Agriculture & Food

Dairy industry is not only an important component of the real economy, but also an important basic industry for safeguarding national health. It is a livelihood industry related to billions of people. Import and export data shows that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's dairy industry has achieved remarkable results. Currently, three dairy companies have ranked among the top 25 global dairy companies, with Yili ranked third, Mengniu ranked sixth, and Guangming Dairy ranked 22nd. 2022 is a year of high-quality development for China's dairy industry, with good performance in raw milk production, dairy product processing, product quality, market sales, and economic benefits compared to the same period in history. "Song Kungang, Honorary Chairman of the China National Committee of the International Dairy Federation, recently stated that the Chinese people's understanding of the nutritional value of dairy products has further improved, and the consumer market has further expanded.

Dairy products advancing towards high added value

Nowadays, China's dairy industry is full of "technological models", and technological innovation is becoming an important support for China's dairy industry to advance towards high quality and high added value. At the 29th annual meeting of China Dairy Industry Association and the 2023 China (International) Dairy Technology Expo held recently in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, a variety of new products focusing on nutrition and health are alive and well, and a variety of innovative dairy technologies are dazzling.

As a representative of domestic milk powder brands, China Feihe continues to explore and expand in the field of health and nutrition, and its products have covered the entire population and cycle from infants and young children. At the first dairy technology innovation achievement exhibition area established at this exhibition, staff introduced to reporters that Feihe is optimistic about the adult milk powder race, and this exhibition brought the adult high-end milk powder brand "Aiben". It is added with Conjugated linoleic acid glyceride and yeast β- Glucan and other healthy substances.

The new product brought by Yantang Dairy - "Xiaoqi" bubble yogurt drink, which uses Kefir strain fermentation, naturally produces gas, and has a refreshing and stimulating taste. Import and export data shows that it has been widely praised by consumers since its launch in April this year. The new product "Screen Eye Treasure" fermented fruit and vegetable lactobacillus drink exhibited by Sunshine Dairy is a functional dairy product that helps with vision health, rich in β- Carotene, Lutein and other nutrients, using probiotic fermentation fruit and vegetable series of new production processes, related technology projects won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. In addition, Yipin's infant formula sheep milk powder, Yili's "Suckable Cheese", Mengniu's coffee milk, and Yilite's camel milk powder, milk tablets and other new products have also received praise from all parties.

In recent years, formula foods for special medical purposes have gradually become known to the Chinese people. At present, the growth rate of China's special medical food market is astonishing, with a compound growth rate of 34% in the past four years, much higher than the global level. The industry has entered a period of rapid growth. Pharmaceutical and dairy companies have entered the special medical food industry, and the number of registered domestic products has now exceeded imported products. Import and export data shows that as of May 8th, a total of 104 special medical food products have been approved, of which 74 are domestic products Luo Yunbo, director of the Food and Health Research Center of Beijing Technology and Business University, stressed that with the gradual deepening of China's aging degree and the growing demand for high-end milk powder, the market space and growth potential of special medical food are huge, and special medical food has entered the era of high-quality innovation and development from the era of low technology content.

Digital Intelligence's Independent Innovation Runs Out of "Acceleration"

Domestic dairy enterprises and related enterprises in the fields of packaging and equipment manufacturing are rapidly running towards high-quality development based on technology. "Dairy industry is an important livelihood industry. To achieve Chinese path to modernization, innovation is the first driving force leading development. Breaking through key core technologies, accelerating the pace of self-reliance in science and technology, and strengthening the synergy of innovation in the whole chain are the key to promoting the high-quality development of Chinese path to modernization dairy industry." Liu Chunxi, executive president of Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd., said Yili has continuously strengthened its investment in innovation and set up 15 innovation centers around the world, By integrating global resources such as talent and intelligence, we aim to build a "global wisdom chain". According to import and export data, as of the end of 2022, Yili ranks second in the world's top ten dairy industry in terms of total patent and invention applications worldwide. In addition, as an important part of innovation and development, Yili is driving the digitization and intelligent upgrading of the industrial chain, further improving the "smart dairy industry four all operation system" that covers the entire chain, penetrates all scenarios, interacts in all directions, and shares all categories.

The transformation of digital intelligence technology is the pinnacle of a new round of global industrial competition, and without digital intelligence, the dairy industry has no future, "said Li Pengcheng, CEO of Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy (Group) Co., Ltd. It is understood that the world's first fully intelligent dairy factory was officially put into operation recently, and the Mengniu Yinchuan factory has become a new benchmark for the digital and intelligent transformation of the world's dairy industry. This world's largest liquid milk factory can achieve the "Three Centenaries", with 100 employees, 1 million tons of annual production, and 10 billion yuan of annual output value. The per capita efficiency is 20 times higher than traditional factories. The whole factory has widely applied advanced technologies such as digital platform and Big data analysis. Through 1270 technological business management innovations, it has realized the digital intelligent coverage of the whole industry chain, the whole equipment chain and the whole system chain, ensuring that each carton of milk can be "traced with one key" in 2 minutes.

From the earth to space, Bright Dairy has cooperated with the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program for ten years. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum ST-III, Momchilovtsi native probiotics and other strains have completed the "space journey" and appear in daily dairy products. Huang Liming, Chairman of Bright Dairy Co., Ltd., believes that there is still a large development space for domestic dairy products in the future. How to grasp the Market trend and consumer demand is the key to maintain high-quality development.

The Chinese packaging machinery industry, as an important force supporting the transformation and upgrading of the dairy industry, has achieved several breakthroughs and can replace or even surpass advanced foreign machinery and equipment in some fields, safeguarding the high-quality development of China's dairy industry.

Shi Zheng, General Manager of Hangzhou Zhongya Machinery Co., Ltd., introduced that Zhongya Machinery, as a national high-tech enterprise and a leading packaging enterprise in China, has over 40 types of products in 11 categories, including various packaging forms such as plastic bottles, cups, boxes, and bags. It can provide full line solutions from blowing equipment, filling equipment to post packaging equipment, as well as production line design planning, engineering installation, and equipment lifecycle maintenance. Central Asia Machinery has always focused on the research and development of aseptic filling technology. So far, it has formed a total of six categories of aseptic filling equipment, including linear aseptic bottling, rotary aseptic bottling, prefabricated cup aseptic, combined cup aseptic, and self standing bag aseptic box soft bag aseptic, with a maximum production capacity of 60000 units per hour. These series of equipment adopt internationally advanced dry sterilization technology and have multiple invention patents, breaking the monopoly of international brands on this type of equipment in the domestic market, marking a new stage in the development of sterile filling technology in China.

Zhao Shuyong, General Manager of Jinan Quanhua Packaging Products Co., Ltd., said with deep emotion that Quanhua Packaging has served the healthy development of Chinese fresh milk for over 20 years and is a witness, participant, beneficiary, and contributor to the industry. Green development has become the main theme of the new era. In the future, Quanhua Packaging will continue to increase investment in the research and development of green and low-carbon packaging materials.

Wu Qiulin, president of China Dairy Industry Association and chairman of China National Committee of the International Dairy Federation, pointed out that dairy enterprises should vigorously promote entrepreneurship, labor model spirit and craftsmanship spirit, support advantageous backbone enterprises to lead the high-quality development of dairy industry with high-level technology, progressiveness standards, low-carbon goals, Digital transformation, high-quality services and high-quality talent team construction, Promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises with specialization, refinement, and innovation, providing strong guarantees for achieving a strong dairy industry.

Synchronize strict supervision with high-quality development

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the full process control of China's dairy industry has been further strengthened, the quality and safety level of fresh milk has been continuously improved, and consumer confidence in domestic dairy products brands has basically recovered. Song Kungang introduced that in 2022, the qualified rate of dairy product supervision and sampling reached 99.88%, and the qualified rate of infant formula milk powder reached 99.98%, ranking first among the 34 types of food tested. According to import and export data, dairy products have become a landmark product in China's high-quality food industry and are trusted by consumers.

Zhou Shiping, Director of the Special Food Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, suggested that the dairy industry accelerate the transformation and industrial application of scientific and technological achievements, and deepen the integration of industry, academia, and research in the high-quality development of infant formula milk powder and special medical food. In terms of ensuring the safety and nutritional adequacy of infant milk powder and special medical food, as well as the supply guarantee of special medical food for Rare disease, we will strengthen innovation drive and scientific and technological support to stabilize and improve high-quality development and provide strong support for supervision.

Shi Gensheng, a second level inspector of the Food Safety Standards and Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the National Health Commission, said that in recent years, the health department has been committed to deepening the construction of the food safety standard system, building an accurate, efficient, and scientifically authoritative monitoring and evaluation system, and advocating for scientific nutrition. China has established a relatively complete national food safety standard system. Currently, 1478 standards have been issued, covering over 340 types of all food categories, covering the main hazards affecting the health of Chinese residents, covering the entire chain from farmland to dining tables, and managing the entire process from production to consumption. Specifically, the safety standards for dairy products cover four types of standards, including pollutant standards, product standards such as milk powder and infant formula food, production and operation standards such as Good manufacturing practice for dairy products, and supporting inspection methods for dairy products.

Hu Shu, the first level investigator of the Third Food Safety Division of the Import and Export Food Safety Administration of the General Administration of Customs, said that in recent years, the General Administration of Customs has continuously improved its ability and level of import and export food safety supervision, and has rhythmically promoted the access process of dairy products exported to China from countries along the "the Belt and Road". At present, nearly 3000 dairy companies in 55 countries or regions have achieved online acceptance, approval, and query throughout the entire process.

Linking the global dairy industry with an open and inclusive international mindset

The thriving, open and inclusive Chinese dairy market not only creates huge opportunities for Chinese enterprises, but also provides a stage for dairy industries in various countries with its highly free and open environment. China's dairy industry cannot do without the world, and the world's dairy industry is also full of vitality due to China. Safe and high-quality imported dairy products have entered the Chinese market, and domestic peers have continuously absorbed and borrowed new international technologies to meet the diversified needs of Chinese consumers for dairy products.

"At present, the global dairy industry focuses on the innovation of precision nutrition superposition technology." Category manager of Tetra Pak in Asia Pacific told reporters that meeting consumers' new demand for milk nutrition functions can not be separated from the support of advanced technology. For example, through ultrafiltration technology, different components in milk can be separated physically, and substances in milk can be screened to achieve high nutrition; The use of VlTIS instantaneous ultra-high temperature sterilization system can present a fresh milk like taste; By combining membrane filtration, innovative products with zero lactose can be made possible.

It is a mainstream direction of dairy product innovation to adapt to individual physique and meet personalized nutritional Functional requirement. In the global market, the interpretation of zero lactose milk's functional appeal has gradually expanded from only targeting lactose intolerant people to more consumers who "hope to enjoy the various health benefits brought by milk, but also contribute to intestinal health and easy absorption". The manager introduced that the current zero lactose milk in the Chinese market is a first generation product, which only involves the enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose without the removal of lactose. The taste is relatively sweet. At present, we are communicating with customers to promote the second-generation zero lactose milk product, which is the application of this lactose removal process. Before lactose hydrolysis treatment, some lactose is removed. Compared to the first-generation zero lactose product, this treated milk not only maintains its easy absorption characteristics, but also reduces sweetness, while also reducing sugar and carbon water

Annie Bi, Vice President of Global Raw Material Technology Marketing Services at the American Dairy Export Association, believes that China plays an important role in the global dairy market. Li Bei, the representative of the French National Dairy Industry Association in China, stated that despite global economic turmoil, the relationship between France and China in dairy trade remains very close. The current international economic recovery is slow, and China has played a crucial role in the recovery of international trade in dairy products.

Yan Weibin, Chairman of Aoyou Dairy Co., Ltd., said that in the face of fierce competition in the domestic milk market, Aoyou has been determined to pursue a differentiated, high-end, and international development path since its establishment, with sheep milk as the focus of global business development. For the past 20 years, Aoyou, as a leading enterprise in the domestic sheep milk industry, has completed production and research and development layout in global "golden milk sources" such as the Netherlands and Australia through investment, mergers and acquisitions, and built a complete fully automated industrial chain. "At present, our sales volume in the whole fresh milk market in the Netherlands has accounted for 60%, and the whole team has 20% of overseas employees. China has a large population base, and the potential of dairy product consumption market is considerable, which still faces the challenge of supply and demand. Taking the road of international development has become the only way for China's leading dairy enterprises to become world-class dairy enterprises." (Transferred from: China Foods Limited News)