Have a coffee stain on your shirt? Spray this detergent on it and it will be gone within 30 seconds. You can also use the detergent to wash your fruit and don’t worry if you accidentally swallow some of the cleansing liquid.
This all-purpose detergent sells for only 30 yuan (US$4.50). And if you think you won’t make money selling it, you are wrong.
Last month, an agent in Heilongjiang Province, China, joined the franchise business and opened his first store. He earned 15,000 yuan in less than one month.
Photo: Jason Tan, Taipei Times
How exactly could franchisees profit from this 30 yuan product? James Wen (方秉文), 31, from Taiwan, would tell you it is because they earn 60 percent off the price tag — a profit margin three times higher than competing brands on the market.
After quitting his job as a TV reporter in Taiwan, Wen joined his father’s electronics business in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, four years ago. This year, he jumped at the chance when a close friend told him about the “magic” of the detergent and signed up to become a franchisee for Taiwan’s Royal International Group (皇家國際集團).
He opened a 23m2 store in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, in September and currently makes 20,000 yuan in net profit a month.
Like many other Taiwanese businesspeople, Wen is eager to tap booming consumption demand in China, where people’s wallets are getting thicker thanks to a stronger economy.
Wen was among 500 Taiwanese vendors at Taiwan’s fine products fair in Jinan, Shandong Province, from Oct. 28 to Oct. 31.
He attended such trade fairs — organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) and Chinese provincial governments — for the second time this year and gave a thumbs-up to the consumer response.
Wen is betting on the rising awareness of eco-friendliness in China, hoping to gain an express ticket to untold riches if his products become big sellers.
The detergent is the brainchild of the Taiwan Development Institute (台灣發展研究院) and was -certified by the US Food and Drug Administration as safe for human consumption. It claims to be 100 percent natural, without harmful agents such as benzene or fluorescents commonly found in other cleansing products.
Since making a foray into China in the middle of the year, Royal International has opened 10 franchise shops and the network is expanding fast.
The company wants the detergent to appear in “all Chinese cities” within five years and has plans to list on the Chinese bourse in five years’ time, Wen said.
“It is easy to join this franchise. No technological know-how is required and not to mention the products’ low prices will surely attract consumers,” he said. “And the best part of it? Huge profit margins for franchisees.”
Kevin Yeh (葉青峰), from Dragon City Group, has joined the fray by bringing electronic cigarettes to China.
“It is such a big burden for the Chinese government in terms of the medical expenses every year to treat patients afflicted by smoking,” Yeh said.
The company started to export electronic cigarettes to the US and Europe two years ago to rave reviews, and it is now setting sights on the smoking population in China.
Electronic cigarettes consist of a battery, a heater and an atomizer. They can contain zero nicotine or come in low, mid and high nicotine levels.
Despite being a two-month newbie in China, the company has big ambitions: It aims to earn 200 million yuan in revenue in two years — not from the sales of the e--cigarettes, but from the recurring sales of the “tobacco” for them, Yeh said.
“There have been talks of low carbon emissions and environment protection, but there is a long way to go in terms of awareness education in China,” he said, adding that the company is set to seize market share with these quality, made-in-Hsinchu products.
Oliver Chang (張振昇), vice president of Catamona Trading Co (卡塔摩納貿易), couldn’t agree more with the exponential economic growth in China.
“The spending power of the Chinese is really surprising,” said Chang, who is setting his sights on the burgeoning coffee market in China.
Catamona sources coffee beans from Africa, Central and South Africa, then bakes and packages them into ground coffee powder in Taiwan before selling it overseas.
Because Chinese are mostly tea drinkers, their curiosity has been aroused when they see packaged ground coffee at these fine products fairs, he said.
The company took part in earlier legs of the Taiwanese fine products shows in Tianjin and Nanjing, with all its products sold out a day before the expo ended in Nanjing.
Casting a wider net by roping in distributing partners in China to market products is the next step, but Catamona will adopt a “better-safe-than-sorry” strategy.
“We can’t make reckless -decisions in our China expansion. There are so many factors to be considered — partnerships, -inventory management and credit risks,” he said. “We don’t want to rush into production and ship cartons of coffee powder to an agent without justifying the quantity. These partners are very critical.”
The Jinan fine products fair offered 1,060 booths showcasing thousands of items that best -represented made-in-Taiwan quality.
At the Jinan International Convention and Exhibition Center, the booths were divided into several sections: high-tech energy saving products, cultural and creative industry, fashion clothing and accessories, chain stores and franchises, as well as healthcare and lifestyle.
The fair held in Jinan was a reciprocal gesture to the Shandong provincial government. In May, Cai Limin (才利民), the province’s vice governor, led a 20-strong delegation to Taiwan and signed letters of intent with Taiwanese manufacturers to purchase US$1.59 billion in products.
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