Future Network, Beijing, July 2 (Reporter Ling Meng) A food sampling report caused the filter of the Internet celebrity milk brand Maiquer to shatter on the floor, and it was even labeled as "poisonous milk".
According to relevant media reports, the Qingyuan County Market Supervision Bureau of Zhejiang Province recently announced the 2022 4th Food Sampling Inspection situation, stating that 2 batches of pure milk produced by Maiquer were unqualified, and the unqualified items were propylene glycol , the project standard requirement is "not allowed to be used".
One stone stirs up a thousand waves. For several days, Maiquer was still at the center of a storm of public opinion and received an urgent letter of concern from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. In the consumer market, Maiquer has encountered an unprecedented crisis of trust, and questions about returning goods and rights have arisen one after another.
In the secondary market, Maiquer was also "voted with his feet" by investors. Since June 30, the cumulative increase or decrease in Maiquer’s stock price has reached -9.65%, and its market value has evaporated by more than 100 million yuan.
Caught in the "poisonous milk" controversy, Maiquer's market value evaporated by nearly 150 million yuan
Recently, it was revealed that the banned additive propylene glycol was found in milk, and Maiquer was pushed to the forefront of public opinion.
On the evening of June 30, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange issued a letter of concern to Maiquer, asking it to explain the specific situation of the relevant food sampling and inspection results, whether the company would recall sold products and remove related products from the shelves, and whether this matter would affect the company's daily life. have a significant impact on production and operations, etc., and self-examine whether other batches of the company's products have the above problems or other quality problems.
Shenzhen Stock Exchange issued a letter of concern to Maiquer
html On July 1, Maiquer issued a public statement on the situation that two batches of pure milk failed to pass the sampling inspection. But what is interesting is that in this announcement, Maiquer wrote the signing date as July 1, 2021. Therefore, he was ridiculed by a large number of netizens, questioning it as "too casual" and "not taking it seriously."Subsequently, Maiquer issued an announcement with a revised signature date, stating that the two batches of products involved in the random inspection results have been removed from the shelves and sealed, and are actively accepting consumer appeals. The local regulatory authorities have also entered the company, and the company is fully cooperating with the testing agency to carry out comprehensive sampling testing of related products. The company will announce the test results to the public as soon as possible.
After this incident, Maiquer is also in a deep trust crisis in the consumer market. "Xinjiang Maiquer pure milk is unqualified", "Maquer removed two batches of unqualified products from the shelves", "Maquer Announcement", etc. Entries have been trending on Weibo one after another. On the
social platform, a large number of netizens posted questions saying that Maiquer "does not pay attention to product quality" and "didn't care about it after the Li Jiaqi live broadcast room became popular and lost its original intention." On the other side of the public condemnation, some netizens pointed the finger at the topic of "poisonous milk". One netizen posted, "McQuer milk is poisonous. Can other milk be drunk? Everyone says it tastes good. Is it because of food additives?" Taste? "
Social platform netizens questioned
What is the "propylene glycol" that has caused Maiquer to get into public opinion? In this regard, senior dairy industry analyst Song Liang said in an interview with a reporter from Future.com that propylene glycol is an additive that is widely used in food, chemical industry and other fields and has a wide range of uses. "According to relevant regulations, it is prohibited to add propylene glycol to milk. Excessive intake of this substance may damage the body's kidneys and other functions. In severe cases, it may cause poisoning, affect the nervous system, and cause slowed breathing and loss of consciousness. etc. "
Song Liang pointed out that if the intake of propylene glycol is small, it will be excreted through the human body's digestive system and will not cause related problems. "Judging from the propylene glycol content (0.32 g/kg) detected in the two milks involved, the measurement is small and basically does not cause harm to the human body."
It is worth noting that, affected by the "poisonous milk" controversy , in the secondary market, Maiquer also encountered a crisis of confidence from investors. On the day of the incident (June 30), Maiquer's stock price dropped to the limit at the opening. As of the close of trading on July 1, the cumulative increase or decrease reached -9.65%, and the total market value was 1.395 billion yuan, which was nearly 150 million yuan evaporated from the day before the incident (June 29).
Is the dream of “high-end milk” broken? R&D investment is less than 1%
Compared with established dairy brands such as Mengniu and Yili , Maiquer had a relatively low reputation in the market. Before the "poisonous milk" scandal, some consumers did not even Know this brand. In fact, Maiquer is a Xinjiang dairy industry with a history of nearly 20 years.
Public information shows that Maiquer started as a small food production workshop in Xinjiang. The initial business scale only had one oven and five workers, and mainly produced baked goods. In 2002, founder Li Yuhu sensed business opportunities in Xinjiang milk and established Xinjiang Maiquer Dairy Co., Ltd. (now renamed Maiquer Group Co., Ltd. ).
With its unique geographical location and milk source advantages, Maiquer has gained popularity in western cities such as Xinjiang, and has actively built fresh milk production lines and dairy breeding bases. It was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2014.
However, Maiquer, which has successfully entered the capital market, has not had smooth business performance. Financial report data shows that Maiquer's operating income increased from 321 million yuan in 2014 to 1.146 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of nearly 3.6 times. However, net profits have been on a downward trend for many years. In 2018 and 2019, Maiquer was in a state of loss and was once on the verge of delisting.
In 2021, Maiquer is still in the dilemma of increasing revenue but not profit. The 2021 financial report shows that during the reporting period, operating income was 1.146 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.93%; net profit was 18 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 65.01%.
Regarding the growth of operating income, Maiquer made special explanations in the 2021 financial report. The four major business categories of dairy products, baked goods, holiday foods, and other products have all achieved improvements, among which the dairy product category is especially important. Contributed 57.75% of operating income.
It is worth noting that in order to enhance the brand reputation in the domestic dairy industry, Maiquer has been making great efforts in brand marketing in recent years to find a way out. Future.com reporters noticed that starting from 2021, Maiquer has opened brand live broadcast rooms on Douyin, , Tmall, and other platforms, intending to promote product promotion through live broadcasts to bring goods.
Image source: Maiqu'er Douyin official account
According to incomplete statistics from Future.com reporters, since August 2021, Maiqu'er has broadcast more than 600 live broadcasts on the Douyin platform. In the short videos released on the Douyin platform, it also frequently mentions words such as "snowy milk", "a gift from Tianshan Ranch" and "consistent quality for thirty years", playing up the "regional card".
In addition, in the 2021 financial report, Maiquer also mentioned the word "high-end" many times, and stated in the future development prospects that it is necessary to "lock in the high-end and ultra-high-end needs of the domestic dairy market" and "adopt experts" Brand positioning "to create the best milk in China".
Judging from the results and feedback, live streaming is indeed miraculous. It is reported that in the Tmall dairy product list of "Double 11" in 2020 and 2021, Maiqu'er's ranking jumped from ninth to the top five; in the just past "618 promotion", Maiqu'er It also ranks first among the top 10 pre-sales of Tmall liquid milk room temperature dairy brands.
What follows is a “rising tide” in marketing expenses. Financial report data shows that in 2021, Maiquer's sales expenses climbed from 103 million yuan in 2020 to 123 million yuan, an increase of 19.95%. Correspondingly, its R&D investment in 2021 is only 50 million yuan, a decrease of 1.22% from 2020, accounting for only 0.45% of total revenue, and its R&D investment in recent years has accounted for less than 1%.
Maiquer is deeply involved in public opinion turmoil: Or is he suffering from a crisis of trust?
In recent years, due to its unique geographical advantages, the popularity of "Xinjiang milk" has increased sharply, and it has been greatly sought after by consumers. Maiquer is one of the brands enjoying the dividends of "Xinjiang milk". After combing through, reporters from
Future Network found that in addition to Maiquer, "Xinjiang milk" brands have emerged in the consumer market in recent years, such as "Ximu Tianshan", " Tianrun ", "Garden", "Tianshan Qing", "Xiyu Chun" and other brands were launched one after another. On social platforms such as , Xiaohongshu, , there are more than 20,000 related grass-planting posts, and some of the posts also carry comments such as "the light of domestic milk" and "treasure milk".Public data released by
data analysis platform Star Map Data in April this year shows that the sales of "Xinjiang milk" in B2C channels such as JD.com, Tmall, Pinduoduo, increased from 400 million yuan in 2020 to 780 million yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 92.6%, and is rapidly seizing the market share of the milk category.
"Xinjiang Milk focuses on characteristic regional marketing. The unique geographical environment and high-quality pasture resources have given Xinjiang Milk unique product characteristics and quickly stood out in the differentiated product layout." Song Liang told a reporter from Future.com.
It is worth noting that in the capital market, "Xinjiang milk" has also triggered a wave of capital pursuit. Tianyan Check shows that in recent years, well-known Xinjiang dairy companies Tianrun Dairy (600419.SH) and Western Animal Husbandry (300106.SZ) have received several rounds of investment and financing. Among them, Tianrun Dairy completed three rounds of private placement in 2021 alone, with investors including Hengxing Group, Tianshan Fund, etc. Western Animal Husbandry also completed a round of private placement in 2020, with Huatai Securities as the investor.
However, just as the market popularity of "Xinjiang milk" is steadily increasing, Maiquer's "poisonous milk" scandal has caused the quality of the "Xinjiang milk" subcategory to be questioned by public opinion. Many people in the industry have asked whether Maiquer's controversy will trigger a chain effect and affect the public's view of "Xinjiang milk"?
In this regard, Song Liang said that due to the impact of this incident, the Maiquer brand will be affected in the next two to three years, and the brand reputation will be greatly damaged, and this may also affect the entire "Xinjiang Milk" field. "The impact of food safety issues on a company is undoubtedly huge. Maiquer's turmoil may affect the credibility and status of other Xinjiang milk brands in the minds of consumers."
