Important Sustainability Issues (Materiality)

Material Issue 1 Creating an easy-to-start grooming culture

Commitment

Based on our original concept of "Health, Cleanliness, Beauty and Fun," that is, the basic parts of "Health, Cleanliness and Beauty" combined with "Fun," we will offer unique, one-of-a-kind products and services, thereby providing excitement and exhilaration and helping consumers, who have diverse values, be who they want to be.

We at Mandom aim to be a company that is dedicated to service by proposing concepts born from the day-to-day lives of consumers as genuine value through our “human-oriented” approach.

Dedication to Service (Oyakudachi) has two aspects: “depth” in terms of how much satisfaction can be provided to a single consumer, and “breadth” in terms of how many consumers can be satisfied. In the age of VUCA, where the future is uncertain and complex, and consumers' needs and wants are becoming more and more diverse, proposing unique and one-of-a-kind products and services that meet their needs and wants will expand the “depth” of our Dedication to Service (Oyakudachi) and lead to the realization of well-being* for as many consumers as possible and to Mandom's sustainable growth.

Related SDGs

Efforts

Conducting unique research to respond to diversifying consumer wants

Deodorant Technology Wins Award in Barcelona

Mandom Group conducts research and development focused on the three areas of “hair/scalp,” “skin,” and “deodorant/ antiperspirant,” an area which has gained significant interest in recent times. Hair/scalp, skin, and deodorant/antiperspirant vary by individual depending on their race, gender, age, lifestyle, climate, and culture. Just as each person’s situation varies, so do their demands as consumers. In order to respond to as many customer wants as possible, Mandom is proceeding with research and development in a wide range of areas including the human body structure, function, and mechanisms in order to discover ingredients and apply them to products that respond to these wants.

Joint research conducted by Mandom Corporation and Osaka University clarified the molecular mechanism by which human eccrine sweat glands contract during sweating, and discovered a substance that suppresses this mechanism.Furthermore, it was revealed that this substance suppresses not only the sweating that occurs in response to rising body temperature but also the sweating that occurs when a person is nervous. Details of this research were presented at the "33rd International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) Congress 2023 Barcelona" held in Barcelona, Spain, from September 4 to 7, 2023, which won an award for best poster presentation.

With the increase in average temperatures around the world in recent years, excessive sweating not only deteriorates the quality of life of those suffering from hyperhidrosis caused by dysfunctional sweat regulation, but can also lead to discomfort of others without the disorder. By applying the results of this research, we hope our dedication to service (Oyakudachi) realizes an antiperspirant with a novel function that fundamentally suppresses sweat so that it may help consumers who suffer from untimely sweating in various daily life situations.

Key research findings

◆The mechanism by which sweat glands contract during sweating has been elucidated
◆Connexins*1 that form gap junctions*2 are abundant in myoepithelial cells, which are responsible for sweat gland contractions, and these gap junctions are significantly involved in sweat gland contractions during sweating
◆A gap junction blocker and its analogue monoammonium glycyrrhizate (GMA)*3) inhibit thermogenic
(heat-induced) and psychogenic (mental stress-induced) sweating in humans.

Glossary and Notes

※1

Connexins: A family of proteins that form gap junctions

※2

Gap junctions: Intercellular connections between neighboring cells that allow ions with low water solubility and electrical signals to pass between cells

※3

Monoammonium glycyrrhizate (GMA): A compound extracted from the herbal medicine licorice root

LÚCIDO-L: A popular, dear-and-near hair beauty cosmetics brand
Tackling the challenge of the hair care category and mass-marketing LÚCIDO-L as a salon brand

Originating from hair salons: Acid heat treatment

In recent years, given the high damage caused by hair coloring and thermal devices such as hair and crimping irons and growing demand for more beautiful hair, “acid heat treatment” has been touted as a means of improving hair quality, and has been enjoying popularity as a popular treatment option at hair salons.
This option requires a technician at a hair salon to apply heat to hair using a hair iron in the treatment process, and typically exceeds ¥10,000 in price. While relatively high-priced, it has a real sense of being effective and is thus a popular option.

Challenge of commercializing acid heat treatment as a home hair care product

Given that, taking a cue from the treatment offered at hair salons,we launched the “LÚCIDO-L High Damage Repair Treatment Series”containing acid heat treatment* ingredients in August 2022. Using a Mandom Group company that supplies professional-use products and technologies to hair salons and leveraging our strengths from years of hair research, we developed a formula that can be easily used at home with ease and provides a truly genuine sense of treatment. With LÚCIDO-L High Damage Repair Treatment series, we proposed items that enable consumers to casually experience acid heat treatment as part of their hair care and styling routine by applying the heat from a dryer they normally use to dry their hair or hair iron they use to style their hair to simulate the level of heat required in acid heat treatment.

Levulinic acid

Offered our first acid heat treatment for mass distribution

Even prior to the launch of this series, retailers also had high expectations for this new, unprecedented proposal of making the popular acid heat treatment at hair salons casually available at consumers' homes. Stores carrying the series greatly exceeded our target. Following launch, the series was considerably noted and praised by highly trend-sensitive consumers as well, and was also a hot topic on social media. With growth in awareness of acid heat treatment showing no signs of slowing down, the market is expected to grow further going forward. Meanwhile, people in the Asian region are highly conscious of hair beauty as well. The series is performing strongly in Taiwan, where we rolled it out early on through a Mandom Group company, and we intend to further expand the rollout area within that region. Additionally, in August 2023, we will add shampoo and treatment to the lineup to enhance it, and will work towards proposing this lineup as the first full-fledged in-bath series under the LÚCIDO-L brand.

Looking towards the further growth of LÚCIDO-L

Our Oil Treatment series containing argan oil, which continued to perform favorably with little impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as our High Damage Repair Treatment series containing acid heat treatment ingredients, which we newly launched in 2022, helped LÚCIDO-L reach its highest net sales on record during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.
Going forward, Mandom will continue to propose leading trends with speed and in ways that more and more people find approachable and easy to use, and will work towards expanding its Dedication to Service (Oyakudachi) alongside creating new markets.