Do you have such a unique "fire extinguisher" in your home? With its transparent texture, it may seem unremarkable, but when faced with sunburns, scalds, mosquito bites, and dry, sensitive skin, applying just a small amount for first aid provides a cooling, soothing relief. We're talking about aloe vera gel. When it comes to aloe gel, many people will likely think of a domestic cosmetics brand named "Perfect."
In the early 1990s, Malaysian-Chinese businessman Gu Runjin and his business partners returned to their hometown in Zhongshan, Guangdong, to start a business, founding Perfect and turning a small tube of aloe gel into their flagship product. Since its launch, Perfect's aloe gel has sold over 500 million units, enough to fill up Lake Daming 16 times over.
How did they achieve this? As one of the earliest companies to produce aloe products in China, Perfect seized the first-mover advantage. But they've also been relentless in their R&D efforts, obtaining over 200 new patents in the past five years and filling domestic gaps in certain raw materials. For example, bifida ferment lysate, a key ingredient in many international skincare brands, was previously only available through imports. Now, Perfect has developed its own proprietary version.
The company has also invested heavily in areas such as digital upgrades and supply chain system improvements, spending over 4 billion yuan in the past four years. This investment has proven worthwhile. After overhauling their entire chain, Perfect's per capita workshop output increased by 46%, while the product defect rate dropped by 35.6%. Now, they can produce one tube of aloe gel in less than a second on average.
Alone, a tree is easily swayed; together, trees form an unyielding forest. Perfect's success relies on the support from both government and industry. Over 30 years of development in Zhongshan, Perfect has integrated upstream and downstream resources to develop its health industry presence. Through government-corporate partnerships, Perfect established the Life Health Technology Research Institute, which serves its own needs while also offering an open platform to collaborate on incubation projects and share resources with external parties. Perfect has also set up 18 innovation platforms and 10 joint labs with research institutions, leading companies, and industry associations. By promoting greater industry-academia-research-application synergy, Perfect has transformed scientific research outcomes into tangible products.
Leveraging its overseas Chinese investment connections, Perfect sells products to Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. By integrating domestic and international supply chains, Perfect has become another classic case of Guangdong's "chain transformation."