Innovation

The innovation is to produce the 24 hours pasteurized milk through the whole industry development model, from cow breeding, collection, to the processing and distribution.

• New technology: Jiuniu uses high-quality raw milk from its own pasture, combining with the advanced foreign pasteurization technology. These dairy products, which are sterilized at 72°C-85°C, completely retain nutrient of milk.
  
• New operation model: JiuNiu rents lots of lands from farmers and employee them due to the complex of producing process, meaning farmers can get the higher income than before. Taking a long-term sight, it helps China's economic development.
  
• Good quality and reasonable price: JiuNiu operates their business based on the "healthy, green, organic “concept. From milk production to distribution, all of the links in the chain are strictly monitored
  
• Environment protection in the pasture: animal manure treatment & biogas power generation.
  

There is two kind of liquid milk in the market which are pasteurized milk and UHT milk (ultra-high temperature processing milk) Lusha Guo told me: “the pasteurized milk has not been popularized due to the underdeveloped animal husbandry in China, moreover, the price of pasteurized milk is much higher than UHT milk.” Therefore, JiuNiu Ltd dairy innovation team keep finding some ways to solve that problem, ensuring everyone can afford and drink the pasteurized milk.

Inspiration

The need for health becomes more urgent than before due to the higher cancer rate, food safety crisis, and increased pollution. The production of high-quality food help change this status, thus, food businesses should undertake the responsibility to produce high-quality food. Taking milk as the example, milk is high in antioxidants, vitamins B2 and B12, as well as protein and calcium, enhancing people’s immunity function. When buying dairy products, the freshness of milk is the first concern of consumers. Store manager Guo says that team of experts in JiuNiu think time can be regarded as important assessment criteria to define the quality of milk, short shelve life could represent health, fresh, and safety. That’s the reason why they sell the 24 hours pasteurized milk. When it exceeds the time limit (24 hours), they will be removed off shelves immediately.

The production conditions are pretty strict for pasteurized milk, JiuNiu takes the advantages of being a local enterprise, it is satisfied with the following requirements. Firstly, JiuNiu has the own pasture in Shanxi Province, which can shorten the transportation time. Secondly, they import the Holstein cow from New Zealand and research the best fodder, which means the raw milk is more reliable. Thirdly, the cold chain transportation system is available.

Overall impact

JiuNiu had made a larger positive impact around Shanxi area, mainly due to the short transportation time the pasteurized milk requires. The business already builds trust with the public. When urban residents think of the brand of fresh milk, JiuNiu firstly comes to their mind. After drinking the 24 hours of pasteurized milk, the physical condition of senior citizens with osteoporosis get improved.

This important breakthrough gives rise to other food enterprises’ considerations. It is important for private sectors to realize that if they want to be sustainable in the long-term, they should not only focus on financial return, but also on the aspect of social value. Keeping the original faith should be the key driver of the company.

Business benefit

According to the public opinion and expert evaluation, JiuNiu wins the prize of “Top Ten safe food brands in Shanxi in 2017”, which let them earn the good reputation, and motivates them to make continuous improvement. Although the business was settled in late 2010, Jiuniu is a reliable and innovative brand in the urban residents’ eyes. In recent years, JiuNiu Ltd achieves rapid expansion, they earned a gross income of 300 million RMB and paid taxes of 10 million RMB.

With the larger impact in Shanxi province, many education institutions are attracted, reaching out and seeking cooperation. Under the joint efforts, they give full play to the advantages of both parties, achieving the win-win situation. Shanxi Jiu Niu Animal Husbandry and the University of Shanxi establish the “Shanxi University Dairy Engineering Technology R&D Center”, and “Shanxi University Food Science and Engineering Training Base”.

Social and environmental benefit

This innovation of 24 hours pasteurized milk make up the lack of local high-end milk supply in Shanxi province. Our guest speaker Jull, who is the director in the sustainable development department, says “with the trust gap becoming wide, ethical leadership is needed more than ever.” JiuNiu Ltd is the kind of business which are not afraid to be challenged. Actually, they are exposed to more risks and international market pressure such as higher upfront costs, uncertainty factors, and customer preferences. It is not hard to see JiuNiu’s pigheaded determination and persistence, they keep their promises to provide high-quality fresh milk to the local community.

JiuNiu Ltd, as the food company, not only focuses on UN goal 3 and goal 12 but also achieve the goal 8. In 2016, it provides more than 1,000 jobs and serves threes meals per day for farmers, ensuring employees are provided with safe and comfortable working conditions. Farmers’ living standard has risen because of the doubled income.

In term of the environmental benefits, the animal manure treatment is harmless. The biogas power generation is used to meet the needs of the husbandry and the surrounding homeowners. Furthermore, the biogas slurry can be processed into organic fertilizer, which achieves sustainable development of scientific farming. It has a certain demonstration effect on the leap-forward development of modern agriculture in the Shanxi province.

Interview

Lusha Guo, Store Manager