A worker assembles a stroller at a factory of Goodbaby Group in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. (Photo/China Daily)
Time-honored household brand names from Europe and North America have become profitable after being acquired by Goodbaby Group, China's largest manufacturer and retailer of baby-care products.
Song Zhenghuan, chairman of Goodbaby Group, said that Evenflo, a leading US maker of car safety seats, high chairs and other products for young children, made a profit of about $14 million in 2016, after being incorporated into the group.
According to the company's 2015 annual report, Evenflo's revenue of Evenflo was around $231 million in 2015, a 16.5 percent increase over 2014.
Cybex GmbH, a German producer of premium car seats, has doubled its profits in 2016, reaching $200 million, after being acquired by the group, Song said.
Both the companies were acquired by Goodbaby in 2014, which gave the group wide exposure in overseas markets, in addition to the booming Chinese market.
Song attributed the success mostly to the group's innovation and marketing strategies.
"We now have researchers from 34 countries," said Song. "We have a tradition to play the national anthems before holding important meetings. It takes a while to play the national anthems for all our workers."
Now, the Suzhou-based company has seven research centers in Germany, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, the United States, Japan and in Kunshan of eastern China's Jiangsu province.
It also established a brand management and European business center in Bayreuth, Germany, a US business center in Boston and a financing and legal affairs center in China's Hong Kong.
"Goodbaby has registered 7,400 patents since it was founded in 1989," Song said. "It is bigger than the patents of our top 10 competitors combined. Every year, we register more than 500 patents."
In 2015, Goodbaby registered more than 620 patents worldwide and won more than 100 product design and safety awards.
"We are proud of our innovation capability and safety control technologies. Even in the US and European markets, where products are frequently recalled, we haven't made any products that should be recalled since we entered the overseas market in 1996."
According to the group, its laboratory has been recognized by international authorities, including SG, TUVNord and CPSC in the US. The products examined and recognized by the laboratory can be sold at the US and European markets directly.
Being the largest supplier of strollers in North America, Europe and China, Goodbaby has stamped its name on 80 percent of its products, while, before 2016, 80 percent of its manufactured products were branded by other world leading companies.
Now about 70 percent of Goodbaby's business is in overseas markets in Asia, North America and Europe.
