Lu Manhui, deputy director of the technical center of the quality management center of Junlebao Dairy Group, goes to "greet" thousands of zebrafish in dozens of fish tanks every day.
Do dairy companies still raise fish? Isn't that a strange thing? It turned out that small fish embryos were used to do milk powder safety testing. Zebrafish, known as "mice in the water", have a high degree of genetic similarity of more than 80% with humans, which means that their experimental results are mostly applicable to humans. Unlike other tests, which focus on known toxins, biological tests for fish embryos can detect thousands of potentially toxic substances and their mixing to produce a "cocktail effect," Lu said.
At present, Continental Dairy has entered a new stage of quality upgrading and innovation development, and the increase in the market will be driven by scientific and technological innovation.
Central control room of Junlebao yogurt factory. Photo courtesy of Junlebao
"The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that we must adhere to science and technology as the primary productive force, talent as the primary resource, and innovation as the primary driving force, and deeply implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country with talents, and the strategy of innovation-driven development." Wei Lihua, chairman of Junlebao Dairy Group, deeply feels: the key to Junlebao's quality success is inseparable from the support of science and technology, talents and innovation. Junlebao will continue to strengthen innovation and research and development, run science and technology through every link of the entire industry chain, strictly control product quality with world-class standards, so that Chinese babies can get the best nutritional security, and strive to promote the high-quality development of the dairy industry.
Junlebao inspectors are conducting dairy product inspections. Photo courtesy of Junlebao
In recent years, Junlebao has always put independent innovation in an important position in the development of enterprises, continued to increase investment in scientific research, and pursued high-level scientific and technological self-reliance. In 2021, the Junlebao Dairy Innovation Research Institute, which invested hundreds of millions of yuan, was put into use, conducting research on the whole industrial chain from pasture planting, dairy cow genetic breeding, dairy process technology to new product development, and making breakthroughs in some key dairy neck technologies, cooperating with top universities and scientific research institutions at home and abroad to comprehensively strengthen the competitiveness of the industrial chain and support the future innovation and development needs of Junlebao.
In the basic research laboratory of the Junlebao Dairy Innovation Research Institute, a row of freezers with a temperature control of minus 80°C holds breast milk samples collected from all over the country. "Breast milk is the 'gold standard' in infant formula design, and human understanding of breast milk is still very limited." Ling Junjian, director of the Innovation Center of Junlebao Dairy Group, said that through the analysis and detection of lactoferrin, human milk oligosaccharides and other important active ingredients in human milk samples, it provides support for the precise development of human emulsification of infant formula milk powder.
Junlebao's modern canned milk powder production line. Photo by Wu Xinguang, client reporter of Great Wall Network Jiyun
At present, Junlebao has built 9 scientific research platforms, including the National Dairy Professional R&D Technology Sub-center and the Hebei Dairy Industry Technology Research Institute. Relying on two international and domestic innovation platforms and an all-staff innovation system, Junlebao has undertaken 63 scientific research projects such as national key R&D projects; It has obtained 213 patents and completed 51 scientific and technological achievements. The Group's technology center was recognized as the "National Dairy Processing Technology R&D Sub-center", and the central laboratory was accredited by the national laboratory.
Third-party data shows that in recent years, the proportion of domestic milk powder market has continued to rise. By the end of 2021, the market share of domestic milk powder reached more than 60%, which has exceeded that of foreign brands.
Thanks to innovative R&D, the integration model of the whole industry chain and the "five world-class" model, the market performance of Junlebao milk powder has become stronger and stronger, with production and sales exceeding 100,000 tons in 2021, leading the country.