Procter & Gamble is accelerating growth in China’s premium baby care segment through the launch of silk-infused diapers, leveraging consumer insight–driven innovation tailored to local expectations of softness, comfort and premium quality.
Speaking during the company’s fiscal Q2 2026 earnings call, P&G management highlighted Greater China baby care as one of its strongest-performing categories, delivering double-digit organic sales growth over the past 18 months and gaining nearly three percentage points of market share. This performance comes despite a challenging consumer environment and declining birth rates in the region.
According to P&G CEO Shailesh Jejurikar, the turnaround in China baby care was driven by a strategic repositioning of the company’s premium and super-premium diaper offerings.
“Chinese parents want only the best for their baby. Softness and comfort in addition to dryness. The China team created a product that delivers on this insight, from first seeing and touching the packaging to feeling the diaper on their baby. They leverage the Chinese history with silk,” Shailesh Jejurikar said.
To meet parents' expectations, P&G drew on China’s long cultural association with silk as a symbol of luxury, refinement and quality. The result is a diaper incorporating real silk ingredients, positioned as a unique proposition within the premium segment.
The silk-inspired concept extends beyond the product itself. Packaging features a shiny, soft tactile finish designed to reinforce premium cues at shelf, while brand communication emphasizes sensory comfort and skin protection. P&G stated that this integrated approach—combining product design, packaging and storytelling—has been critical in driving adoption.
“Pampers Prestige is the only leading diaper brand that has real silk ingredients in the product, delivering the ultimate experience of skin comfort and protection,” Jejurikar added. “The shiny, soft-feel package conveys superiority at first touch. Reframing our superior premium line has driven Greater China baby care to double-digit organic sales growth over the past 18 months and increased share nearly three points.”
P&G executives positioned the success of silk-infused diapers as a clear example of how deep local consumer insight, combined with advanced materials and premium packaging, can unlock growth even in structurally challenged markets. While similar consumer-led innovation frameworks are being applied across regions, the company emphasized that China baby care remains one of the clearest demonstrations of its premiumization strategy delivering tangible results.
Globally, P&G reported that baby and family care sales declined slightly in the quarter due to prior-year inventory and trade-related impacts. Excluding family care, baby care performance was broadly stable, supported by ongoing innovation in top-tier diaper products such as Swaddlers, Cruiser 360 and Baby Dry.
The feminine care segment also showed signs of recovery, benefiting from renewed innovation and sharper retail execution. P&G noted that global share growth has returned in recent readings, supported by interventions across both premium and mid-tier offerings.
In North America, baby and feminine care were among the categories most affected by base-period dynamics, including earlier trade inventory build-ups. P&G said these effects are now easing, with early signs of improvement in baby care share trends.
In Europe, organic sales grew modestly, with baby and feminine care performance supported by strength in markets such as France, Spain and Italy, partially offset by softer demand in Germany.
Latin America delivered strong growth, with organic sales up 8% for the quarter. While fabric care was a key driver, P&G noted broad-based momentum across categories, including baby and feminine care, supported by improved execution and innovation.
In the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa enterprise markets, organic sales grew 2%, reflecting continued demand resilience across personal and family care categories.
