In China's daily chemical sector, if seniority were the criterion, the protagonist of today's story would likely sit at the top. How impressive was it? The first pack of Gongnong brand laundry powder, the first bottle of liquid dishwashing detergent, and the first tube of toothpaste in China were all produced by it and its subsidiaries. It pioneered China's detergent industry and was once the leading local daily chemical enterprise. Its name is White Cat, and you've certainly heard of it or used its products. Founded in 1948, White Cat (then known as Shanghai Yongxin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) initially was a small private factory producing soap, glycerin, and stearic acid. Two years later, with the help of the Shanghai Municipal Finance and Economics Committee, White Cat, facing funding and operational difficulties, transformed into a state-owned enterprise. With state support, White Cat stood taller, shifting from soap production to detergents, and in 1959 launched China's first pack of Gongnong brand laundry powder, filling the gap in the Chinese market for laundry powder. Subsequently, White Cat pressed forward, and from 1962 to 1985, successively launched high-foaming White Cat laundry powder, China's first enzyme-added laundry powder, and White Cat super-concentrated laundry powder. In November 1985, the first bottle of liquid detergent, White Cat brand dishwashing liquid, was born in Shanghai, and the white bottle with blue cap and White Cat logo dominated Chinese kitchens for decades. In 1995, the former Shanghai Synthetic Detergent Factory was officially restructured into Shanghai White Cat Group, which grew rapidly thanks to state assets and its well-known brands. 2001 was a crucial year for White Cat Group. That year, White Cat dishwashing liquid became the number one brand in China's detergent industry. At the same time, this detergent giant also underwent an asset swap with a major domestic toothpaste enterprise—Shanghai Toothpaste Factory. Shanghai Toothpaste Factory was renamed Shanghai White Cat Co., Ltd., becoming a subsidiary of White Cat Group. This combination was a powerful alliance. White Cat Co., Ltd. (now renamed Shanghai Maxam Daily Chemical Co., Ltd.), formerly Shanghai Toothpaste Factory, not only produced China's first toothpaste—Three Stars toothpaste—in 1923, defeating Colgate in the Chinese market at that time, but also produced China's most influential local toothpaste—Zhonghua toothpaste—after the founding of the People's Republic, which held the top position in China's toothpaste market for a period. At this time, White Cat Group was at its peak. According to the Shanghai State-owned Assets Statistics Yearbook, in 2003, White Cat Group's sales revenue reached 1.811 billion yuan, and two years later hit a historical peak of 1.844 billion yuan (the future 20-billion giant Liby had revenue of 2.3 billion in 2003). But the switch from peak to trough happened in an instant. Although White Cat Group entered the "1.8 billion club" in 2003, its profits were negative for the following two years. In 2006, White Cat Group's main business revenue plummeted from over 1.8 billion to 464 million yuan. Fortunately, in 2006, White Cat met Li Ka-shing. The visibly weakened White Cat Group sold its main company producing White Cat washing products—Shanghai White Cat Co., Ltd.—to Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa, renaming it Shanghai Hutchison White Cat, hoping that Li Ka-shing's backing would restore White Cat's former glory. Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa group had high hopes for Hutchison White Cat. In 2008, Hutchison Whampoa increased its investment in Hutchison White Cat by 800 million yuan. Du Zhiqiang, then managing director of Hutchison Whampoa China and chairman of Hutchison White Cat, even stated that the funds planned for White Cat brand promotion in the coming years would exceed 3 billion yuan, aiming to build White Cat into a major player in the domestic daily chemical industry. The vision was beautiful, but the reality was harsh. White Cat's wish came to nothing. It turned out that even with Li Ka-shing's backing, Hutchison White Cat's performance was not saved; instead, it continued to suffer losses. According to data from the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, since 2015, Hutchison White Cat has been in a state of insolvency. As of the end of August 2017, total assets were 1.1 billion yuan, total liabilities were 1.4 billion yuan, and owner's equity was -289 million yuan. In terms of profitability, in 2016, Hutchison White Cat had operating revenue of 1.2 billion yuan, operating profit of -3.14 million yuan, and net profit of 21.328 million yuan. On the other hand, the largest shareholder of White Cat Co., Ltd., another mainstay of White Cat Group, changed to Xinzhou Group in 2006, and it suffered losses for three consecutive years from 2007 to 2009, eventually being delisted. Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the original White Cat. Although it remains a golden brand, it has been tarnished. Source: Cosmetics Observation (ID: pinguanjun) 2017 (3rd) FMCG + Internet Conference will be held in Chongqing in November 2017. The conference will closely focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecology," inviting domestic 1000+ distributors, 500+ brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment and financing institutions to jointly explore a new chapter of cross-border integration! Click the links below to review the highlights of the first and second FMCG + Internet conferences: 2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum -END-