Employees work at an oral liquid production workshop of Dong'e Ejiao Co Ltd in Dong'e county, Shandong province. [Photo by Zhong Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Dong'e Ejiao Co Ltd, China's largest donkey-hide gelatin producer by sales revenue, is stepping up product innovation and brand renewal to attract younger consumers, as the Dong'e county, Shandong province-based company, seeks to make the traditional tonic part of everyday consumption.

Traditionally associated with middle-aged and elderly consumers, ejiao is gaining popularity among younger Chinese as demand grows for more convenient forms of traditional nourishment.

Zhang Qingwei, president of Dong'e Ejiao's culture and tourism business unit, said young consumers now account for about 30 percent of shoppers in retail pharmacy channels and around 80 percent of those on business-to-consumer e-commerce platforms.

Zhang said consumption has expanded beyond traditional holiday gifting to office settings, casual snacking and pairings with tea and other beverages, driven by growing demand among consumers born in the 1990s and 2000s for health and wellness products that fit more easily into their daily lives.

To capture that demand, Dong'e Ejiao has developed smaller, ready-to-consume products and expanded into health-focused snacks and beverages.

Its instant ejiao powder comes in individual sachets that can be mixed with milk tea, coffee or yogurt. Consumers under 30 account for 70 percent of the product's buyers, he added.

Dong'e Ejiao has also repositioned its ejiao cake as a casual nourishment snack and developed other products combining traditional Chinese medicine ingredients with modern consumption formats.

Beyond product development, Zhang said the company has sought to make its century-old brand more relevant to younger consumers through collaborations with beverage brands, popular television dramas and other cultural properties, as well as marketing on social media platforms.

He said the company is seeking to broaden its appeal among younger consumers by making traditional nourishment more convenient and better suited to modern lifestyles, without compromising the traditional processes and quality standards behind its core products.

Dong'e Ejiao posted revenue of 3.16 billion yuan ($471 million) in the first half of 2026, up 3.39 percent year-on-year, according to the company's financial report.