(Image source: Photo.com)
Recently, a topic about the lack of straws for bagged milk in the north has caused heated discussions on Weibo. A southern tourist posted a video while traveling in the Northeast, in which he asked the cashier if he could give him a straw, and the northern friend expressed shock, "I have drunk milk for more than 20 years, and it is the first time I have heard that bagged milk has a straw and a straw hole, and the southerners are too delicate."
(Image source: video screenshot)
Mengniu customer service responded to this, saying that due to the different models of factory equipment, there are differences in product packaging, and there is no division between the north and south regions. However, some netizens pointed out that the "causal relationship is reversed" in Mengniu's response, believing that the regional differences between the north and the south are the reasons for the different product packaging.
A number of other milk brands have also responded. Wandashan and Haihe Dairy in the north said that bagged milk is rarely equipped with straws, while Yantang Dairy and Huangshi Dairy in the south said that their bagged milk is equipped with straws, "without straws, they can't be sold, this is the consciousness of merchants."
Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, said that the difference in the living habits and values of consumers in the north and south is the reason for this difference. In the South, people are accustomed to seeing bagged milk as a convenient and hygienic drink, so with a straw can better meet the needs of consumers when drinking. In the north, bagged milk is seen more as a product for home or outdoor consumption, and it is more common to drink it directly from the bite.
Analysis of retail prices of milk in mainland China
According to Wind data, domestic milk prices have been on the rise since 2009. With the change of people's diet, the demand for dairy products is increasing. As of August 15, 2021, the price of milk in mainland China has risen to 12.51 yuan/liter, reaching the highest level in nearly a decade.
——Inner Mongolia is the main production area
From the perspective of production distribution, the main producing areas of milk in mainland China include Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Hebei and other places. Among them, the milk production of Inner Mongolia accounts for about 18% of the total milk production in the mainland; Heilongjiang and Hebei accounted for 15% and 13% respectively.
-- The domestic milk market demand is growing rapidly
The mainland is one of the world's largest milk consumers, and with the continuous improvement of the scale, standardization and modernization of domestic dairy farming, the milk production efficiency is also improving. Since 2017, domestic milk production has increased year by year, and by 2020, China's milk output reached 34.4 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%.
Zhu Danpeng, an analyst of China's food industry, pointed out that regional cultural differences are obvious, with southerners paying attention to refinement and northerners being more bold. Milk packaging is constrained by cost, coupled with the vast territory of China, which is also a core reason for the large cultural differences.
Wang Jiaqi, director of the Institute of Food and Nutrition Development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and chairman of the National Dairy Science and Technology Innovation Alliance, pointed out that milk is very important for human health. To this end, in 2016, the National Dairy Science and Technology Innovation Alliance launched the implementation of China's high-quality milk project, which is stricter than the quality requirements of European and American industry standards, realizing the return of the value of "natural active nutrition" of pasteurized fresh milk, and also guiding the sustainable development direction of China's dairy industry.
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