After experiencing a half-year loss and the resignation of its general manager, Two-Faced Needle, the top hotel toothpaste brand, has suddenly undergone a major board reshuffle.
Jiupai Finance noticed that two executives and five directors of Liangmianzhen, whose terms were originally set to expire in February 2029, have suddenly submitted their resignations. Approximately 10 days ago, the company's director, Gong Huiquan, chose to resign as general manager.
Recently, Two Faces Needle released its half-year report, which showed a decline in revenue. The brand sold nearly 712 million units of travel toothpaste in the first half of the year, but its business targeting the hotel channel still incurred a loss of over 3 million yuan.
As the leading hotel toothpaste brand, Liangmianzhen reflects the plight of China's hotel industry from another dimension. Its own sudden and drastic change, as well as the profound adjustments behind it, will likely reshape the landscape of the hotel toothpaste market.
Why Have All Directors of Liangmianzhen Resigned?
According to the announcement released by Ucommune, the directors and executives who resigned are Zhou Yunxiang, Gong Huiquan, Xiong Jianfeng, Sun Xuedong, Liu Gui, and Yang Ling, who served as the company's chairman, vice chairman, vice president, strategic committee member, director, and vice president, respectively.
The reason for their departure was "work adjustments". According to the original plan, their terms were all set to end in February 2029.
Jiuguan Finance noticed that on August 26, Director Gong Huiquan also resigned as General Manager and will no longer act as the person in charge of finance.
Douban reacted extremely quickly.
On September 2, the company held a board meeting and nominated Mr. Nong Haixin, Mr. Liu Caifu, Mr. Wang Chengwang, Mr. Cai Peng, and Ms. Lin Lili as non-independent director candidates, which was approved by vote.
Understanding the recent changes at Liangmianzhen reveals that the collective resignation of the board members is not a matter of "taking responsibility" or "being forced out", but rather a major personnel reshuffle following a change in the company's controlling shareholder.
At the beginning of August, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission took control of Liangmianzhen from the Liuzhou State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. As Liangmianzhen is upgraded from a municipal state-owned enterprise to a provincial state-owned enterprise, its management team will inevitably undergo changes.
Jiuguan Finance noticed that the six newly nominated non-independent directors of Liangmianzhen mostly have work experience with state-owned enterprises in Guangxi.
For example:
Nong Haixin previously served as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Director, and General Manager of Guangxi Sugar Industry Group Co., Ltd., and is currently the Party Secretary of Liangmianzhen.
Wang Chengwang currently serves as the General Manager of the Operations Management Department (Office of Safety, Firefighting, Environmental Protection and Emergency Management) of Guangxi State-owned Capital Operation Group Co., Ltd.
With actual control through equity and full entry into the board of directors, Erjin has officially entered the state-owned assets era in Guangxi.
Tough times for China's top hotel toothpaste brand
Double Needle is the undisputed number one brand of hotel toothpaste.
The market has long claimed that Liushen Chinese herbal toothpaste has a market share of over 50%. However, this title and market share have not translated into significant profits for the company.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
In 1979, Liangmianzhen developed China's first traditional Chinese medicine toothpaste.
As early as 2000, Two-Faced Needle had already laid out its travel toothpaste business, with sales of travel toothpaste rising from 980 million units in 2015 to nearly 1.6 billion units in 2024.
Although it later lost market share in the household toothpaste sector, Darlie remains a leader in the hotel channel.
In the first half of this year, Liangmianzhen's revenue was 474 million yuan, down 9.22% year-over-year; net profit attributable to the parent company turned from a loss of 5.08 million yuan in the same period last year to a loss of 4.68 million yuan, with the loss narrowing; non-net profit attributable to the parent company was a loss of 6.6 million yuan, turning from profit to loss year-over-year, indicating that the company's core main business profitability has declined.
In 2025, the company's net profit excluding non-recurring items was less than 4.3 million yuan.
Liangmianzhen has businesses in daily chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Its hotel toothpaste business is mainly concentrated in Jiangsu Industrial Company. The latter achieved revenue of 340 million yuan in the first half of the year, with an operating profit of -3.35 million yuan and a net profit of -3.19 million yuan.
It is clear that the performance of the hotel toothpaste business directly determines the performance of Two-Faced Needle. The company, in summarizing the reasons for its decline in revenue, mentioned "the contraction of hotel supplies-related business, the decline in market demand, and the intensification of industry competition."
Overall, it's becoming increasingly tough for Tujia to do business in the hotel market.
Liangmianzhen's 2026 Q2 Operating Data
In the first half of this year, Liangmianzhen sold 712 million tubes of travel toothpaste, with operating revenue of 61.0462 million yuan.
This translates to: Calculated, the price of each travel toothpaste sold by Two Face Pin is approximately 86 cents.
What's even more noteworthy is that such pricing has been maintained on Thumbtack for nearly ten years.
In contrast, according to data released by the China Oral Care Products Industry Association cited by Xinhua Net, in August 2024, the top five toothpaste/tooth powder brands by monthly sales were Yunnan Baiyao, Cenhalf, Colgate, High Ridge, and Scheka, with average transaction prices ranging from 25 yuan to 50 yuan.
Among them, the second-best-selling Paner, with a transaction price ranging from 50 to 75 yuan.
According to a survey by the association, under the standard specification of 100g per tube, economy toothpaste with a price per tube of less than 7 yuan accounts for a market share of 16%; mid-range toothpaste with a price per tube of 7.1 to 15 yuan accounts for a market share of 48%; high-end toothpaste with a price per tube of more than 15 yuan accounts for a market share of 36%.
It is clear that, regardless of how it is calculated, the profitability of Two Face Needle's hotel toothpaste is far inferior to that of the aforementioned brands.
At the time, Lan Jin, then general manager of 2M (Jiangsu) Industrial Co., Ltd., said in an interview that with the rapid development of the hotel industry, customers are becoming larger and more concentrated, and 2M renegotiates its cooperation with hotels every year, with hotels proposing higher requirements, resulting in lower and lower profits for the Yangzhou factory. "It's almost like being reduced to a porter, with sales growing larger and larger, but with almost no profit."
In its semi-annual report this year, Liangmianzhen noted that China's hotel supplies industry remains under sustained pressure. Chain hotel groups have continued to accelerate expansion, with the national hotel room chain rate reaching 41%. Competition over hotel consumables pricing is intense, while consumption volumes have declined.
On the other hand, national policies continue to guide the industry's green transformation, promoting biodegradable products and offering large or refillable bath and body care products. Against the backdrop of policy guidance and increasing environmental awareness in the market, the industry is being reshuffled.
Can a Revamped Liangmianzhen Stage a Comeback?
It can be confirmed that, with the upgrade from a local state-owned enterprise to a provincially-controlled state-owned enterprise, Liangmianzhen will inevitably receive more resource support.
However, for its hotel toothpaste business specifically, Liangmianzhen's current difficulties stem from the market side.
On the one hand, the domestic hotel industry has entered a period of stock, and the market is not booming.
The number of new hotels opening in the market is decreasing, making it increasingly difficult for Two Face Pin to find incremental markets and incremental customers.
Moreover, the overall operation of the hotel industry is relatively weak, with a focus on reducing costs and increasing efficiency. As everyone continues to compress daily consumable expenses, this will affect the gross margin of the hotel toothpaste business of Two Face Needle.
On the other hand, an increasing number of toothpaste brands are developing hotel channels.
Yunnan Baiyao toothpaste began laying out its hotel channel in 2023, providing high-quality oral care products to mid-to-high-end hotels, and has currently partnered with Jinjiang Hotels in the China region.
Tianqi has also made inroads into the hotel supplies sector, launching products such as children's hotel toothpaste and six-piece hotel toiletry kits.
Saky, the toothpaste brand, is also expanding into the hotel market, with mouthwash and other products already in place.
However, from the perspective of Guangxi state-owned assets, the future of Lingzhen is filled with many uncertainties.
For example, will Lingyinpins' main business undergo any adjustments?
Everyone is likely familiar with Tianqi toothpaste, which also has a presence in the hotel industry. Tianqi toothpaste is a subsidiary of Guangxi Wuzhou Zhongheng Group Co., Ltd., whose actual controller is the Guangxi State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
In other words, after the change in its controlling shareholder, Ermenegildo Zegna's controlling shareholder and the parent company of Tom's of Maine toothpaste, Tom's of Maine is not mentioned but rather "田七牙膏" refers to a Chinese toothpaste brand, have the same actual controller.
Most crucially, Zhongheng Group also has daily chemicals and pharmaceutical businesses.
Jiuguan Finance speculates that Guangxi State-owned Assets may undergo integration in the future, potentially merging the daily chemicals business of Zhongheng Group with Liangmianzhen.
Even if Guangxi State-owned Assets considers the growth ceiling of the hotel toothpaste business to be limited, it is possible to guide Double Lion to abandon or weaken its tourism toothpaste business and increase its investment in its pharmaceutical or household toothpaste business.
So far, we have yet to see what adjustments the new shareholders will make to Two Face Pin. However, it is certain that this old hotel toothpaste brand will likely undergo significant changes.