The dairy market in China serves as the pillar in people鈥檚 livelihood. It is a highly integrated industry, and at the same time, it extends from the primary industry (agriculture) to the secondary industry (food processing industry) and the tertiary industry (distribution and logistics). China, as one of the world鈥檚 largest economies, has witnessed the surge of the dairy industry, prompted by economic, social, and many other factors.
Although the vast majority of the Chinese population are lactose intolerant, because of the increasing disposable income, innovative products, changes in diet, and health awareness, dairy consumption is growing while the industry undergoes rapid development and modernization. Currently, China ranks second in terms of global dairy sales revenue after the United States and is forecasted to overtake the U.S. by 2022.
It is true that Asian people are genetically predisposed to lactase-deficiency (around 85% of people suffer from lactose intolerance in China). Older generations of Chinese who were not used to consuming dairy products in their diets are also mostly lactose intolerant.
But this lactose intolerance in China will not slow down the market. First, because to create new generations of milk drinkers, society and the government have taken several measures. Today Chinese babies are born with the ability to make lactase, which is the enzyme needed to digest the milk vector and which is lost as they grow older. Moreover, children do not stop drinking milk as they grow up and therefore continue to produce this enzyme.
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