Text |Food-gnosis (id: food-gnosis).
On February 17, 2024, Pan Gang, chairman of Yili Group, accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV again, this time the theme is different from the last time, the last time it was "private entrepreneurs look at confidence and confidence", and this time it is "Dialogue at the beginning of the year: looking for certainty".
I have to say that these two topics are very valuable, and as a leader in the industry, Yili does have the confidence and qualifications to talk about it. The key is that at this time, Yili and its helmsman, Pan Gang, are also very willing to show their high-quality development achievements and convey their confidence in China's economic development.
After watching the 15-minute CCTV on-site visit, the intuitive feeling to Shi Wujun is: Yili's current development level is really strong, Yili's attention to innovation is quite high, and Yili has always positioned itself from the perspective of the industry and even the world, planning for the future.
At the beginning of the interview, Pan Gangxian made it clear that "the general secretary is particularly concerned about innovation and attaches great importance to innovation", so Yili Health Valley and the National Dairy Technology Innovation Center are a major project to implement in response to the instructions of the country's top leaders.
Next, about increasing investment, overcoming the core technology of lactoferrin stuck neck, and driving upstream growers and breeders such as grass planting and cattle raising to get rich, etc., in fact, it was also involved in the last CCTV series of reports.
Next, Shiwu has compiled some key interview Q&A, let's listen to Yili, a leading dairy company, and how Pan Gang, the helmsman, is looking for certainty in the uncertainty of the industry.
CCTV:Why does Yili attach so much importance to innovation and R&D and continue to overcome the technical problems of stuck necks?
Pan Gang: Because in the past, drinking milk was mainly to supplement calcium, but now drinking milk is not limited to calcium supplementation, but to meet more and richer nutritional and health needs. Consumer consumption habits are also constantly changing, enterprises must be the whole chain of innovation, because the dairy industry chain is very long, each link determines the final quality is good, from grass planting to breeding, from cattle raising to production and processing, the whole chain construction must be the best.
CCTV:You once said that there are two kinds of people in the world, one is the one who drinks milk and the other is the one who does not drink milk. Erie is trying to turn two kinds of people into one kind of people, that is, people who drink milk. Does this also apply today?
Pan Gang: We came up with it in 2007, but it's still relevant today. At that time, we saw that Chinese drank too little milk, and as industry leaders, we had the responsibility to drive more people to drink milk. After so many years of hard work, China's dairy industry has developed and its per capita consumption has increased to a certain extent.
But when we look at the numbers today, they are still less than 1 2 of the Asian average and less than 1 3 of the global per capita. Therefore, there is still a long way to go, and we need to do it unswervingly, so that more consumers can realize the importance of milk to health, so that more consumers can drink good and high-quality milk.
CCTV:It takes a lot of money to invest in so many labs.
Pan Gang: Our internal requirements are to invest at all costs in terms of quality, as long as we need to invest, no matter how much money is needed, and we cannot have any risks (in terms of quality).
CCTV:Have we calculated how much Yili has invested in innovation and R&D over the years?
Pan Gang: In terms of quality improvement alone, billions of dollars have been invested over the years, and more has been invested in innovation.
CCTV:Do you feel distressed when you put so much into it?
Pan Gang: The investment in quality, safety and innovation is always correct, and the investment in all these aspects can be really felt by the final consumer. The foundation of all our innovation is to focus on consumer needs and serve consumers. If consumers are not satisfied, your products will not sell, and you will not be competitive. So in terms of quality and innovation, Yili spares no expense.
CCTV:Do you yourself choose Yili's products when you get up in the morning and go to bed at night?
Pan Gang: Yili's products accompany me throughout the whole process of my life. When I get up in the morning, I will eat Yili cheese and drink Yili milk, and when I am not busy at noon, I will make a cup of Yili milk powder, which can meet the customized nutritional needs of middle-aged and elderly people.
CCTV:You're not middle-aged yet.
Pan Gang: I'm middle-aged, and I'm almost old. Hahaha.
CCTV:As the person in charge of the enterprise, will you often feel a little anxious because of the challenges and pressures brought by the environment, as well as the development and changes brought by the industry? With so many things to think about every day, do you often have insomnia?
Pan Gang: The barriers to the dairy industry are very high, and it is very difficult in this field. Unlike other e-commerce Internet, a business comes out overnight. But it can't be done in the dairy industry, first, the dairy industry needs to have milk, dairy cows, pastures, and grass planting, which takes decades of hard work to form a whole industrial chain.
In recent years, because the domestic and foreign environment is changing very rapidly, there are indeed many uncertainties. Whether it's the dairy industry or Yili itself, we're thinking about how to grasp certainty in an uncertain environment. Therefore, we insist on continuous evolution, and only by constantly evolving can we adapt to change. Change is just too fast.
Therefore, in the past few years, we have been constantly working on the business model, organizational model, enterprise ecology, and most importantly, the ideological understanding of managers, that is, we must continue to evolve. I propose that we want to become the fastest evolving company and learn 72 changes.
Perspective:
On the eve of the Spring Festival, Shi Wujun had a meal with friends from the upstream and downstream market terminals of the dairy industry. During the dinner, several friends asked me how I think of China's dairy industry in 2024.
Although this question is very big, Shi Wujun still simplifies the complexity and gives a positive and optimistic judgment. Because as the industry, I look forward to the industry bottoming out and thriving. But if you want to convey confidence to your friends, you still need to find evidence from macro to micro.
In fact, whether it is the difficulty of terminal retail or the pain of dealers, it is due to the general environment. Even at the grassroots level, we have seen the downturn in consumption power, and the national level is even more so, so we have seen interest rate cuts, mortgage interest rates, property market policies, etc., behind these measures are stimulating and improving the environment.
Therefore, 2024 must be a year of frequent policies and stimulus adjustments. It is also a year when the general environment is expected to bottom out and improve, and it will not be worse than 2023.
Returning to Yili to accept this interview with CCTV, we can see the high-quality development of the industry leader and the self-confidence of the head of Yili. What is more noteworthy is that as a leader in the dairy industry, Yili is resonating with the country at the same frequency, and is taking greater and greater steps on the road of independent innovation.
I believe that under the leadership of Yili, China's dairy industry will continue to move forward, after all, our per capita milk consumption is still pitiful.