New baby formula debuts in Hebei

A new brand of baby formula made its debut in Hebei province over the weekend, as its manufacturer hopes to revive the province's dairy industry six years after the melamine scandal that left six infants dead and thousands of others sickened.

The Shijiazhuang Junlebao brand was launched officially on April 12, Hebei Daily reported.

The brand is owned by Shijiazhuang Junlebao Dairy Co Ltd, the largest dairy enterprise in the province. The market share of its yogurt ranks fourth in China, while sales of lactic acid bacteria drinks are second nationwide.

The company said it will invest 3.6 billion yuan ($579 million) in the baby formula product development over the next five years.

About 2.3 billion yuan will be spent on the establishment of 10 pastures, each of which can rear 5,000 to 10,000 cows.

Liu Senmiao, general manager of the infant formula powder department with Junlebao, told Hebei Daily that all the raw milk will be provided by pastures established and managed by the company to guarantee product quality.

A project that will have an annual output of 60,000 metric tons of baby formula broke ground last month at a Junlebao pasture in Zhangjiakou. The first phase of the project, which can produce 30,000 tons of infant formula in a year, is scheduled to be put into operation in October.

According to media reports, Shijiazhuang Junlebao is the only new brand among China's first batch of milk powder brands that received certification for production last month.

No company in Hebei has gained certification for producing infant formula since the melamine scandal in 2008, when Sanlu, a brand from Hebei, was the first to be found tainted with melamine, and many children were sick after drinking it.

Before the scandal, the output of Hebei's infant formula had steadily occupied first place in China, according to Yuan Yunsheng, secretary general of the Hebei Dairy Association. The province was then the largest infant-formula producer in the country, with nearly 20 percent of the market.

The scandal has cooled the dairy industry of Hebei, and imported brands have dominated the province's market since.

After six years, the province's native dairy industry is ready for a rebirth, he said. "This is a new opportunity for Hebei to develop its dairy industry," Yuan was quoted as saying.

Hebei has talent in the business, as well as the third-largest number of dairy cows in the country, said Yuan, adding that Hebei enjoys a solid foundation and great advantages in developing a dairy industry.

In the wake of the melamine scandal, the Hebei provincial government has introduced measures to better monitor the quality of dairy production, encouraging companies to build their own base for supplying raw milk.

From 2014 to 2017, 422.5 million yuan will be allocated by the Hebei government to support milk powder enterprises.

The government expected the production of infant formula in Hebei to reach 100,000 tons by 2017, with two or three conglomerates like Junlebao established in the province.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China produces about 600,000 tons of infant formula annually.

If things go as expected, dairy companies in Hebei can earn a 10 percent share in China's market at the end of the year, Hebei Daily reported.