Pandemic gives boost to dairy consumption

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed Chinese consumers' lifestyle and dietary intake habits, with their dairy intake rates steadily increasing, said a new report released on Thursday.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Chinese consumers have shown a higher dairy consumption awareness, and maintained some good habits during the regular epidemic prevention period, according to a survey released by China Dairy Industry Association and Dutch dairy producer Royal FrieslandCampina in Beijing.

In 2019, the average daily dairy intake volume of Chinese was 237 milliliter. This year, the number reached 260ml, although still lower than the suggested volume of 300ml daily, according to Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents.

The report shows that 30.7 percent of the surveyed consumers said they have increased dairy intakes since the pandemic. The study collected information from more than 4,200 valid samples and it covered 20 cities nationwide.

Meanwhile, 11.1 percent of surveyed consumers increased their dairy intake types, with more people having dairy snacks and yogurt, in addition to liquid milk, milk powder and cheese.

"Catering to the trend of consumption upgrade, the development and production of high-quality dairy products that meet consumers' health demand is the direction of industry revitalization," said Wu Qiulin, chairman of China Dairy Industry Association.