Focus on the CIIE: Consumer giants gather to promote localization, customization and sustainable development strategies

These days are bustling with activity at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, where the sixth CIIE is being held, and consumer giants from all over the world are also gathered.

The first financial reporter recently learned from an on-site interview at the National Convention and Exhibition Center that most of the participating consumer companies have participated in the CIIE for many times, and many companies have participated in the six sessions of the "full-time students". After six years of development, these consumer giants are moving in a more local, customized and sustainable direction.

Combined with Chinese elements

"This is the sixth time we have participated in the Expo. For us, the CIIE is a very good platform to showcase and find cooperation opportunities. Since the first CIIE in 2018, we have released a total of 24 new products during the previous CIIE, including 16 from the LEGO Monkie Kid series and LEGO traditional holiday sets. These new products all have very obvious Chinese cultural elements. Huang Guoqiang, senior vice president and general manager of Lego Group in China, said in an interview with Yicai and other media that Lego will strengthen its investment in the Chinese market in the future, including offline stores and online digital development.

"We're building a LEGO ecosystem that includes digitalization, supply chain and technology development, and of course, LEGOLAND, and so on, and it's a holistic strategy. We hope that in the future, we will put partners in the whole ecosystem, and we can cooperate for a long time, which is a grand blueprint for the development of the Chinese market. Huang Guoqiang said. It is reported that Lego has invested in the construction of factories in the Chinese market before, and will further strengthen the localization development in the future.

This is also the sixth time that IKEA has participated in the Expo. Ruan Linjuan, vice president of corporate communication and public affairs of IKEA (China) Investment Co., Ltd., told the first financial reporter that IKEA attaches great importance to the localization of the Chinese market, and the new products released at the CIIE deliberately integrate Chinese cultural elements, and tend to be localized in product design and creation. "In the past two years, we have seen a good experience of turning exhibits into commodities, so this year, we continue to bring new products for the world premiere at the CIIE. ”

As a representative of Thai investment in China, Tencel Group has participated in the CIIE for five consecutive years, and this year's CIIE brought a diversified product portfolio of the world's "home of great brands" to Chinese consumers, including classic flavored energy drinks for the Chinese market. Tencel Group also felt the spillover effect of "exhibits becoming commodities and exhibitors becoming investors" at the Expo, and said that it would continue to increase the Chinese market to promote economic and trade exchanges between China and Thailand with investment in China.

"The spillover effect of the CIIE and the driving effect of the Belt and Road Initiative complement each other. Here, new products and new technologies will accelerate the commercialization of new products and technologies by taking the 'CIIE Express', so that exhibits can become commodities. The continuous holding of the CIIE has also made many enterprises, including Tencel Group, see China's determination to comprehensively expand high-quality opening-up and strengthen international cooperation, and Tencel Group has strengthened its confidence in deeply cultivating the Chinese market. Xu Xinxiong, CEO of Tencel Group, said.

Customization trends

"In the Chinese market, consumers' demand for healthy and nutritious products is becoming more and more vigorous, and their spending power is also increasing. In an interview with the media during this year's CIIE, Guo Mu, President and Global Senior Vice President of Herbalife China, said that Herbalife showcased more than 40 overseas best-selling products in more than 20 categories, including global new products, covering weight management, target nutrition and sports nutrition.

In the process of implementing the localization strategy, Guo Mu felt that the needs of Chinese consumers were quietly changing.

"After three years of the epidemic, Chinese consumers' demand for nutrition and health has increased significantly. We are seeing that consumers' needs are starting to change, such as their demand for personalization, customization, their desire for more accurate products or services, and their need for a variety of products. Guo Mu said that in the face of such changes, Herbalife in the Chinese market all the industrial chain layout has been launched, this year more than 6,000 marketing personnel have obtained the Chinese Nutrition and Health Food Society four-level public nutritionist certification, through such a training system and certification system, can ensure that marketing personnel according to the different nutritional needs of each consumer, for them to customize the nutritional solutions they need, through the product to achieve customized services.

In 2022, Herbalife invested nearly 50 million yuan to establish a tea powder solid beverage production line in the Nanjing factory, realizing the localization of the whole process of Herbalife tea product production. Guo Mu said that the very obvious spillover effect brought by the CIIE has formed a complete closed loop in China's nutrition market.

sustainable development

在消费类企业的展台，还有一大特色——环保策略。不少消费类公司都表示自身拥有sustainable development战略，这与“双碳”目标和绿色发展要求不谋而合。

洲际酒店集团大中华区董事总经理爱默尔（Daniel Aylmer）接受第一财经记者采访时表示，洲际酒店集团已在全球范围内启动“明日方洲（Journey to Tomorrow）”计划，本届进博会，为响应中国高质量、sustainable development的号召，洲际酒店集团特别设立了“明日方洲”展区，展现未来“富有责任感的旅行”。

“在中国市场，我们为开业酒店和筹建酒店制定节能目标及排放基准——到2030年在全球范围内实现持有、管理、租赁和特许经营酒店能耗排放降低46%，100%新建酒店在低碳、零碳排放水平运营。我们是全球首家承诺在旗下所有品牌的酒店中撤除一次性小包装洗护用品，代之以更环保的大瓶装的酒店管理公司。这一创举是集团广泛的sustainable development战略的重要组成部分之一。”爱默尔说。

同样在力推sustainable development战略的还有乐高。本届进博会上，乐高进行了sustainable development成果展示，在“Build the Change小小创变家”零废弃未来主题活动中，展示了可循环社区美好憧憬的拼搭作品、“玩乐配方”项目新工具包以及乐高乐乐检查站项目的核磁共振扫描仪模型。同时，还有由生物聚乙烯材料制成的乐高生物基元件和乐高套装内的纸质包装袋也同步亮相，展现该企业在sustainable development方面的最新成果。