Rejecting flavors, the era of formula breakout in the milk powder industry is coming

　Since the implementation of the milk powder formula registration system, many small and medium-sized milk powder brands have withdrawn from the market. How is the current milk powder market competition and how will companies continue to make efforts. At the launch ceremony of the 2019 China Dairy Summit Forum and "Refuse Flavor Milk Powder in Action", many milk powder companies and experts said that in the post-formula registration era, high quality and high service are the key to the breakthrough of milk powder companies, and rejecting flavor is an important condition to ensure the high-quality development of milk powder.

 

　　How to make efforts in the era of post-formula registration

 

　　Since the former State Food and Drug Administration promulgated the "Measures for the Administration of Formula Registration of Infant Milk Powder Products" in June 2016, the milk powder industry in our country has been continuously purified, and a large number of small and medium milk powder brands have withdrawn from the market. In 2019, the transition period of the new milk powder policy ended, and the milk powder industry entered the post-formula registration era. The competition of milk powder enterprises has become increasingly fierce.

 

　　According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2018, our country had 15.23 million births, and the birth rate was 10.94 per thousand, which was 2 million fewer than the number of newborns in 2017, down 11.6%, and the basic consumer population declined. According to the analysis of Zhiyan Consulting, since the main consumer of infant formula milk powder is infants and young children aged 1-3, its impact on sales growth is lagging behind. It is expected that sales in 2019 will not increase much compared with 2018.

 

　　In addition, the milk powder industry in the post-formula registration era has shown some new characteristics. It is understood that the current generation of consumers after 85-90 has improved their spending power and willingness to consume, and their consumption choices have now diversified. Unique formula, ultra-high-end, organic, goat milk has seen strong growth, and the value contribution of individual consumers has increased in the life cycle, offsetting the impact of the decline in the neonatal population on the market and forming a new growth point for the market.

 

　　Regarding the current market situation of milk powder, Bu Qiu, general manager of Four Seasons Nanshan, said that he is still optimistic about the development of the infant formula industry in 2019. Although the industry scale (sales) will not increase significantly, the feeding rate of milk powder for children over 6 months is still popular, so the scale of the infant formula industry will increase to a certain extent.

 

　　Zhang Liang, director of quality management of Feihe Dairy, believes that through the joint efforts of domestic milk powder companies, the confidence in the development of domestic milk powder has been significantly restored, and "development" is still the key word for the industry in 2019, and the new round of development will focus on "high quality". This requires milk powder companies to further increase their R & D and innovation capabilities, and digging deep into internal strength is the key to the future.

 

　　In this context, how companies can make efforts in the post-formula registration era has attracted much attention. In this regard, Yang Chunyan, general manager of Shengyuan Group Youbo Branch, said that the formula registration system has brought full competition in the industry, which is reflected in the return of channel layout, product quality and market expansion of individual enterprises. In the new era of competition, service will be the key to dislocation competition. On the one hand, it is reflected in the service of enterprises to consumers, and on the other hand, it is the service of channels. "Consumers will no longer pay immediately because of discounted promotions, but will depend on different communication paths, word-of-mouth, evaluation, trial and promotion, so as to generate trust before purchasing. In addition, 70% of the channels currently rely on mother and baby stores. In the past, these stores and enterprises were in the relationship of agency and distribution, but now it is a relationship of co-construction."

　　Reject flavor to ensure high quality

 

　　It can be seen that in the fiercely competitive market, maintaining the high quality of milk powder is the foundation for winning. In the current era of homogeneous competition in milk powder, improving one's own product standards and refusing to use flavors are one of the conditions for ensuring high quality.

 

　　Jiang Jingxiong, executive vice chairperson of the Pediatric Nutrition Professional Committee of the China Eugenics Association and an expert in infant and young child health, said that formula milk powder is an important source of early nutrition, and the most nutritious formula milk powder should be rejected, including flavors, cane sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup and other ingredients.

 

　　Data show that in infant formula milk powder, vanillin is a widely used edible flavor. Vanillin does not have nutritional value, and its main function is to make the milk powder more flavorful. It is reported that eating this "flavored" milk powder often may lead to infants and young children's dependence on strong taste, resulting in babies being prone to different degrees of partial eclipse, picky eater, and anorexia when they grow up.

 

　　Zhang Liang bluntly said that the biggest function of flavor is to cover up the odor. For example, milk powder will add some DHA from fish oil, which itself has a fishy smell. If your quality control is not good, you may need to use flavor to cover up the odor and fishy smell of milk powder. Or during transportation and improper storage, it will also lose the natural milk fragrance, which can only be compensated by flavor.