行行出状元 国产纸尿裤品牌异军突起

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.

从牙膏到冰淇淋、再到纸尿裤，进口产品已令中国现代生活面貌一新。但如今，曾经的舶来品中出现了许多中国品牌。

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.

现在，越来越多的中国内地人用云南白药(Yunnan Baiyao)牙膏刷牙，吃伊利(Yili)冰淇淋，或者给婴儿使用恒安(Hengan)纸尿裤。跨国公司在这些市场仍拥有强大、有时是支配性的地位，但中国国产品牌开始利用本地知识快速开拓市场。

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.

纸尿裤是很能说明问题的一个例子：许多中国奶奶（外婆）带大当前一代时没有使用过它，但如今内地城市里的妈妈们却已离不开它。

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.

中国纸尿裤市场高度集中，十大品牌占据85%的销售额。唯有恒安一家国产品牌拥有可观的市场份额，为9%，而美国金佰利(Kimberly-Clark)份额为10%，宝洁(P&G)份额接近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，中国城市化程度的飞速提高和收入的迅速增加，提高了对纸尿裤等产品的需求。数据集团欧睿(Euromonitor)预计，2010年至2017年间，中国这个全球最大纸尿裤市场的规模将增加近两倍，由200亿元人民币（合33亿美元）增至570亿元人民币。

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 2017 alone,” says Liu Yang, chief executive of Xiaolu Dingding Diapers, a mainland brand.

如此增幅吸引来了新进入者，其中多是国产品牌。中国内地一家纸尿裤品牌小鹿叮叮(Xiaolu Dingding Diapers)的首席执行官刘阳表示，“据估计，仅仅2017年进入中国市场的国内外品牌就将超过100家。”

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

零售业分析师表示，原材料与劳动力成本的上升、消费者的喜好变化以及日益挑剔，导致市场状况愈加严峻。

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

恒安在其最近发布的业绩报告中警告称，“由于有大量的生产商投入市场”，公司短期前景仍很有挑战性。

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.

恒安表示，其纸尿裤的质量可以媲美外国品牌——宝洁、金佰利和日本品牌尤妮佳(Unicharm)总共占据了一半以上的市场份额——但许多内地消费者并不认同这一点。

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.”

恒安表示：“大多数中国妈妈认为外国产品比国内产品好；所以，很有必要教育消费者改变观念。”该集团预计，今年安儿乐(Anerle)纸尿裤销售额将达28亿至30亿元人民币。

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)中国研究总监徐如一表示，说服中国妈妈们使用纸尿裤是一个很慢的过程。“纸尿裤是宝洁在20世纪90年代引入中国的，让中国消费者使用这一产品花了相当长的时间。”

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年宝洁的帮宝适(Pampers)“金质睡眠”推广活动带来了一次突破，活动的核心是让妈妈们相信，使用纸尿裤会帮婴儿们睡得更好，“这意味着他们能成长得更快、大脑发育得更好”。

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，跨国企业无法垄断中国市场。“竞争很激烈：即便对于大厂家而言，如果你跟不上竞争形势，你的市场份额也会被其他厂家夺走，”徐如一说，“如今的消费者面临着比5年或10年前多得多的产品选择。”

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.

上拉式纸尿裤、区分男婴和女婴的纸尿裤以及成人纸尿裤，都是市场上相对较新的产品——在中国这个全球最大老年人用品市场上，成人纸尿裤的销量增长预计将十分强劲。

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.

北京亲贝研究中心(Qinbei Research Centre)的Yan Fei表示，国产品牌正在“集中力量搞研发，升级他们的生产设备，因为产品线越新，纸尿裤的质量就越好。”

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

中国企业正在研制能通过尿液判断婴儿健康状况的“智能”纸尿裤，以及驱蚊纸尿裤。

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，实际上知名品牌在中国发挥的影响力可能小于其他地区。在英国，英敏特表示，“45%的父母会选择他们曾经用过的产品，价格低只是最重要的三个影响因素之一”。

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，但在中国，质量为王：中国消费者最看重的因素是不含有害物质、质量过硬、适应敏感皮肤，以及吸水性强。

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.

中国的出生率可能很低，但为独生子女花钱是一项最喜欢的消遣，中国妈妈们有时每天使用至多20块纸尿裤，以防止婴儿出现尿布疹。

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

大城市的妈妈们用来购买纸尿裤上的钱越来越多，而小城市的妈妈们才开始考虑使用纸尿裤。

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.

在中国，纸尿裤正像牙膏和冰淇淋一样变成一种家用必需品，无论国产还是跨国品牌，都急切地要从中分一杯羹。