to raise the current generation, but today’s urban mainland mums rely on them.

紙尿褲是很能說明問題的一個例子：許多中國奶奶（外婆）帶大當前一代時沒有使用過它，但如今內地城市裏的媽媽們卻已離不開它。

The market in China is highly concentrated, with 10 brands capturing 85 per cent of sales. Only one local brand has significant share: Hengan with 9 per cent, compared with 10 per cent for Kimberly-Clark of the US and nearly 29 per cent for Procter & Gamble.

中國紙尿褲市場高度集中，十大品牌佔據85%的銷售額。唯有恆安一家國產品牌擁有可觀的市場份額，爲9%，而美國金佰利(Kimberly-Clark)份額爲10%，寶潔(P&G)份額接近29%。

But the rapid rise in urbanisation and incomes in China is boosting demand for products such as nappies. Euromonitor, the data group, predicts that the world’s largest nappy market will nearly triple between 2010 and 2017, from Rmb20bn ($3.3bn) to Rmb57bn.

但是，中國城市化程度的飛速提高和收入的迅速增加，提高了對紙尿褲等產品的需求。數據集團歐睿(Euromonitor)預計，2010年至2017年間，中國這個全球最大紙尿褲市場的規模將增加近兩倍，由200億元人民幣（合33億美元）增至570億元人民幣。

Such growth is attracting new entrants, many of them local brands. “It is estimated there will be more than 100 foreign and domestic brands that will enter China in 2014 alone,” says Liu Yang, chief executive of Xiaolu Dingding Diapers, a mainland brand.

如此增幅吸引來了新進入者，其中多是國產品牌。中國內地一家紙尿褲品牌小鹿叮叮(Xiaolu Dingding Diapers)的首席執行官劉陽表示，“據估計，僅僅2014年進入中國市場的國內外品牌就將超過100家。”

Rising costs of materials and labour, changing consumer tastes and increasingly demanding consumers have made market conditions increasingly tough, retail analysts say.

零售業分析師表示，原材料與勞動力成本的上升、消費者的喜好變化以及日益挑剔，導致市場狀況愈加嚴峻。

Hengan warned in its most recent results that “the short-term outlook remains challenging as a lot of players have entered into this market”.

恆安在其最近發佈的業績報告中警告稱，“由於有大量的生產商投入市場”，公司短期前景仍很有挑戰性。

Hengan says the quality of its nappies equals that of the foreign brands – P&G, Kimberly-Clark and Japanese brand Unicharm together have more than half the market – but many mainland consumers disagree.

恆安表示，其紙尿褲的質量可以媲美外國品牌——寶潔、金佰利和日本品牌尤妮佳(Unicharm)總共佔據了一半以上的市場份額——但許多內地消費者並不認同這一點。

Hengan, which expects to sell Rmb2.8bn-Rmb3bn of its Anerle nappies this year, says: “A majority of Chinese mothers believe foreign products are better than domestic ones; therefore, it is necessary to educate consumers to change their minds.”

恆安表示：“大多數中國媽媽認爲外國產品比國內產品好；所以，很有必要教育消費者改變觀念。”該集團預計，今年安兒樂(Anerle)紙尿褲銷售額將達28億至30億元人民幣。

Persuading Chinese mothers to use disposable nappies has been a slow process, says Xu Ruyi, head of China research at Mintel. “Nappies were introduced to China by P&G during the 1990s and it has taken a long time for consumers to adopt the products.”

英敏特(Mintel)中國研究總監徐如一表示，說服中國媽媽們使用紙尿褲是一個很慢的過程。“紙尿褲是寶潔在20世紀90年代引入中國的，讓中國消費者使用這一產品花了相當長的時間。”

One breakthrough came with P&G’s Pampers “golden sleep” campaign in 2007, focused on convincing mothers that using nappies can help babies sleep better, “which means they can grow faster and get more brain development”, says Ms Xu.

徐如一表示，2007年寶潔的幫寶適(Pampers)“金質睡眠”推廣活動帶來了一次突破，活動的核心是讓媽媽們相信，使用紙尿褲會幫嬰兒們睡得更好，“這意味着他們能成長得更快、大腦發育得更好”。

However, China is not a captive market for multinationals. “Competition is intense: even for big players if you don’t keep up with the competition you’ll still lose share to others,” says Ms Xu. “Consumers today are offered a much wider range of product choices compared with five or 10 years ago.”

然而，跨國企業無法壟斷中國市場。“競爭很激烈：即便對於大廠家而言，如果你跟不上競爭形勢，你的市場份額也會被其他廠家奪走，”徐如一說，“如今的消費者面臨着比5年或10年前多得多的產品選擇。”

Pull-up-type nappies, nappies for boys versus girls and adult nappies are all relatively new entrants to the market – the latter category is expected to grow strongly in China, the world’s largest senior market.

上拉式紙尿褲、區分男嬰和女嬰的紙尿褲以及成人紙尿褲，都是市場上相對較新的產品——在中國這個全球最大老年人用品市場上，成人紙尿褲的銷量增長預計將十分強勁。

Domestic brands are “focusing more on R&D and updating their production equipment because the newer the production line, the better quality the nappies will be”, says Yan Fei of Beijing’s Qinbei Research Centre.

北京親貝研究中心(Qinbei Research Centre)的Yan Fei表示，國產品牌正在“集中力量搞研發，升級他們的生產設備，因爲產品線越新，紙尿褲的質量就越好。”

“Intelligent” nappies, which gauge the health of a baby from its urine, and mosquito repellent nappies are under development by Chinese companies.

中國企業正在研製能通過尿液判斷嬰兒健康狀況的“智能”紙尿褲，以及驅蚊紙尿褲。

Research from Mintel shows that famous brand names may actually wield less power in China than elsewhere. In the UK, says Mintel, “45 per cent of parents would go for a product they’ve used before and a low price is among the top three influencing factors”.

英敏特的研究表明，實際上知名品牌在中國發揮的影響力可能小於其他地區。在英國，英敏特表示，“45%的父母會選擇他們曾經用過的產品，價格低只是最重要的三個影響因素之一”。

But in China, quality is king: freedom from harmful substances, quality, suitability for sensitive skin and absorbency are most important for Chinese consumers, says Ms Xu.

徐如一表示，但在中國，質量爲王：中國消費者最看重的因素是不含有害物質、質量過硬、適應敏感皮膚，以及吸水性強。

China’s birth rate may be low, but spending on only babies is a favourite pastime and Chinese mothers sometimes use up to 20 nappies per day to avoid nappy rash, says Mr Yan.

中國的出生率可能很低，但爲獨生子女花錢是一項最喜歡的消遣，中國媽媽們有時每天使用至多20塊紙尿褲，以防止嬰兒出現尿布疹。

Big-city mothers have more and more money to spend on nappies and small city mums are just beginning to think of using them.

大城市的媽媽們用來購買紙尿褲上的錢越來越多，而小城市的媽媽們纔開始考慮使用紙尿褲。

Like toothpaste and ice cream, nappies are becoming a domestic necessity in China, and everyone from local to multinational brands is eager to get a piece of the action.

在中國，紙尿褲正像牙膏和冰淇淋一樣變成一種家用必需品，無論國產還是跨國品牌，都急切地要從中分一杯羹。