Yili Announces its “Innovation Trilogy” at Bo’ao Forum for Asia

Yili, one of the world’s top five dairy producers, attended the Bo’ao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2021 as Diamond Partner and the only invited enterprise from China’s dairy industry.

A sub-forum of the event, themed “Technological Advances and the Construction of Global Health Ecosystem”, was held in Bo’ao on the afternoon of April 19. Participants invited to attend the sub-forum included CEO of Yili Group, Zhang Jianqiu; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chen Junshi; Chairman of the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, Meng Suhe; Managing Director of China Nutrition Society, Wang Zhixu; former table tennis world champion Deng Yaping; Chinese actress Lan Yingying; and Dr. Yun Zhanyou, Assistant President of Yili Group.

During the panel discussion, Zhang Jianqiu shared Yili’s innovation experience in the health food industry. “Innovation is the constant practice that Yili has been sticking to. Over the years, following a ‘customer-centric’ custom, Yili has produced its ‘innovation trilogy’: empowering whole chain innovation via digital transformation, building an innovation system through the ‘dual integration’, and driving product innovation with technological R&D.”, said Zhang Jianqiu in his speech.

Empowering whole chain innovation with digital transformation

As a leading player in the industry, Yili has continued to promote digital upgrades throughout the industry chain to better meet the personalized and diversified needs of customers.

In the upper sector of the industry chain, Yili has built “smart farms” to accurately collect physical data of every cow to ensure that every drop of milk is of the best quality. In the middle sector, Yili’s “smart factorys” have introduced automation equipments and system to improve operation efficiency. In the lower sector, Yili has built an end-to-end big data-based intelligence insight platform to improve product and service quality.

Building an innovation system with the ‘dual integration’ of intelligence and industry

With the support of the “Global Health Ecosystem”, Yili has integrated high-quality global resources and has committed itself to contributing more to global health, placing customers at the center.

Yili has strengthened the integration of international think-tanks. In the Netherlands, Yili has established and upgraded the Yili Innovation Center Europe. “We are pooling global intelligence to build a wisdom chain worldwide and serve customers all over the world,” said Zhang Jianqiu.

Yili has also accelerated global industrial convergence. Yili has built overseas projects such as the Oceania Production Base in New Zealand, among other locations, and has been committed to building a world-class brand drawing together top global resources. To date, Yili has won global partnerships in five continents and 33 countries.

Driving product innovation with scientific and technological R&D

As the trend of higher-level consumption continues, customers’ demands for health and product quality grows exponentially. Yili has continually meet such demands with investment in technology R&D. Data analysis reveals that, Yili has invested more than RMB 400 million annually over the last several years in R&D, more than the industry average. As of 2019, Yili ranked top three of the world’s top ten dairy industries for total number of global patent applications.

With the innovative application of LHT lactose hydrolysis technology, Yili makes it possible for even 90% of lactose intolerant Asians to enjoy nutritious and tasty milk. Yili has been working on breast milk research for 19 years and has accumulated tens of millions of data points in breast milk research. The efforts and practices have enabled Yili’s Jinlingguan series to match the nutritional needs of Chinese babies.

From digital transformation to building a “Global Health Ecosystem”, Yili has incorporated the spirit of innovation into its DNA. Ranking among the top five players in the global dairy industry, Yili will continue to adhere to its commitment to the health of global customers and share the benefits of health with the entire world.