Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co Ltd, China's largest beverage maker, is completing plans to enter the rapidly growing personal care products sector, company official said yesterday.
The company expects to launch skin cream, shampoo, toiletry and toothpaste products within this year, according to Shan Qining, a Wahaha spokesman.
"We are now testing production facilities in a new plant in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province," he said.
Shan reported that the company is in talks with multinational companies for future cooperation in manufacturing. He declined to disclose details, but excluded the possibility of becoming an original equipment manufacturer for other companies.
The firm began diversifying its core business last year, launching lines of children's apparel and instant noodles.
Other beverage makers are also eying the lucrative prospects in cosmetics and toiletries.
Wuliangye Group Co Ltd, China's largest liquor maker, invested 100 million yuan (US$12.06 million) to begin producing personal care products last March.
Wuliangye, which owns a 60 percent stake in Wuliangye Group Push Whomay Chemical Co Ltd, the firm established for the new business, launched the high-end Whomay and middle-range Zigie shampoos in Sichuan and Hunan provinces last March.
The company said in a previous interview that it decided to make personal care products because the industry is developing rapidly.
Hong Kong-based Wutung Engineering Co Ltd holds the remaining stake in the Wuliangye Group firm, which expects annual sales to hit up to 1 billion yuan within three to five years.