Healthy business outlook as Mentholatum celebrates 135 years

With a storied legacy spanning 135 years, Mentholatum is committed to innovation and delivering high-quality products that improve consumers' health and well-being, said Michael Sin, president of Mentholatum (Asia Pacific) Limited.

The group's journey started in 1889 when the pharmacist Albert Alexander Hyde founded the Yucca company in Kansas, the United States.

Through years of research and experimentation, he created the original Mentholatum Ointment, which turned out to be a good remedy for many ailments such as coughs and insect bites. This then laid the foundation for Mentholatum's legacy of pharmaceutical research and innovation.

From humble beginnings, Mentholatum has blossomed into a multinational health and wellness group, with a total of 26 manufacturing facilities worldwide and products sold across more than 150 countries.

Notably, the group built a factory in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, in 1991, marking its entry into the Chinese mainland.

As the headquarters of the Asia-Pacific region, its Hong Kong office is now responsible for markets of eight countries and regions including China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and the Philippines.

Focusing on the needs of consumers in these different countries and regions, it has introduced targeted policies as well as localized brands and products. For example, many products of HadaLabo+ and Mentholatum Men are specially designed for Chinese consumers.

"The Asia-Pacific region — especially the Chinese market — is the key business driver of our group," Sin said. Currently, the company has more than 300 stock-keeping units in the Asia-Pacific markets and 25 different brands and categories in China, involving lip care, body care, skin care and non-prescription pharmaceuticals.

Data from the analytics firm Nielsen showed that Mentholatum lip balms and Eyecare as well as Mentholatum Men series have long been among top sellers in the Chinese market.

For 135 years, Mentholatum has stayed ahead in the industry and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to people's well-being through a broad range of innovative, top-tier products, according to Sin.

"We have segmented the market and tailored products for different consumer demands. Even for lip care, we offer a variety of options featuring functions such as hydration, color changing and repairing.

"In addition, we have expanded into other new categories. Hair care is what we have been focusing on in recent years and we have made remarkable progress in anti-hair loss research," he said.

Looking to the future, the president said they will continue to diversify the product portfolio and push boundaries by venturing into new sectors such as supplements and medical devices.

"Evolution is a key word for us; we will keep challenging ourselves and come up with new things," he said.

"Meanwhile, we are putting more efforts on new-generation social networks such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu to communicate with our consumers and establish closer connections with them," he added.

Driven by innovation

Sin emphasized that Mentholatum is a pharmaceutical company, not only a skin care company.

"The scientific background is our DNA. We hope to offer consumers products with scientific evidence and substantial functions, rather than just lovely packaging and a good experience," he said.

The company, therefore, has invested lots of resources in research and development. This includes the Mentholatum China R&D center in its Zhongshan factory, which has crafted many patented products favored by Chinese consumers and made a lot of breakthroughs.

"Based on our global network, we are working closely with material suppliers and R&D centers in different countries to boost innovation," Sin said.

Beyond that, Mentholatum has strengthened cooperation with research institutes and universities and participated in numerous research programs.

In collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the company established the PolyURohto Centre of Research Excellence for Eye Care in October 2023, to jointly advance eye health technologies and provide better medical and care solutions for eye fatigue.

This year, the center unveiled its latest research results: the first-generation visual fatigue monitoring devices, which can enhance the accuracy and correlation of visual fatigue assessment, according to Mentholatum.

"Innovation is endless. It's about our life and it requires us to jump out and engage with the world," Sin said. He took the Lip Pure series as an example, which consists of pure natural ingredients including three different honey extracts.

"When devising the lip balm, we intended to create something more natural, so we began searching for ingredients and turned our gaze on plant extracts," he said.

The groundbreaking balm so far has developed four generations of products and become popular in China, he added.

Sending love and care

In celebration of its 135th anniversary, Mentholatum launched a new campaign this year, with the slogan "Everyone is a little nurse" to encourage people to send love and care.

Leveraging its expertise, resources and global reach, the company has also initiated the "Sending Love and Care" program to give back to society.

In China, it has funded and built six elementary schools and joined in One Foundation's Sea Heaven Initiative, which aims to support children with autism, cerebral palsy and other rare disorders.

Its Rohto Eye Care Program has reached thousands of primary and middle schools since 2003, offering eye care sessions to more than 12 million Chinese students.

In terms of sustainability, Mentholatum has embedded this philosophy into all its brands and launched many green initiatives related to packaging materials, energy-efficient technologies, product formulation, waste management and employee training.

"We organize a special competition every year, asking our staff members to form groups and provide their suggestions for environmental stewardship. And then we will put these into practice and give rewards to the most effective ones," Sin said. "This is how we make sustained efforts to foster sustainable development and we will definitely keep going," Sin added.

According to him, the company peaked carbon dioxide emissions in 2021 and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent, or 1,637 metric tons, in 2022 and 2023.

"We received a platinum certification from the Low Carbon Manufacturing Programme of the World Wildlife Fund last year, which was the ultimate recognition for us, and our long-term goal is to reduce carbon intensity by half before 2032," he said.