Yumeijing Children's Cream, developed in 1980 by Tianjin No. 2 Daily Chemical Factory, was China's first dedicated children's skincare product. Sold in a distinctive sachet for about 2 yuan, it became a household name. By 2001 its products covered more than 90% of the domestic market, and the brand ranked No. 1 in national industry production and sales for what the company described as 25 consecutive years. At its peak in 1999–2003, Yumeijing ran 20 sales companies and nearly 20,000 self-operated retail terminals nationwide.
The decline was gradual and then sudden. As domestic and foreign brands — Red Elephant, Aveeno, Pigeon, Frog Prince — entered the children's skincare market with online-first marketing and premium positioning, Yumeijing's agency-distribution and supermarket model aged. Online sales accounted for only 25–30% of revenue. In a baby-skincare ranking from August 2020 to September 2021, Yumeijing held 2.06% market share and ranked 12th; Red Elephant led with 8.94%. Its top Taobao product had 10,000+ paying buyers against Red Elephant's 70,000+.
A quality scandal accelerated the slide: in December 2019, Tianjin's medical-products regulator found three batches of Yumeijing children's talcum powder exceeded the national lead standard, and the National Medical Products Administration listed the product in January 2020. In May 2022, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Group acquired 87.77% of Yumeijing's equity, becoming its controlling shareholder.
Its 2-yuan sachet left no margin for digital marketing, so 20,000 terminals became a cost base; share fell to 2.06% and 12th place.
The brand's 2-yuan sachet was a strength in the supermarket era and a trap in the e-commerce era — it left no margin for the digital marketing spend that newer competitors used to acquire customers
Twenty-five years at No. 1 created an organisational assumption that the product sold itself; the company built 20,000 terminals but never built an online capability
The lead-exceedance scandal in 2019–2020 damaged trust in a brand whose entire identity was safety for children, and the response was slow
Competitors like Red Elephant and Aveeno positioned children's skincare as a premium, research-driven category; Yumeijing's heritage positioning read as outdated to young parents
Market leadership built on distribution density does not survive a channel shift — the 20,000 terminals became a cost base the moment customers moved online.
Under Tianjin Pharmaceutical's ownership, Yumeijing caught the 2023 'guochao' (national-trend) wave when young consumers rediscovered heritage brands on social media. The brand reported a sales revival, though its long-term position in a market now dominated by Red Elephant and international labels remains uncertain.
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