According to the "Outline of Healthy China 2030 Plan" issued by the State Council, the total size of the health industry will exceed 8 trillion yuan by 2020 and 16 trillion yuan by 2030. Driven by increasing demand, China’s health-related foods sector offers great potential for investors.
Dairy products are closely linked with the concept of health and consumption upgrading. During the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy product consumption achieved a 36% year-on-year growth [1]. The huge demand for health has prompted dairy company Yili to accelerate overall deployment in the promising health-related foods sector.
Recently, Yili's Yiran Milk Mineral Light Drink launched two new products -- Honey Pomelo Corona Flavored Sparkling Water and Milk Mineral Light Drink for Children, showing the company’s big plans for the health-related food sector.
What’s special:
Honey Pomelo Corona Flavored Sparkling Water is available in 480ml bottles and 320ml cans. The product is sugar-free, zero-calorie, and zero-fat, which not only meets the needs of young consumers in pursuit of a good balance between health and taste but also caters to their desire for personality.
The Milk Mineral Light Drink for Children, with claims “One box of Yiran contains calcium equivalent to one box of milk," features sugar-free, fat-free, and extra 25% juice.
These two new products are the latest exploration of Yili in milk mineral beverages since they created this innovative segment one year ago. The Yiran brand was, at its inception, positioned for young people aged 18-24, covering college students, single or newly-married young white-collar workers. With healthy ingredients and delicious taste, this product has gained traction among young people who love to drink but are afraid of gaining weight.
Yili’s full line of health product portfolio
In 2019, Yili, the No.1 dairy enterprise in China, recorded total revenue of 90.223 billion yuan, an increase of 13.41% from a year earlier, and a net profit of 6.951 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.73% [2].
Some highlights of Yili 2019 performance:
The revenue generated by liquid milk products increased by 12.31% over the previous year, and the market share of the retail sales of liquid milk products was 32.4%, a YOY increase of 1.2 percentage.
Infant formula milk powder retail sales accounted for 6.0% of the market, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the same period last year.
Two of Yili's brands (Ambrosial and Yili Pure Milk) saw sales breaking the 20 billion yuan mark while four surpassed 10 billion (Ambrosial, Yili Pure Milk, Satine and Yousuanru)[3].
In addition to leading China’s dairy market, Yili is now chasing the goal of improving the health of China’s people. In 2018, it set up its healthy drinks business division as part of its efforts to increase its presence in the health-related food sector. The company said in its 2019 annual report that milk mineral drinks and bottled water businesses would become the new growth points of the company.
Yili’s moves in the health-related foods sector:
At the end of 2017, Yili launched the plant-based protein drink product "Plant Selected."
In April 2018, Yili launched the energy drink product "Huan Xing Yuan."
In April 2019, Yili launched “Yiran” Milk Mineral Light Drink product.
In July 2019, Yili launched a coffee drink product SUNRELAS.
In October 2019, Yili launched a mineral water product, “inikin."
In February 2020, Yili launched “Yiran” Milk Mineral Sparkling Water.
In March 2020, Yili launched SUNRELAS Cold Brewed Sparkling Coffee.
In the non-dairy business, Yili operates across multiple categories, including plant-based beverages, functional beverages, milk mineral beverages, coffee, bottled water, milk tea, fruit tea, and sparkling water, etc. Yili's 2019 annual report shows that Yili's revenue generated by Yili’s portfolio of new products accounted for 19.40% of its total revenue, an increase of 4.6 percentage points year-on-year.
Disclaimer: All images used in this article are from the internet.
