中国乳制品月报(乳制品中国新闻202211)

Welcome to the November issue of Dairy Products China News.

This month's National Health Commission plan plans an easing of the government's COVID restrictions, but the local dairy businesses are still facing a difficult environment. This context makes the very mixed recent results of dairy sector businesses in China very easy to sympathise with. The Junlebao/ Yinqiao deal has definite logic to it. Few have emulated New Hope Dairy's figures, for instance. Likewise, few are in a position to raise their international profiles at present of course – except for the two majors which are yet to be seriously challenged, as Yili's position as the official dairy supplier at this month's G20 summit in Bali and Mengniu's similar role at the World Cup in Qatar emphasise.

Faltering demand coupled with the continued rapid growth in the country's milk production look increasingly problematic for exporters of  commodities which the local industry can produce for itself. Infant formula is having a moment for reasons of channel mix, but in terms of  ingredients once more we look to the whey complex where permeate and protein continue to benefit from relevance to local applications and from lack of domestic competitors. And in the B2C context, we are seeing increased level of innovation coming from the dairy and nutritionals industry in China – for instance, Danone has been filing a number of patents for products which it has developed in China. China's role in the world dairy market will become increasingly two-way in the future.