Back in 1968, Beiersdorf
concluded an agreement under the leadership of Dr. Hellmut Kruse, who later
became CEO, with the company Kao Soap Co., Ltd. managed by Dr. Yoshio Maruta to
market NIVEA Creme and NIVEA milk in Japan. Founded just five years after
Beiersdorf in 1887, Kao was of a similar size.
In the late 1960s, the
Japanese company was very keen to introduce NIVEA Creme, which was already
highly successful in Europe, to Japan. Market research in this area had already
been conducted. The initial sales cooperation between Beiersdorf and Kao was
turned into a joint venture in 1971, with both companies having an equal stake
in Nivea-Kao Co., Ltd., which marketed atrix and 8X4 products in addition to
NIVEA Creme and NIVEA milk. Within the joint venture, Kao took on the
production side of things. With fully automated bottling systems in the late
1970s, Nivea-Kao was even the most efficient plant in the Beiersdorf family.