| Category | Mass Skincare |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Beijing (under Kenvue) |
| Listing | Parent Kenvue listed on NYSE (KVUE), spun off from J&J consumer health in 2023 |
| Latest revenue | Not reported separately; parent Kenvue posted roughly USD 15bn of net sales in 2024 |
| Hero SKUs | Dabao SOD Milk |
Brand History
In 1985 Beijing Sanlu Factory launched Dabao SOD Milk, turning superoxide dismutase — a scientific-sounding ingredient — into a few-yuan jar of day cream. In the 1990s a television ad line, 'Dabao, see you every day', made it a household name in China's first mass-skincare boom: simple product, extremely low price, distribution through supermarkets and wholesale.
In 2008 Johnson & Johnson (China) acquired Dabao, one of the earliest foreign takeovers of a local mass brand; in 2023 it moved into Kenvue when J&J's consumer health business was spun off. The core problem since has been ageing: loyalty is extremely high but the user base skews older, and younger shoppers read SOD Milk as 'the smell of mum'. The brand responded by modernising packaging and running a low-price, big-SKU strategy on e-commerce and Pinduoduo, clawing back volume in lower-tier markets. It works, but it is not glamorous: scale is defended, the price ceiling is not raised.
Hero Products
Three-Year Financials
Neither the brand nor its parent publishes audited annual financials; no estimates are provided.
Brand-level：Brand revenue is not public. Dabao is one of the highest-penetration mass skincare brands in China; SOD Milk has long ranked near the top of basic-moisturiser sales in hypermarkets and e-commerce, at RMB 20-60, with distribution skewed to supermarkets, convenience stores and value platforms.
Source：Kenvue annual reports and business descriptions; Dabao public materials; trade press
Company Coverage
- 2025-10Mass price band keeps sliding
Under consumption tiering, competition intensifies in the RMB 20-50 basic-moisturiser band.
Source：Trade media - 2025-04Kenvue reviews China business
The parent is reassessing regional portfolio and channel strategy, with mass brands under pressure.
Source：Company filings and media - 2024-09Heritage brands get a nostalgia boost
Old national brands trended together on social platforms, and Dabao rode it with younger content.
Source：Trade media
Editor's note: Dabao is the most successful 'low-price trust' case in Chinese branding — a single jar became national memory. It is also trapped by that memory: prices cannot rise, the story is hard to tell, and young shoppers only recall it nostalgically. The way out is not getting expensive but giving basic care new scenarios: whole-family use, radical minimalism.