Epicenter of global hotel supplies grows market

LMZ (Jiangsu) Industrial Co Ltd in Hangji town, Yangzhou of Jiangsu province, recently released 1,978 containers of hotel supplies for shipment to the Middle East.

Every year, about 10 million sets of its hotel supplies such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, combs and slippers are exported to hotels worldwide, including high-end brands such as Wyndham, Westin, Waldorf Astoria, Hilton and Mandarin Oriental.

"In the first half of this year, our foreign trade sales reached about $4.8 million, up 16 percent year-on-year. We are hopeful of achieving a tenth consecutive year of growth by the end of the year," said Chen Yuanxing, the company's foreign trade director.

The company innovated in making high-quality, good-looking and environmentally friendly products to meet hotels' demands. For example, a toothbrush whose bristles are produced from substances extracted from castor oil is said to be softer than ordinary nylon bristles. Its handle made from bamboo grown to appropriate maturity is said to be more resilient. The toothbrush has gained popularity among hotels in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

"We have also put a lot of efforts into the materials, fragrance selection and packaging design for our 5-gram toothpaste specially supplied to the seven-star hotel Burj Al Arab in Dubai," Chen said.

More innovative products like a razor with a bamboo handle and toothpaste in a paper bag enhance products' added value, and help them to transform from low-price competition to high-end quality, Chen said.

The company is the biggest hotel toothpaste supplier in the world with an annual production volume of 2 billion tubes. In 2023, its sales reached 800 million yuan ($111 million), with about 10 percent going toward exports to about 30 countries and regions, including the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, Greece, Poland, South Africa, the United States and Australia.

Li Pei, who runs a hotel chain in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, said the brand has various requirements when purchasing hotel goods, such as the softness and hardness of toothbrush bristles, bristle density and handle material.

"Toothpaste is also examined for weight, opening method and ingredients," he said, adding that his hotel uses LMZ's products because their quality is stable and replenishment is timely as Yangzhou is not far from Nanjing.

LMZ's success is a testament to Hangji's status as the biggest production and export base for hotel supplies globally.

The town now has about 4,000 companies and self-employed individuals doing related production, sales and distribution businesses with total annual sales reaching 30 billion yuan. Its hotel supplies account for 65 percent of market share in China and 30 percent in the world, according to the economic development bureau of Hangji.

Yangzhou Kailai Hotel Amenities Co Ltd in Hangji alone reported sales revenue of 100 million yuan last year, 40 percent of which came from clients in countries such as Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Thailand, said its general manager Yan Kaiwen.

Yan said its advantages are quality and price, which are owed to the high industrial concentration and comprehensive upstream and downstream support in Hangji.

He added though the COVID-19 pandemic affected its production and customers' demand, its sales have almost recovered to the pre-pandemic level. However, demand from home and abroad in the first half of this year was not as strong as that in 2023 for the company.

With the gradual recovery of the Chinese tourism market in 2023, the hotel supplies market is expected to achieve breakthrough growth, according to a report from market consultancy gonyn.com. It is projected that by 2027, the market size of hotel supplies in China will exceed 10 trillion yuan.

To encourage a green lifestyle and reduce use of plastics, more hotels worldwide have stopped actively providing disposable items for environmental protection purposes.

Zhu Bo, an associate professor from the Jiangsu College of Tourism in Yangzhou, said the increasing environmental awareness is driving the hotel daily necessities industry toward environmentally friendly and sustainable development, such as using biodegradable materials in production.

He also advocated a stricter quality management system to ensure safety, comfort and durability, saying producers should focus on innovative designs to meet consumer demand for aesthetics and new fashions.