How can a soap-and-cosmetics maker succeed in selling a cooking oil at twice the price of its competitors in this time of economic belt-tightening?
The answer is easy. It's for people who actually want to tighten their belts -- by losing weight.
Tokyo-based Kao Corp., known for its detergents, body-care products, cosmetics and toiletries, is now cleaning up in the cooking oil market with its Econa Health Cooking Oil, whose active ingredient, diacylglycerol, works to reduce fat deposits, according to Mitsuko Zama, a spokeswoman for Kao Corp.