With a grand opening ceremony SCA launched its hygiene products global innovation center in Shanghai China on May 20. The purpose of the centre is to learn from Chinese consumer insights and translate them into innovations for China, Asia-Pacific and global markets.
This is the first centre of its kind launched overseas by SCA. Based on international standards, with a highly advanced technical and innovative research and development organization the centre reflects the importance of China for SCA and it is looked upon as a milestone in the overall Asian strategy.
‘Over the last three decades, SCA has enjoyed rapid growth around the world and gradually increased its investment in the Chinese market in recent years. This time, we set up SCA Global Hygiene Category Innovation Centre, and it will become SCA’s core base of research and development in Asia Pacific area. We will establish a dedicated R&D team of 15 at the beginning, start with a focus on Incontinence care and stepwise expand the scope to other categories. We also strive to leverage our innovations for mature markets which we name “reversed innovation”’, said Dr. Stephan Dyckerhoff, President of SCA Hygiene North Asia.
SCA brand TENA is the No. 1 incontinence care product in the world, with a global market share of 24 per cent, and it was introduced to the Chinese market in 2009. SCA brands Tempo and Tork are also available in China.
In 2010, as the official Swedish partner for Shanghai Expo, SCA took an active part in all activities at the Expo. The Swedish participation was themed “Spirit of Innovation” and the pavilion had 3.6 million visitors.
Christoph Michalski, Global President of SCA Global Hygiene Category revealed to the press that the total initial investment of SCA Innovation Centre in China will be more than 2 million Euro annually.
‘We decided to build the Global Hygiene Category Innovation Center China to ensure that we research and develop products more suited to the needs of the Asia Pacific consumers’, he added.
Charlotte Meynert / Konstantin C Irina