D&L rolls out new personal care items

MANILA, Philippines — The Lao Group is expanding its personal care business to hitch a ride on consumers’ growing preference for healthy and all-natural personal care products.

In a recent briefing with reporters, D&L Industries president and CEO Alvin Lao said sister company Consumer Care Products Inc. (CCPI) is tapping the upscale market with its own offering of healthier bath products.

CCPI’s latest offering is another coconut-based product, a new liquid body soap, which follows the successful introduction of its germicidal Dr. Coco Natural Hand Soap.

Lao said these products are greener - with no toxic components - making them healthier alternatives to petrochemical-based products available in the market at present.

“These are coconut-based products and since it uses coconut oil, there is no toxic ingredient inside and it is biodegradable. So it’s better for our health and better for the environment,” Lao said.

Dr. Coco Natural Body Soap has a similar formulation.

“These are the types of products that we’re going into more in our group. Our group is really known for B2B (business to business) where our products are bought and used by other companies. But we are now making more consumer products,” Lao said.

He said CCPI sees a big market for Dr. Coco products since Filipinos are very hygienic.

Personal care products such as soaps and other bath products became increasingly popular during the pandemic.

Lao noted that Filipinos also take baths or showers two to three times a day.

For the new products, the Lao Group is initially targeting the local market but may eventually consider exporting these products.

The company can also customize such products for other clients.

Lao said the group may eventually expand into other personal care products but nothing has been firmed up for now, aside from the liquid soap products it has so far introduced.

CCPI also markets other products manufactured by D&L. These include nutritional products, pet food and supplies, insecticides, air fresheners, household cleansers, disinfectants, and automotive care products.

“The purpose of D&L is really to highlight that we are capable of coming out with a complete package. If you need a product for your brand, we can customize it for you, from the formulation to the packaging,” said Lao.

While CCPI owns the brand and markets it, Dr. Coco was formulated, manufactured, and packaged by D&L.