Babycare ties up with Eastman and Avery Dennison to lead next stage of development for maternal and infant sectors

HANGZHOU, China, Feb. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Babycare, a leading brand in China's maternal and infant industry, announced the entry into strategic partnerships with global specialty materials maker Eastman and global pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes producer Avery Dennison, with the aim of creating healthier and safer maternity and parenting lifestyles.

Babycare, an international brand with roots in China and a global perspective, has continued expanding its strategic alliance network over the past few years by selecting quality materials from partners worldwide based on product innovation and quality control. The signing of the new agreements with Eastman and Avery Dennison increases Babycare's number of its strategic partners worldwide to eight, following tie-ups with Symrise, Sateri, Lycra, Henkel, Signify and Dow Chemical Company. The array of partnerships covers a wide range of sectors, including fibers, adhesives and lighting products.

Babycare plans to establish a long-term, extensive strategic alliance with Eastman whereby both firms, by engaging in-depth collaborations involving the R&D and supply of raw materials as well as supply chain support services, will jointly develop innovative materials and product solutions that are safe and sustainable for parents and newborns while exploring possible collaborations in the realms of functional materials and eco-friendly fibers. To meet the expectations among Chinese households for high-quality sippy cups, Babycare teamed up with Eastman and started applying the specialty materials maker's new-generation copolyester Tritan^TM to sippy cups in 2017, the same year that the material had begun witnessing wide application across the Chinese maternal and infant sector.

Babycare formed a partnership with international professional adhesive tape supplier Avery Dennison in 2021. Their collaborative efforts have produced a disposable tape solution suitable for the soft bottom layer of Babycare Camellia Gentle series pull-up pants. Through joint research, the two companies have addressed pain points facing the industry by enhancing product quality and user experience through an improvement to the bonding method between the disposable tape and the outer layer material. Currently, Avery Dennison's disposable and front waist tapes have been applied to various product lines of Babycare pull-up pants. With the new strategic partnership, Babycare and Avery Dennison expect to engage in comprehensive, in-depth collaborations involving R&D, supply chain, marketing and product quality control.

"Both Eastman and Avery Dennison are world-leading international material science companies and share their philosophy and values with Babycare in terms of safety, innovation and sustainability," indicated Babycare founder and CEO Kuo Li. "We plan to continuously provide users with reliable, valuable innovative products and services through the tie-ups with the two firms, with the ultimate goal of raising quality standards throughout the maternal and infant sector."

"Eastman is committed to effectively enhancing the quality of day-to-day life by making every day safer, easier and better," stated Zhang Chunyan, commercial director of Eastman's Specialty Plastics Division for the Asia Pacific region. "By building a new strategic partnership with Babycare, one of the top Chinese mother and baby brands, Eastman serves as a model for industry peers when it comes to expanding business in China and promoting the concept of delivering products that are healthy and safe there."

"Babycare's core value of 'customer mindset' coincides with our Avery Dennison value of 'external focus'," said Avery Dennison Performance Tapes general manager Robin Lu. "The cooperation with Babycare aligns with the strategic direction of long-term sustainable development for Avery Dennison Performance Tapes in the Chinese personal care market."

About Babycare

Babycare supplies design-forward products for parents, newborns and toddlers. In living the ethos of "Redesigned for Love," Babycare strives to challenge industry norms and develop effective, meaningful solutions for new lives. Each of Babycare's products is designed with parents in mind, covering diapers, tissues, feeding supplies, toys, travel goods, home accessories and so on. Babycare provides a one-stop, full-category solution for the next generation of families. Our innovative offerings appeal to parents of all ages and experience levels and have childcare periods from pregnancy to 6-years-old. Now serving more than 30 countries, over 45 million families choose us for their baby product needs.

About Eastman

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. The company's innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end-markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. As a globally inclusive and diverse company, Eastman employs approximately 14,500 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries. The company had 2022 revenues of approximately $10.6 billion and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA.

About Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY) is a global materials science and digital identification solutions company that provides branding and information labeling solutions, including pressure-sensitive materials, radio-frequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags, and a variety of converted products and solutions. The company designs and manufactures a wide range of labeling and functional materials that enhance branded packaging, carry or display information that connects the physical and the digital, and improve customers' product performance. The company serves an array of industries worldwide, including home and personal care, apparel, e-commerce, logistics, food and grocery, pharmaceuticals and automotive. The company employs approximately 36,000 employees in more than 50 countries. Reported sales in 2022 were $9.0 billion.

SOURCE Babycare