The impact of negative publicity from the "3·15" consumer rights incident continues to affect Chongqing Baiya Sanitary Products Co., Ltd. (Baiya). The company's Q3 2025 financial report shows revenue reached 859 million yuan, an 8.33% year-on-year increase, while net profit declined 3.89% to 56.53 million yuan.
Baiya's management attributed the profit drop to lingering public relations issues and e-commerce platform strategy adjustments, which caused both revenue and operating profit from online channels to decrease during the first three quarters.
While not specifying details, industry observers believe the referenced publicity concerns Baiya's "Freedom" brand sanitary napkins, which faced allegations during this year's "3·15" event regarding the resale of refurbished defective products.
Baiya immediately issued a statement denying involvement: "The company had no knowledge of the reported violations, never participated in such activities, and maintains no business or cooperative relationships with the implicated parties. Our internal procurement controls operate effectively with strict quality standards."
However, the scandal continued affecting Freedom's sales and ultimately impacted Baiya's overall performance. This trend became evident in the 2025 half-year report, where net profit growth slowed to 4.64%, significantly below the 36.41% growth seen in 2024. August investor records revealed Q2 e-commerce revenue declined year-on-year due to "special circumstances."
Founded in 2010 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in September 2020, Baiya specializes in disposable hygiene products including sanitary napkins, baby diapers, and adult incontinence items under brands Freedom (sanitary napkins), Haozhi (baby diapers), and Danning (adult care). Freedom remains Baiya's primary revenue driver, contributing 1.69 billion yuan (95.7% of total revenue) in H1 2025 with 20.5% growth.
Originally focused on southwestern China (67.82% of 2024 sales came from Sichuan-Chongqing, Yunnan-Guizhou-Shaanxi, and Hunan-Hubei regions), Baiya has recently expanded nationwide with increased marketing investments. The strategy yielded strong results previously—2024 revenue and net profit grew 51.77% and 20.74% respectively, following 33% and 27.21% growth in 2023.
Addressing current challenges, Baiya stated in its Q3 report: "We've implemented countermeasures by reallocating key resources and adjusting strategies to gradually improve e-commerce performance." Marketing efforts intensified, including appointing actress Jin Jing as Freedom's brand ambassador in October. Year-to-date sales expenses reached 1.01 billion yuan, up 15.7% year-on-year, with Q3 expenses rising 10.7% to 364 million yuan.
Crisis PR expert Zhan Junhao noted that product quality scandals typically create long-term brand damage, requiring extended recovery periods as consumers retain negative memories.
Baiya previously indicated in August that optimization measures were underway, expecting normal growth to resume in Q4.
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