Jinli Group Holdings Ltd (金麗集團控股) yesterday launched its new line of facial masks, marking the first step in branching out from its core apparel business to tap into the cosmetic products market.
The company, which operates two apparel and shoe brands in China, said that the new facial mask business is expected to contribute about NT$75 million (US$2.3 million) in domestic sales this year.
“Marketed under the name MegustaMe (美愛美), we aim to expand the brand into a full line of beauty and cosmetic and skin care products to include cleaners, moisturizers and serums,” Leads Bio Co Ltd (領先國際生物科技) general manager Jessie Yang (楊淳淳) said.
Leads Bio is an affiliate tasked with overseeing the marketing of Jinli’s new business venture, in which it holds a 51 percent stake through a NT$60 million investment.
PRODUCT LAUNCH
At a product launch in Taipei, Yang outlined plans to promote the new products in Taiwan before expanding to China and Southeast Asia.
The company has secured an 18-month deal extending exclusive “brick and mortar” retail rights to Watson’s Personal Care Stores (Taiwan) Co Ltd (台灣屈臣氏) and is collaborating with the nation’s largest online retailers, including PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) and Momo.com Inc (富邦媒), she said.
In China, the products are to be sold at displays installed at Jinli’s retail locations for women’s shoes and apparel to leverage foot traffic there, in addition to partnering with the e-commerce operation of WeChat, China’s largest messaging platform.
Yang said the facial masks sold in Taiwan would be produced by local contract manufacturers, adding that the company is to assess local market reception with an initial batch of 2.5 million units.
While Jinli is still preparing to launch the new products in China, the company is readying two production lines in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, which are capable of producing 100 million units annually, generating a potential sales contribution of NT$100 million, she said.
WORD-OF-MOUTH
The falling number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan might affect the company’s strategy of garnering word-of-mouth marketing from visitors returning home with face masks purchased during their visit, Yang said.
However, “economic downturn impacts are expected to be limited, as we operate in the so-called second and third-tier cities in China, where consumption levels have remained resilient, growing 11 percent faster than first and second-tier cities,” she said.
“Expanding the new brand is crucial to maximizing gains to offset the costs and risks of the new venture, while diversifying Jinli’s revenue sources,” Jinli executive special assistant Andy Lee (李校德) said.
In the first four months of this year, Jinli reported that aggregate sales dipped 1.03 percent annually to NT$1.81 billion.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS