Unilever eyes greater share of high-end hair product market

Thanks to China's scale and growth potential, UK-based consumer goods company Unilever Plc is working to make the country a top market for its haircare brand Nexxus in the years to come, said senior executives of the company.

Unilever globally launched its Nexxus Promend high-end hair product collection in Shanghai on Feb 21, the latest move to tap into the premium and digital trends in the world's second-largest haircare market.

China is one of Unilever's core markets, and this collection's development is led by a Chinese R&D team, which makes the maiden show more meaningful, said senior executives of the company during an interview with China Daily.

"China is the world's second-largest market for haircare and styling products, and in recent years the premium sector here has been growing at a remarkable pace of 12 percent. Its market value is already nearing 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) — driven by the relentless pursuit of a high-quality lifestyle among Chinese consumers," Chen Ge, head of country and general manager of beauty and well-being with Unilever China, said at the launch ceremony.

"By selecting China as our launch pad, we are nimbly responding to these market trends and aiming to present the refined quality and cutting-edge technology of Nexxus first to our Chinese consumers," Chen said.

China's haircare market expanded from 54.03 billion yuan ($7.47 billion) in 2018 to 63.58 billion yuan in 2023, and is forecast to grow from 65.66 billion yuan in 2024 to 75.34 billion yuan in 2028, according to analysis by London-based market research company Euromonitor International.

At the product level, the retail value of hair conditioners and treatments is forecast to rise from 12.99 billion yuan in 2024 to 14.34 billion yuan in 2028, hair loss treatments could see a jump from 2.23 billion yuan to 3.51 billion yuan during the same period, while shampoo may reach 44.55 billion yuan by 2026 from 40.10 billion yuan in 2024, said Euromonitor.

"Because of the size and future growth potential of China, we believe that this will be one of our top markets for Nexxus globally. I'm very confident about the launch of Nexxus in China and believe that it will become a big brand for us," said Elsharkawy Mohamed, Unilever China head of hair marketing, who is also global vice-president of Clear.

"There is a reason why we are here in China today to talk about that, because it's a great path that is similar to what China wants and what Unilever wants to accomplish," said Julien Moignard, senior vice-president of Unilever global beauty and well-being prospective innovation and design, who is also founder of Nexxus Promend collection.

"The consumers are very sophisticated and market is very promising and demanding. R&D wants to be in a place where there is a real need to innovate," said Han Lei, Unilever beauty and well-being R&D head of North Asia, while explaining why the China R&D team leads the development of the new product collection.