Chapter 270 Magic Milk

In a hospital.

Here the greatest number of victims were gathered.

If you are sick, you need to be treated.

But the cost of treatment has always troubled the victims' families. For a long time, the wailing of babies and the melancholy of parents have shrouded the hospital.

But when the reporters' attention turned from Hexi Dairy and Jiahe back to the hospital, they found that the place had changed.

Several attending doctors and nurses patrolled back and forth, always with a smile on their faces, teasing the children and encouraging the parents.

The sadness on the parents' faces also dissipated a lot.

Reporters also found that a large amount of milk powder was placed next to the beds in the hospital, and parents occasionally mixed it and fed it to their sick children.

The children also drank it with gusto.

If you get close, you can smell the strong, natural milky aroma.

Looking closely, it’s Hexi milk powder.

Journalists are naturally familiar with Hexi Dairy's products. In the past two years, they have frequently become the focus of social attention. Their quality has been recognized by the public through repeated questioning and testing.

But the only drawback is that it is expensive, generally 50% more expensive than ordinary products on the market.

Some well-known series are almost twice as expensive, Hexi milk powder is one of them.

It would be fine if there were only one or two cases, but what we saw was that Hexi milk powder was placed next to all the beds.

For many patients' families who have used up all their savings on medical treatment, they absolutely cannot afford this.

Moreover, the mental outlook of these people has also improved greatly.

Reporters quickly sensed that something was amiss.

A reporter found the attending doctor and asked: "Doctor, is this milk powder provided by Hexi Dairy?"

The attending doctor smiled and said, "Yes, Hexi Dairy donated milk powder to each patient for free, and promised to continue until the patient is discharged from the hospital."

The reporter soon showed a look of surprise on his face.

These days, the number of victims has reached more than 2000. If all of them are like this, wouldn’t it be tens of millions?
However, it is not over yet. The doctor sighed again: "Hexi Dairy has also donated cash, and has paid part of the expenses for patients in the hospital..."

The reporter murmured: "Hexi Dairy is truly the conscience of the industry."

The doctor nodded in agreement.

After the incident, the Dairy Association coordinated 22 responsible companies to raise funds to provide medical expenses for the victims' families.

According to preliminary statistics, each company needs to invest at least 1000 million yuan.

Companies have long been arguing over the issue of raising compensation for medical expenses.

However, apart from tearful apologies or solemn promises, no substantial funds have been provided.

Many victims come from relatively poor or ordinary families, and long-term treatment has already exhausted their savings.

While society is in turmoil, these families are also suffering financially.

At this moment, Hexi Dairy, which had been outside the storm, took action.

Milk powder and cash donations...

Following the first report, more and more media outlets gradually began to dig up the information.

Hexi Dairy's low-key and conscientious actions have gradually been made public.

3000 million yuan is still some distance away from solving all problems, but it is definitely not a small amount. At least it can solve the difficulties currently faced by patients' families.

And Datou is still donating milk powder.

All in all, Hexi Dairy paid at least 60 to 70 million yuan for this.

For a while, praise from all walks of life continued to appear in newspapers.

“The conscience of the industry.”

“Industry model…”

On the Internet, Hexi Dairy’s donation also went viral on forums, portals, and search engines.

Topics related to Hexi Dairy have been frequently brought up.

At the same time, some words from Zuo Wei, the brand public relations director of Hexi Dairy, also resonated with many netizens on the Internet.

"In my opinion, there is no better commitment than for employees and bosses to eat their own food and drink their own milk."

“That’s the best publicity.”

“If a company’s food is so bad that people don’t even dare eat the food it produces, that would be a real disaster.”

Many netizens also said: "I seldom drank milk before, but after drinking milk from Hexi Dairy these two days, I really experienced the taste of good milk."

"I am also lactose intolerant, but the salesperson recommended Hexi Dairy's Shuhua milk to me. It tastes great and is no problem for my health."

Every message and comment was a declaration of support for Hexi Dairy and spread rapidly on the Internet.

At this time, the emergence of unexpected news once again ignited the emotions of the Chinese people.

In the hospital with the largest number of patients, several attending doctors found that babies who drank Hexi milk powder seemed to recover faster.

The attending physician couldn't be sure either.

However, the information was reported to the higher authorities, and the media also learned about the news in the process.

"Hexi milk powder has this effect?"

A loyal customer of Hexi Dairy said: "Not only milk powder, but also other products of Hexi can make a real difference after long-term consumption."

The attending physicians in hospitals across the country also began to observe and gradually made similar discoveries.

The child's recovery speed seems to have really become faster.

It is possible that the sequelae will be reduced or even disappear completely, but no one has been able to confirm it yet.

At this time, authoritative organizations began to conduct more in-depth inspections on the milk powder, but still found nothing unusual.

Instead, it once again proves the nutritional quality of Hexi milk powder.

It is high in protein, fat and energy, extremely rich in minerals and vitamins, has a complete range of amino acids and is nutritionally balanced.

Testing did not find a cause.

Netizens began to make associations spontaneously.

According to the published information, there are two main sources of milk powder in Hexi:
A small part comes from Delong Livestock, which was originally acquired by Hexi Dairy at the foot of Tianshan Mountain in Yili; the other part comes from the Gannan grassland.

Both places are rich in water and grass, and are natural grasslands with zero pollution, zero hormone residues, zero pesticide residues, zero physical pollution, and zero chemical pollution.

In particular, the Gannan Grassland, also known as Asia's No. 1 Grassland, is one of the best natural pastures in Asia.

Netizens quickly discovered the highlight.

"Isn't the average altitude of the Gannan grassland over 3000 meters? Can normal dairy cows survive there?"

"Damn, it's true. At such a high altitude, I've only heard of yaks! The yak milk in the Gannan grassland is indeed delicious."

"But there is nothing fake in the Hexi Dairy commercials. The cows are so relaxed and natural, it's not fake."

In response to the media’s visit, Zuo Wei of Hexi Dairy also gave an explanation.

"Hexi cattle are a dairy cow breed selected and bred by the group company itself. In addition to excellent milk production, they also have strong tolerance and adaptability."

"The Tianshan Ranch, Qilian Ranch, and Gannan Ranch all have parts of high-altitude, oxygen-deficient ecological environments, but Hexi dairy cows can adapt well to them."

"Moreover, in these places, in addition to the high-quality alfalfa grown artificially, Hexi dairy cows also feed on natural, pollution-free mountain spring water, pasture, and Cordyceps sinensis, Fritillaria thunbergii, Aucklandia lappa, and Gossypium hirta, etc., which grow in the grass all year round."

"Growing good grass, raising good cows, and enjoying the unique geographical advantages can produce the best milk."

Hexi Dairy’s statement has alleviated netizens’ doubts to a certain extent, and this information can be found everywhere.

Regardless of whether Hexi milk powder can help sick children recover faster and better, it has once again proved its excellent quality.

This also led to Hexi milk powder being snapped up enthusiastically by parents.

In major supermarkets, the suspected problematic milk powder has been completely removed from the shelves, and many containers have become empty.

Currently, there are only a few brands left on the shelves, including Hexi, Nestlé, Abbott, Beingmate, Mead Johnson, Wyeth, Mingyi, Dumex, and Peizhi Colostrum.

Most of them are foreign-funded.

However, even multinational food giants such as Nestlé, Starbucks and Kraft were deeply involved after this incident.

On the shelves and freezers for liquid milk and yogurt, Mengniu and Yili products still occupy half of the market, but sales are not satisfactory.

In short, Hexi milk powder stands out among them.

Many parents who come to purchase are worried that the Hexi milk powder will be out of stock after the sales volume increases, and the price will increase as a result.

They came in groups of three or five, purchasing large bags.

It was not until then that Ji Zhuowen, the general manager of Hexi Dairy, who had not been seen for many days, came forward and made a promise to the public.

“The price of Hexi milk powder will not increase.”

"We will do our best to ensure the supply of milk powder. Hexi Dairy also has enough pastures and milk source bases."

"If it doesn't work, Hexi Dairy will consider temporarily producing other high-end products to ensure the supply of milk powder..."

Since the incident, many milk powder brands have been taken off the shelves, but this is a necessity for infants and young children and cannot be avoided.

Therefore, the supply of milk powder on the market has been tight, and some imported milk powder took the opportunity to significantly increase prices, making consumers miserable.

As the only major brand that has not had any problems and has received constant positive reviews, Ji Zhuowen's promise of not raising prices alone has won Hexi Dairy another wave of goodwill.

A reporter asked Ji Zhuowen: "Can Hexi Dairy always guarantee product quality?"

The scene fell silent.

Ji Zhuowen smiled and said, "We have been making progress in all aspects, and we also have the most stringent control system for product quality, but empty words are meaningless."

"However, as Zuo Wei from our brand public relations department said, every Jiahe person will rush to taste Jiahe's products. Adults and students drink Hexi milk, and infants drink milk powder."

There were bursts of applause at the scene, and it took a long time before it stopped.

"What do you think of Hexi milk powder's miraculous effect in helping infants and young children recover quickly?"

Ji Zhuowen smiled and said, "Whether it has magical effects or not, it's up to the consumers to decide..."

No matter what Hexi Dairy says, there are many people who choose to conduct in-depth research.

Zhao Manling from Guangdong Province is one of them. Two years ago, she wrote an article online titled "Are Chinese Dairy Cows Not Deserving of Eating Alfalfa?"

Alfalfa's high-quality alfalfa is sold well overseas, sparking a heated discussion among the media, grass industry, animal husbandry industry, business community, and financial community surrounding the forage industry.

And pasture and dairy have always been linked.

Since then, Zhao Manling has become a loyal customer of Hexi Dairy, and she has a special liking for Qilian Mountain fresh milk.

Not only did he order fresh milk from Hexi Dairy in Guangdong Province, he also visited Qilian Ranch many times to taste the purest Qilian fresh milk.

At the same time, I also came into contact with many people who have been drinking Qilian fresh milk for a long time.

After this incident, Zhao Manling was extremely pleased with Hexi Dairy’s series of performances and actions.

The praise from netizens made her feel even more proud.

However, what attracted her most was the news from the hospital that Hexi milk powder could help sick children recover. Netizens were still skeptical about this miraculous effect, but Zhao Manling contacted Qilianshan fresh milk as soon as possible.

I thought of Mou Chen, a high school student from Lan City who I had a brief contact with at Qilian Ranch.

Mou Chen has been drinking Qilian fresh milk for more than two years, and his height has increased from 1.5 meters to 1.75 meters in these two years.

He grew more than 20 centimeters taller in two years. If this is normal, for an adolescent, this increase is not too outrageous.

But Zhao Manling had seen Mou Chen's parents, and they were not tall, with his father just over 1.6 meters tall and his mother at most 1.5 meters tall.

But Mou Chen grew to 1.75 meters tall.

At this juncture, Zhao Manling easily thought of milk.

So she began to investigate and discovered more similar cases one after another.

That evening, she compiled a table. The twenty or so samples showed that students who drank Qilian fresh milk for a long time did grow taller faster.

This gave her a burst of excitement.

I finished the manuscript overnight.

And posted it directly online.

Hexi milk really has miraculous effects - after dozens of students drank it, they grew significantly taller!
An article is about two to three thousand words long, and most of the content is specific cases like Mou Chen, with an introduction of about two hundred words for each person.

Then a conclusion was drawn: these people have the habit of drinking Qilian Mountain fresh milk for a long time, most of the time for more than two years, and the longer the time, the better the effect.

It was still late at night, but night owls exist in every generation, and soon people began commenting, sharing and reposting.

By daytime, the situation had become increasingly out of control.

It spread quickly on the Internet.

Moreover, more and more people have begun to speak out about their experiences, especially in the Hexi Corridor area, where people are close to the water and have the upper hand.

"I've heard about it a long time ago. A few years ago, families in our area who could afford it started ordering fresh milk from Qilian Mountain. In the past two years, the production capacity of Hexi Dairy has increased, and many families in the surrounding area have started ordering it."

"No wonder the students born in the 90s are taller than each other. They are only in the sixth grade, but they are much taller than me, their teacher."

"Hahahaha... When I was taking the bus in Jiuquan, I met a 1-meter-tall strong man, but he turned out to be an elementary school student."

One, two, three… One school, two schools, three schools… One city, two cities…

Although there are no specific statistics, many older teachers in the Hexi Corridor have deep feelings that their students are indeed getting taller and stronger.

A media outlet commented: "'A glass of milk a day makes Chinese people strong' is not just a slogan. Hexi Dairy has really done it."

At this point, it doesn’t matter whether there is evidence to prove that Hexi milk has miraculous effects.

What’s important is that it actually has this effect.

All product lines of Hexi Dairy have entered a period of explosive growth.

Fresh milk, organic milk, pure milk, yogurt, and sour milk...they have experienced sales booms time and time again.

Along with the crazy rush to buy, orders from distributors continued to pour into Hexi Dairy.

At this time, the powerful supply chain that Hexi Dairy had spent several years building also began to operate at full capacity.

From the vast pastures to the modern factories, and then transported to the terminal market by cold chain vehicles, they reach the hands of consumers.

Every link is running like a precision instrument. But even so, the production capacity supply has almost reached a critical point.

……

In January in the capital, the biting cold wind was filled with dust and sand, covering the sky and earth, as if it was going to swallow up the entire city.

Outside the car window, the world became blurred, and particles of sand and dust danced in the strong wind, hitting the car body madly.

In 2007, just one year before the Olympics, sandstorms were still affecting major cities.

Guo Yang just came to Beijing from Shanghai. Shanghai was also experiencing a sandstorm and it was probably the only metropolis in China that had both sandstorms and typhoons.

On the way back to the company from the hospital, Guo Yang was still recalling his previous conversation with the senior leader in the hospital.

The problem was solved so cleanly and efficiently this time, thanks to Jiahe's good relations with the upper management and smooth communication channels.

During this meeting, the top leader once again encouraged Jiahe's actions, and various policy supports will be indispensable in the follow-up.

At the same time, many dairy industry issues were also communicated, and the root cause lies in improving the quality of milk sources.

In addition to large-scale ranches, the development of the alfalfa industry has once again come to the fore.

As early as last year, a group of grassland experts led by mentor Weng Lixin and Su Guozhou from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences jointly submitted a proposal to the top leaders.

There are also many calls in society for the development of the alfalfa industry.

However, grain production has just recovered from a continuous decline, and a hasty policy change may well threaten food security.

For various reasons, Alfalfa No. 1 was finally only promoted on coastal saline-alkali land, and the main purpose was to increase arable land, not for pasture.

After this incident, milk quality and safety became a focal issue of concern to the Chinese people.

Grass industry scientists realize that to solve this problem in the long run, they must and can only start with the high-quality forage industry and ensure the quality and safety of raw milk from the source.

Therefore, experts in the grass industry have once again submitted a proposal on vigorously promoting the development of the alfalfa industry.

It is hoped that by vigorously promoting the alfalfa industry, the quality and safety of dairy cow forage can be addressed at the source.

Alfalfa is a treasure from head to toe. Feeding dairy cows with alfalfa is the most ideal technical way to convert plant protein into milk protein.

The protein conversion efficiency is high, the quality is good, and it is absolutely safe. In addition, the high-quality crude fiber of alfalfa can become an efficient source of nutrients for dairy cows...

Feeding alfalfa hay according to scientific standards can fully ensure that the milk protein rate of the raw milk reaches above 3.0% and the milk fat rate reaches above 3.5%.

These can all be achieved by connecting with the world.

The top leader read the proposal carefully and knew the importance of alfalfa.

It is imperative to promote the development of alfalfa industry.

However, how to support the development of the alfalfa industry is also a big problem. It is also difficult to introduce relevant policies and financial support in the short term.

Therefore, we can only start from the existing system, and the focus is back on the leader of the forage industry: Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

After Alfalfa's alfalfa achieved great success overseas, Alfalfa has never given up on the development of the alfalfa industry.

Even with the Alfalfa No. 1 seed, we still maintained the screening and cultivation of various excellent forage grass seeds, and gave birth to grass seeds such as Wolf Grass and Purple Arrow Pea.

A complete industrial chain has also been formed in forage agricultural machinery, processing, packaging, transportation and trade.

It has also driven the development of the alfalfa industry cluster in the Hexi Corridor with Jiuquan as the core, and the alfalfa industry cluster in the Hetao region with Wuyuan as the core.

It has driven the development of a series of forage companies including Huihuang Seed Industry, Oasis Grass Industry, Shandan Zhongmachang Grass Industry, and Yasheng Farm.

This is also the most dynamic forage producing area in the country.

In addition, although alfalfa farming and animal husbandry in Xinjiang Province, Heilongjiang Province, Chifeng and other places have relevant alfalfa industry plans.

However, because Tianhe Seed Co., Ltd. encountered obstacles in its crackdown on counterfeiting in Chifeng, Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry has not personally intervened in the other major industrial clusters.

On the contrary, the affiliated grass industry companies have made a lot of investments, and now the top management wants Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry to do more.

Thinking of this, Guo Yang looked out the window again.

There were few pedestrians on the street, everyone was hurrying along with their heads down, and the car was moving slowly, like a solitary boat, searching for the way ahead.

Guo Yang smiled and thought to himself, "Leader, you don't need me to tell you. Alfalfa has already found its own way."

When it comes to the world's largest alfalfa consumer, the United States is undoubtedly the leader.

However, with the outbreak of the dairy industry incident, the domestic livestock industry's demand for alfalfa will also enter a blowout period, and consumption will quickly surpass that of the United States.

This can be seen from the sales of straw bales by the forage company in the past two months.

The forage stocks of Huihuang Seed Industry, Oasis Grass Industry, and Binhai Salt-alkali Land were quickly sold out.

Muhe was also prepared.

In Heilongjiang Province, Chifeng, Binhai and other places, although Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry did not invest in grassland, it provided a large amount of seeds, agricultural machinery and processing services.

Without the comprehensive technical support of Alfalfa, it will take at least 10 years to achieve the effect of industrial cluster.

In Guo Yang's strategy, Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry will firmly control the Hexi Corridor and even the Northwest alfalfa industry cluster and produce the world's highest quality alfalfa.

Other regions will focus on seeds, agricultural machinery and processing to quickly promote the development and maturity of their respective forage industries.

...

After half an hour.

Guo Yang, wrapped in a black down jacket, arrived at the office area of ​​Hexi Dairy North China Factory and met Ji Zhuowen.

Ji Zhuowen made a cup of hot tea for Guo Yang, with a bright smile on his face all the time.

"Boss, Yili and Mengniu are having a price cut again. If you don't learn your lesson, you will be scolded."

"Seeing you smiling so happily, I thought you were going to report your sales performance to me!" Guo Yang said with a smile, and then changed the subject.

"This incident has had a severe impact on several major brands. The cash flow of Mengniu and Yili has obviously deteriorated."

Ji Zhuowen also said: "It is true. The sharp decline in sales means that a large amount of money will not be collected."

"At the same time, product recalls, product sedimentation and discounting in sales channels, and ongoing payments for raw milk will all lead to huge losses."

Guo Yang took a sip of hot tea. Although it didn't have the taste of Hanhai ramie, it warmed his body.

"I saw some media reports that the value of the products removed from the shelves by the two companies in the few days before the incident reached 64 billion yuan."

Ji Zhuowen said: "It may be more than that. If it weren't for the support of Hexi Dairy, the market panic situation would be even more serious."

"In addition to Hexi Dairy, some other small local brands with relatively good test results have also won the favor of local citizens."

"I heard from Wang Dingmian that several fresh milk brands in Guangdong Province have put up the slogan 'local milk, safe to drink', and the sales of fresh milk have not only not decreased, but have increased."

Guo Yang thought about it and realized that from the test results, we can see that most of the brands on the market have no problems.

It’s just that the most famous ones, except Hexi Dairy, all had problems, and the tragic conditions of the victims caused market confidence to collapse rapidly.

After Hexi Dairy stabilized public sentiment, consumers soon noticed that the quality of local milk was also good, and their confidence naturally increased.

Guo Yang said: "Show me the report data."

Ji Zhuowen smiled, trotted over to pick up the documents he had prepared earlier, and handed them to Guo Yang.

Guo Yang quickly glanced at the latest data and asked in surprise: "Daily sales have exceeded 8000 million yuan?"

Previously, when visiting infants and young children from all over the country in the hospital, Guo Yang had also paid attention to the daily sales data, which was only more than 5000 million yuan at that time.

"In just a few days, the price has increased by another 3000 million yuan?"

Ji Zhuowen smiled and said, "Yes, because of the miraculous phenomenon caused by Hexi milk powder and milk, some netizens have given it a nickname: Magic Milk."

Guo Yang was stunned. Although the name was vulgar, it was full of praise.

Ji Zhuowen said: "Some results have not yet been experienced in terms of business performance. For example, Starbucks and Unilever used to purchase milk from Mengniu, but now they come to us."

Guo Yang looked up and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Ji Zhuowen said: "Starbucks focuses on smooth taste, and pure black coffee accounts for a very limited proportion of Starbucks' sales."

"Therefore, a lot of milk is usually added to coffee. Milk is an important part of the Starbucks system and one of the focuses of local procurement."

(End of this chapter)