Hongxing Erke bets on the raw material warp of the group collagen crossover players

Will recombinant collagen be as hot as hyaluronic acid?

Wine, clothing, and beverage companies have crossed over to beauty, is it to "play tickets" to create gimmicks, or to "enter the game" to find new growth points?

In fact, it is not a new topic for wine, clothing, and beverage companies to make beauty across borders.

Wine companies have natural advantages in making beauty. The sake lees (sake lees) produced by sake brewing are rich in nutrients that can produce skin care effects, and the core ingredient of Skii"**, Pitera, is inspired by rice sake brewing and made by natural yeast fermentation process.

In recent years, large domestic wine companies have been actively deploying fermentation patented technologies. In August 2023, the patent of "a sauce-flavored liquor Daqu antibacterial polypeptide and its application in the preparation of anti-inflammatory drugs" applied by Moutai was authorized, which has attracted wide attention in the industry. Luzhou Laojiao has previously launched the "Distiller's Lees Sobering and Repair**", and this cross-border began to apply the ingredients of distiller's meal to washing and care products, expanding the product category.

Beverage companies such as Coca-Cola and Wang Laoji, relying on the appeal of their brands, have co-branded with beauty brands to launch limited makeup products. The first-class products launched by Huiyuan this time abandon the idea of co-branding, and adopt the OEM model to strengthen the brand impression of "cosmetics and food research". Whether it is ** or makeup, these cross-border products are mostly short-term brand activities, which are intended to bring freshness to consumers and achieve brand rejuvenation.

In contrast, the cross-border beauty play of apparel companies is more diverse. In addition to creating popularity through co-branded activities with beauty brands, it also sells beauty products through its own stores. Domestic and foreign apparel brands such as H&M, Zara, Heilan House, Semir and lululemon have launched their own cosmetics brands, while Adidas has licensed its personal care products and fragrance business to Coty Group.

Regarding the cross-border beauty action, China Cosmetics magazine asked relevant companies. Luzhou Laojiao replied that it did not invest in beauty, but only made some sake lees ** for consumer interaction, and did not sell it; Huiyuan Juice did not reply as of press time; Duoying Biotechnology clearly replied that "this crossover is not a whim".

Zhao Yunlong, general manager of Duoying (Xiamen) Biotechnology, told China Cosmetics magazine: "Hongxing Erke Investment Company has been focusing on investment in the biomedical field for nearly ten years, during which time it has discovered a 'Chinese ingredient' with great investment value - recombinant collagen. Based on the sense of mission of a national enterprise, Hongxing Erke launched the makeup brand 'Duoying' with recombinant collagen as the core and the mechanical brand brand 'Yibentong'. ”

China Cosmetics magazine learned from the interview that Duoying Biotechnology is one of the major layouts of Hongxing Erke Investment Company in recent years. According to public information, in June 2023, Hongxing Erke Investment Co., Ltd. invested in the establishment of Hongxing Erke (Xiamen) Biotechnology***In the same month, Duoying Biotechnology was established, with two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Yibentong (Xiamen) Biotechnology and Duoying (Xiamen) Beauty***. The registered addresses of the above four companies are all in Xiamen Hongxing Erke Building, and Wu Rongguang has absolute control over these four companies. Hongxing Erke's cosmetics business is based on recombinant collagen and bets on the skin care product track.

China's skincare industry as a whole is growing, and recombinant collagen is an emerging ingredient that has attracted much attention in the skincare market. Local companies such as Marubeni, Juzi Biotech, Freda and other companies have launched products and brands with collagen as the core ingredient. L'Oréal Paris's newly upgraded "Little Honey Pot Cream" adds recombinant collagen for the first time, and plans a wealth of brand activities around the popularization of "collagen" technology, which is regarded as a signal of the rise of "Chinese ingredients". Recombinant collagen is expected to become a star ingredient as popular as hyaluronic acid. The exclusive ingredient of Duoying Biotechnology is "recombinant collagen". It is reported that the ingredient has the advantages of strong safety, high stability, high temperature resistance, extreme purity, high activity, repair, and regeneration. Different from the technical path of E. coli expression system on the market, Duoying Biotechnology chose Pichia pastoris expression system for efficient production of recombinant collagen. "Pichia pastoris expression system has the advantages of high expression level, easy purification of secreted proteins, high activity, easy to achieve high-density fermentation, and not easy to allergies. Zhao Yunlong said that the technical reserve of Duoying Biotechnology is not only reflected in the selection of core ingredients, but also in the application of its exclusive technology collagen intelligent matching technology, which through the synergistic effect of the two major components of young peptides and ribose, realizes the effect of collagen multiplication while manufacturing collagen, and pays more attention to its quality and activity while ensuring the quantity of collagen. As a "newcomer" in the field of skincare products, Zhao Yunlong is well aware that new brands are facing many challenges while seeking opportunities. He focused on three market trends: first, a large number of peers have gathered in the domestic functional skin care field at all levels of the market; Second, it is difficult for Chinese brands to catch up with the dozens or even hundreds of years of brand accumulation of international brands in a short period of time, and the industry's leading domestic brands are still in the growth period of brand strategy; Third, consumers' demand and expectations for skin care products are constantly escalating. "Find the right active ingredient for yourself" has become a strong market voice. Zhao Yunlong proposed that the next step of Duoying Biotechnology is to create an innovative image and unique value on the basis of consolidating scientific research strength, and take the road of brand building. At present, "Duoying" products are mainly sold on online platforms such as Douyin and Tmall, emphasizing a sense of fashion in brand image building, and the target audience is young consumers who pay attention to quality life and pursue personality satisfaction; Due to the particularity of the use scenario, it emphasizes professionalism and trust, and mainly serves the consumer groups of post-care medical art.

Zhao Yunlong said that the dual-brand strategy is mainly based on in-depth insight into consumer demand, market opportunities and channel cognition, "We firmly believe that only by focusing on the track and doing things professionally can we achieve extraordinary." Although the positioning and channels of the two brands will be different, they both carry our belief in 'technology inclusiveness' and expectations for the future. "On January 8, 2024, Jiangsu Chuangjian Medical Technology Co., Ltd., which focuses on recombinant collagen raw materials, submitted the A-share IPO filing materials to the Jiangsu Securities Regulatory Bureau, which further boosted the popularity of recombinant collagen. At present, there are more than 20 listed companies with the concept of recombinant collagen in A-shares, with a market value of 260.8 billion yuan to 612$5.3 billion. China Cosmetics magazine noted that although the concept of recombinant collagen ingredients is hot, there are also many uncertainties. On the one hand, recombinant collagen raw materials are in the early stage of development, and the fermentation process needs to be improved, resulting in a relatively high cost of raw materials. On the other hand, as an emerging ingredient in cosmetics, the application research of recombinant collagen is not very thorough, and more R&D investment is needed to obtain safe, stable and effective formulations and products. "The field of functional skincare is a technology-intensive industry, and only by constantly innovating and changing can it be possible to win wide recognition and trust in the market. Zhao Yunlong said that Duoying Biotechnology will continue to follow the R&D tenet of "making the effect really effective", focus on product strength, and strive to become an evergreen brand that deeply cultivates the cause of health and beauty.