Message from the President & CEO

The basic policy of Project-L, Unicharm’s 12th Medium-Term Management Plan, is to create absolute value that helps realize a cohesive society by developing products and services for women, and to increase relative value by maximizing the lifetime value of all people and pets across the world. 

    In fiscal 2024, the opening year of the plan, net sales rose 5% from the previous fiscal year to ￥989.0 billion and core operating income increased 8.2% to ￥138.5 billion, both of which were record highs. 

    In Japan, sales and income increased due to a growing recognition of appropriate pricing that reflects the value offered by our products, greater exposure and improved sales promotions for our products at retailers, and the growth of our wellness care and pet care categories. In addition, in India our disposable baby diapers captured the leading market share (as of December 2024) and feminine care continued to achieve profitability. In China and Southeast Asia, rollouts of unique products that reflect local needs and the strengthening of promotions in rapidly growing e-commerce channels drove a steady improvement in business performance. Meanwhile, we are steadily building bridgeheads in newly entered categories, including wellness care and pet care. In the Middle East, products containing olive oil that reflect local lifestyles continued to grow in popularity, while profitability improved steadily in North America and Brazil.

    In fiscal 2025 and beyond, Africa and countries including India and its neighbors—where market expansion is expected due to increases in the target population and economic growth—will become key regions for the personal care business, such as wellness care, feminine care, baby care, and cleansing wipes. Accordingly, we plan to move forward with strategic rollouts of products pursuing absolute value that reflect local consumer needs. In the Pet Care Business, we also expect ongoing growth in the United States, which is a major market, and we plan to advance business expansion proactively in China and Southeast Asia.

In this section, I would like to introduce several of the Company’s achievements from fiscal 2024. First, looking at sustainability initiatives, since 2016 Unicharm has championed the Recycle for the Future (RefF) Project, which promotes the recycling of used disposable diapers. Under the project, Unicharm established its own unique system for cleaning and separating diapers and recycling them into hygienic pulp that is as good as new, by using ozone treatment to sterilize them. We also succeeded in recycling super absorbent polymers and plastic separated during the recycling process. As part of such social implementation efforts, in June 2022 we launched trials of Lifree Side Leak Prevention Tape-on RefF M Size disposable adult diapers, which use recycled pulp, at nursing care facilities in the Kyushu region of Japan, to help facilitate widespread adoption of this technology. Thereafter, we expanded the lineup and sales regions for RefF products. In April 2024, we launched the general sale of MamyPoko Pants RefF disposable baby diapers and Deo-Toilet Deodorizing / Disinfecting Sheets RefF, an absorbent sheet for cat toilets. In March 2025, we accelerated our rollout of products using recycled materials, including the launch of Deo-Sand: Paper Sand That Deodorizes with Fragrance RefF, a product for cat toilets made using super absorbent polymers recycled from used disposable diapers.

    Meanwhile, since 2019 we have operated Hands-Free Commute, a subscription service that provides baby diapers and baby wipes to childcare facilities, in partnership with BABY JOB Co., Ltd. As of December 31, 2024, more than 5,230 childcare facilities across Japan had adopted the service. In April 2023, Hands-Free Commute, which helps ease the burden on childcare workers and improve work efficiency for working parents, started collecting used disposable diapers from childcare facilities that use the service in Shibushi City in Kagoshima Prefecture.

    In August 2024, we began provision of MamyPoko Pants RefF, disposable baby diapers designed specifically for childcare facilities. The diapers use pulp extracted from the used disposable diapers collected by Hands-Free Commute. The provision of the diapers links the use, collection, and recycling of used disposable diapers, thereby realizing a circular business model unique to Unicharm. In the future, we aim to expand this recycling loop by collecting used disposable diapers from all childcare facilities that have adopted Hands-Free Commute.

    As of December 31, 2024, we were operating plants for recycling used disposable diapers in two municipalities in Kagoshima Prefecture—Shibushi City and Osaki Town. We aim to establish such plants in 10 municipalities in Japan and overseas by 2030. Our future goal is to expand a circular business model unique to Unicharm at a global level.

RefF, Hands-Free Commute, and Sofy Be are just some examples of products and services that realize “Love Your Possibilities.” Management with resonance, Unicharm’s unique management model, is essential to accelerating such activities on a Groupwide basis. Two-way communication between management and frontline employees is at the heart of this model. Frontline understanding of management perspectives, including policies and strategies, and management recognition of frontline wisdom helps foster deeper understanding of Companywide targets, enabling everyone to act on their own initiative. Like a pendulum, two-way communication transfers ideas back and forth between management and employees, building a groundswell of understanding across the organization. Unicharm seeks to harness this groundswell to achieve business growth through the growth of each employee. 

    There is a reason for this emphasis on instilling and operating a unified management model across the Group: Unicharm operates businesses in approximately 80 countries and regions, and its approximately 16,000 employees have a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and values, and management with resonance, is effective in aligning this diverse range of employees with each other. 

    In fiscal 2022, we launched the Global OODA Caravan to promote management with resonance. Under this initiative, I visit business sites around the world to engage in frank discussions with frontline employees. I have participated in the Global OODA Caravan on 18 occasions, communicating directly with more than 700 employees.

In a business environment where consumer needs are becoming increasingly diverse and the pace of change is accelerating, it is becoming more difficult each year to provide highly unique products and services promptly and quickly. Unicharm must further accelerate the pace of its business development and employee growth if it is to achieve its goal of a unique company in the world in terms of absolute value and the best company in the world by 2030 in terms of relative value. In fiscal 2025, the Company therefore shared three keywords with employees: Unique, Universal, and United.

    “Unique” is a particularly important keyword. I believe that we must aim to achieve a uniqueness in all our business activities that ensures we are not compared, and defy comparison, with other companies. “Universal” also means for Unicharm to resonate globally and we will raise the bar so that we are loved globally. As part of these efforts, in January 2025 we launched sanitary pads suited to local needs in several countries in East Africa, including Kenya.

    Lastly, “United” literally signifies working as one toward a shared goal. I am certain that Unicharm can become the best company in the world through the efforts of all of its employees, who fully demonstrate their capabilities by believing in their own potential and implementing management with resonance.

Takahisa Takahara

President & CEO

Unicharm Corporation

June 2025