From November 17 to 26, 2024, InnuScience CEO Mathieu Lavigne and Marketing Director Dominic Coupal travelled to Tokyo and Osaka to meet our Japanese partners, Miccheal Chemical and Niitaka, and to launch PodOra in Japan at the Building Maintenance & Clean Expo at Tokyo Big Sight.
Key facts
- Dates: November 17 to 26, 2024
- Cities: Tokyo and Osaka, with a visit to the Niitaka Biwako plant
- Trade show: Building Maintenance & Clean Expo 2024, Tokyo Big Sight, November 20 to 22, 2024
- Partners: Miccheal Chemical Co., Ltd., InnuScience distributor in Japan; Niitaka, InnuScience private-label partner since 2013
- Product launched: PodOra Restroom-All Purpose
- Also on the booth: Nu-Kleen Smell, Nu-Smell Plus, Nu-Karpet Kare, Re-Nu!
- InnuScience team: Mathieu Lavigne, CEO, and Dominic Coupal, Marketing Director
- Accompanied by: Masato Nakanishi and Johsuan Lee, Miccheal Chemical
PodOra makes its debut in Japan
PodOra was introduced to Japanese cleaning professionals on the Miccheal Chemical booth at the Building Maintenance & Clean Expo 2024. The show brings together suppliers and buyers from the building maintenance and professional cleaning industry, and is open to trade visitors only.
[PHOTO: InnuScience products on the booth]
Miccheal presented PodOra Restroom-All Purpose, a biotechnology cleaner in pod format. The user fills a reusable spray bottle with water, drops in a pod, and shakes. The result is a ready-to-use cleaner, with no need to ship or store bottles of water.
Visitors responded strongly to the format and to the idea of cleaning with biotechnology. Many stopped to ask how the pods work and how the microorganisms in the formula keep acting on organic residues after cleaning.
PodOra shared the booth with two InnuScience products already familiar to Miccheal customers: Nu-Kleen Smell, an all-purpose cleaner for restrooms, and Nu-Smell Plus, an odour eliminator for urine and feces odours. Miccheal has presented InnuScience products at previous editions of the show.
Inside Niitaka: the Biwako plant and Osaka head office
Niitaka is an Osaka-based manufacturer of professional detergents and sanitation products, founded in 1963. InnuScience and Niitaka have worked together on private-label products since 2013.
[PHOTO: Team at the Niitaka Biwako plant]
In Osaka, the team visited the Niitaka head office and the Biwako plant, one of the company's production sites. The visit gave both teams time to look at production, quality and product development together.
"The enthusiasm of the Niitaka and Miccheal teams say a lot about the strength of our partnership. We are proud to launch PodOra in Japan with partners who share our vision for biotechnology in professional cleaning." — Mathieu Lavigne, CEO, The InnuScience Group
Business development in Tokyo and Osaka
Over several meetings in Tokyo and Osaka, InnuScience, Miccheal and Niitaka worked on the next steps of the partnership. Topics included business development, new products, the needs of the Japanese market, and plans for 2025.
Building relationships beyond the meeting room
Strong partnerships are built in person. Dinners and sightseeing with our hosts gave the teams time to know each other better and to talk about the future outside a formal setting. We thank Masato Nakanishi and Johsuan Lee of Miccheal Chemical for their time and hospitality throughout the trip.
[PHOTO: InnuScience and Miccheal teams at Building Maintenance & Clean Expo 2024]
Why this trip matters
Japan is a long-term market for InnuScience. Working directly with Miccheal and Niitaka helps us understand what Japanese facility managers and cleaning contractors expect, and adapt our products and support to those needs. Launching PodOra in Japan gives these professionals a new way to use biotechnology in daily cleaning.
Want to bring PodOra and InnuScience biotechnology to your market? Tell our team about your business and the products you are looking for.
Follow InnuScience on LinkedIn for news from our partners around the world.