Consumers' Health Awareness Of Dairy Products Rises

　　The Newcastle pneumonia epidemic has changed people's perception of health, with immunity becoming a national topic, consumers' health beliefs have been upgraded and functional consumption has become more prominent.

       In the Cato Consumer Index 2021 global consumer environmental awareness survey, 91% of Chinese consumers said they are more concerned about immunity after the outbreak; 79% believe that living in a more "environmentally friendly and green" environment is good for their health.

       As a result, sales of the hand sanitizer category, which is related to personal hygiene, will increase by 85% in 2021 compared to 2019 before the outbreak, and sales of cold milk, which has a shorter shelf life and is fresher, will increase by 24% compared to 2019. 

       Consumers want to eat healthier and more naturally, and are also more conscious of the need to protect the environment. In this global consumer environmental awareness survey, 64% of Chinese consumers said they want to eat healthier and 71% prefer to buy natural products, while 75% said they would prefer to reduce their use of plastic in the future.

　　Consumer health awareness is accelerating. Consumers are paying more attention to product ingredients and composition, with less burdensome, lower-sugar, more environmentally friendly plant-based products gaining popularity. Sales of probiotic-based health products are up 27% from 2019 and sales of low/no sugar low-temperature yoghurts are up 49% from 2020, while sales of full-sugar low-temperature yoghurts are down 17% year-on-year.

       Consumers have a more nuanced demand for healthy ingredients and functionality, and new growth is poised to emerge. Clean formula products with zero additives and no preservatives; lactoferrin and lactobacillus supplements that help boost immunity, collagen with beauty and skin care benefits, and ingredients with calming and sleep improving effects are hotly sought after by consumers.

　　The high, medium and low end of ambient liquid milk achieved growth across the board. Basic white milk and basic functional milk met the basic needs of the public for nutritional supplements and grew at a high rate of 15% despite high penetration; high-quality white milk met the demand for consumer upgrades and saw the fastest growth in both penetration and sales; the mid-range price segment was reversed, driven by growth in the children's liquid milk and functional milk segments.

　　The following conclusions can be drawn from the dairy consumption performance in 2021.

　　First, dairy consumption demand is strong and the trend towards higher quality is increasing. Dairy product demand in the post-epidemic era has shown rigid and stable characteristics, the trend of high-quality dairy consumption remains, and the penetration rate of basic products is high.

     Dairy companies should not only grasp the trend of consumer upgrading to adapt to market demand, but also pay attention to the quantitative growth demand presented by the basic product market. With the solid promotion of common wealth and the rise of consumption awareness among the potential rural population, there is still more room for improvement in the dairy products market.

　　Secondly, the trend towards healthier products is increasing, with consumers paying more attention to the functionality of dairy products. With the epidemic reshaping people's health consciousness, consumers are paying more attention to health, and healthy lifestyles, functional and personalised products are more important.

     According to the different needs of different groups of people, increasing product innovation in niche markets and the development of special products will not only help break through the homogenisation of developed products, but also enhance the added value of dairy products and take the dairy industry down the road of refinement.

　　Thirdly, e-commerce continues to develop at a faster pace and digital upgrading has become a development trend in the dairy industry. The consumption of liquid dairy products and adult milk powder online shopping channels is growing faster, new retail channels are developing rapidly, and smart dairy has become an industry development target.

      Through the use of big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies, we are vigorously promoting the intelligence and informatization of the dairy industry, using the Internet to acquire, mine and analyze core data, and realizing a model of in-depth integration between online and offline, which will help to fully and deeply grasp consumer demand and launch diversified and market-ready dairy products more accurately and efficiently.