This month Kao Corporation began marketing its Merries Shun Shuang Tou Qi (extra dry) disposable diapers for babies locally produced in China. Previously the Merries diapers marketed in China were exported from Japan. However, to allow more consumers in a broader area to use the product, Merries Shun Shuang Tou Qi is now being produced at a new plant in Hefei City, Anhui Province, China completed in August 2012.

In the process of developing Merries Shun Shuang Tou Qi, Kao visited households to carry out consumer surveys of local people’s awareness and usage of diapers. It was revealed that for baby diapers, Chinese customers tend to dislike the condition of “hot, damp air being trapped” and “urine remaining on baby skin”; and it was confirmed that they focus on “dryness of baby’s buttocks” brought about by “breathability” and “absorbability.”

As a result of these findings Kao specially designed the product shape and inner structures for the Chinese consumer, while retaining favorable aspects of the conventional Merries series exported from Japan. In Merries Shun Shuang Tou Qi, newly developed “convex-concave surface materials” are applied to minimize contact to the skin and “Side Elastic Panels” that are superior in elasticity and breathability are employed says the company.