Chinese IMF market increasingly tough for multinationals

New edition of Dairy Products China News featuring: rapid growth for UHT liquid milk and adult milk powder, IMF marketing effect on breastfeeding, and further regulation on labelling of IMF products.

Despite recovering global sales across most categories in 2021, China’s Infant Milk Powder (IMF) has proved to be challenging sector for multinationals, with leading players having reported slowdowns or drops in H1. 

With just 12 million births last year, COVID-19 has played its part. But there are broader lifestyle issues at play in a country where one or no children are the norm and that is something the new three baby policy is unlikely to fix. 

Indeed, as Richard Field suggests in this month’s Dairy Products China News, incomes, living space and commute to work times continue to make extra children an unlikely option for couples wanting to optimise their quality of life and only much more dramatic social policies are likely to change that.

However, more positive news for dairy ingredient exporters targeting IMF applications is that local manufacturers are accounting for more and more of the Chinese market, sustaining demand for D90, WPC80 and lactose etc, as well as increasing opportunities for niche higher value ingredients. 


Exclusive Chinese dairy market analysis in this issue:

  • Brake on Foreign IMF Brands’ Growth in China 

  • China Liquid Milk and Adult Milk Powder Show Promise 

  • Xinhua: IMF Marketing Affects Breastfeeding Behaviour 

  • China Proposes Further Regulations on Labeling IMF Products 

  • Multiple Changes in Draft of Detailed Rules for the Review of Dairy Products Production Licensing 

  • Wall’s Magnum Ice Cream Attacked for its Formulation in China 

  • Ausnutria Marks Surges in Revenue and Net Pro t 

  • Milkground Cheese's Sales Boom 

  • China Feihe's Figures Stay Strong 

  • Raw Milk Prices Edge Up Slightly in August 

  • Plus News in Brief: featuring thriving dairy Industry in Hebei


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