Yuhan-Kimberly's 'Depend' Grows 20% Annually... 30 Years Since Launch

Yuhan-Kimberly announced on the 19th that its senior brand 'Depend' has reached its 30th anniversary this year.

Depend has grown at an average annual rate of 20% over the past three years. It offers a diverse product lineup including underwear, pads, and liners in the retail market. Recently, it has been expanding its reach into the facility market such as nursing hospitals and care facilities, where demand for high-quality products is increasing.

In the early 1990s, when tissues, diapers, and sanitary pads were Yuhan-Kimberly's main businesses, the company researched overseas senior markets in the U.S. and Japan to find new business opportunities. Through this process, they became convinced of the urgent need for senior hygiene products and entered the senior market in 1993.

Since the launch of Depend, the domestic senior market has undergone significant changes. At the time Depend was first introduced, the market was dominated by adult (patient) diapers. Although more than 40% of middle-aged women experienced urinary incontinence, there were no suitable dedicated products, so they often avoided going out or social activities. They had to use unsuitable products like toilet paper or sanitary pads as substitutes for urinary incontinence absorption, causing great discomfort due to odor and dampness.

Considering this, Depend introduced specialized urinary incontinence products segmented for active and semi-active users in addition to bedridden patient diapers. The product range was diversified into liners, pads, and underwear to allow selection based on the degree of incontinence and usage environment, and a separate line for men was also launched. To establish a stable supply and product innovation foundation, dedicated production facilities were built at the Chungju and Daejeon plants.

Efforts were also made to positively change perceptions of urinary incontinence. They continuously communicated that urinary incontinence is a natural phenomenon to help people live confidently in daily life. Products that were mainly displayed near baby product stores were relocated to women's product stores to improve purchasing convenience for the main user group, women. The underwear type, which is worn like regular underwear, was consistently communicated as distinct from diapers to clearly establish this difference.

The expansion of dedicated products, active market development, growth of active seniors, and changes in perception of urinary incontinence combined to grow Depend to account for 25% of Yuhan-Kimberly’s baby product sales.

Meanwhile, Yuhan-Kimberly donates a portion of Depend’s sales to a senior job fund and collaborates with organizations such as the Together Foundation to contribute to shared value creation by generating senior jobs and fostering a senior business ecosystem. Additionally, through the ‘Yuhan-Kimberly Senior Impact Fellowship,’ they support social innovators and entrepreneurs who can contribute to solving issues in a super-aged society and expand opportunities in the senior business sector.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.