Published : 27/03/2023
Giant pandas never fail to capture people's affection, and in China's Chengdu, a female panda named Huahua (花花) has become one of the most wildly popular celebrity pandas.
Merchandise related to her sells exceptionally well, with an incredibly lifelike plush toy replica being exported to over 50 countries worldwide.
However, producing such a highly realistic panda plush turns out to be far more complicated than one might imagine.
Liu Tao starts a business with hometown "specialty" panda
The founder of the giant panda plush toy manufacturer is Liu Tao (劉滔), who comes from Chengdu and is a fellow townsman of giant panda Hehua (和花), nicknamed Huahua.
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Like most young people in the Mainland China, Liu Tao went to big cities for his career after graduation, engaging in e-commerce in Beijing and Tianjin.
With the rapid development of his hometown in recent years, Liu returned to Chengdu in 2020 and started his own business from scratch.
Where did he start? Liu Tao first thought of giant panda—the icon of Chengdu and even the whole country.
Actually, over his decade working away from home, giant pandas have consistently played a significant role in Liu Tao's life: his own daughter is an avid panda enthusiast, with their home filled with panda-themed items;
while working in cross-border e-commerce and interacting with international clients, panda merchandise became Liu Tao's most frequent gift of choice.
In recent years, the delightfully stubby-legged and irresistibly cute panda Huahua has become a super star in the giant panda world.
Her image now adorns everything from phone cases, calendars, and cuddle pillows, spawning endless waves of merchandise. Spotting this trend, Liu Tao resolved to put the phenomenon to the test.
After thoroughly researching the products on the market, Liu discovered a business opportunity: although many merchants make panda plush toys, the quality is quiet poor, "like something bought casually while traveling."
Thus, creating high-end plush toys became his goal.
Read more: Giant Panda star Huahua has a "prestigious" family background?
Chasing realism: A panda plush pioneer's quest
Producing toys sounds simple, but to do anything well requires the artisan spirit.
To research the materials and craftsmanship for his perfect panda toys, Liu Tao visited factories in Qingdao, Dongguan, and Anshan. He tried various types of animal furs and synthetic furs, and even specially invited keepers of giant panda for advice.
However, after countless attempts, the realism and texture still fell short of expectations.
After traveling around for a year and spending hundreds of thousands, Liu returned to Chengdu, feeling disheartened.
It was then that he serendipitously met Master Yang, a craftsman with 20 years of experience in making hyper-realistic animal plushies. The workshop he worked at utilised premium imported sheepskin with remarkably lifelike texture.
Liu Tao immediately apprenticed under him. After three months of intensive study, he finally perfected the authentic fur replication technique.
With the fur all sorted out, Liu proceeded to study other details, such as how to sew, the length of the fur, the distance between the eyes, etc...
After going through the four processes of skin selection, tailoring, handcrafting, and styling—comprising over 50 steps—the first lifelike plush toy was finally born on July 4, 2021, which was Huahua's first birthday.
He brought the plush toy to the local giant panda base to attend Huahua's birthday party. Panda fans lined up to take photos with the toy, and some marvelled, "It's like Huahua ran out (from the enclosure)."
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Building a Chinese brand of plush toy
After finishing the first plush toy, Liu Tao casually filmed a short video and posted it online.
Unexpectedly, it garnered over 100 million views on Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok. Immediately, Liu Tao's phone was bombarded with calls, and thousands of people found him through his Taobao store to order the same toy.
The plush toy became an instant hit, bringing both surprise and panic. Liu was totally unprepared, with just a four-person workshop not nearly capable of meeting the demand. In the first month, they only produced 40 plush toys.
So Liu Tao decided to halt sales urgently and only accept the first 200 orders.
The four-person team cloistered themselves in the factory to produce the toys, handling everything, even sleeping, eating, and grooming, in the factory. It took three months to finally complete the task.
Despite the long queues of customers, the team was unwilling to compromise on quality for the sake of increased sales volume.
It wasn't until the end of 2021 that Liu Tao dared to take new orders again, and even then, the waiting time for a custom plush toy was at least two months.
For the start-up team, its production efficiency was not high, but Liu Tao did not want to sacrifice quality for quantity. He poured his heart into each toy for every customer.
This young man remembers a peacekeeping soldier who came to place an order before departing on a mission to Africa. To meet the deadline before the soldier's departure, Liu Tao expedited the order and even removed the internal sound simulation feature to meet shipping standards.
On another occasion, a Japanese girl contacted his Taobao store with a lengthy message in Japanese. Only after translation did Liu Tao understand - she was expressing her profound love for giant pandas and desperately wanted to purchase a Huahua plush.
This customer wasn't very familiar with using Taobao, so Liu Tao chatted with her for a long time using a translator, teaching her step-by-step how to place an order, check the logistics, etc.
After much back-and-forth, the plush toy was finally delivered to the Japanese customer.
To date, more than 6,000 giant panda lifelike plush toys have been sold in over 50 countries and regions. The team has grown from the initial four to over 50 employees.
The giant panda is a national treasure of China and a symbol of the country. Liu Tao is determined to create a product that matches its high status.
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