One year ago, Japan’s “3.11” earthquake, in addition to hitting the Japanese economy, also severely affected the global economy due to the disruption of the supply chain. In the Chinese market, a series of changes have also taken place in Japanese products and related industries and consumer sectors that rely on Japan to supply zero devices. After one year passed, how did Japanese milk powder, cosmetics, and Japanese cars perform? As one of Guangdong’s major trading partners, how has Japan’s trade with Guangdong changed? Yangcheng Evening News reporters combed them one by one.

Powdered milk: Meiji milk powder share plunged by 90% Although the Great Earthquake in Japan has passed a full year, this century-long earthquake has caused Japanese milk powder, which has been popular in the Chinese market, to lose almost the ability to compete with foreign brands and indigenous milk powder brands. . Data show that affected by the earthquake and nuclear radiation incidents, the market share of milk powder in the past one year has dropped by 90%. At the same time, the domestic sales of milk powder brands have grown by over 80%.

Japanese milk powder fell out of favor in China At this time, the Japanese earthquake triggered a panic of nuclear radiation, and many mainland mothers went to Hong Kong to snap up Japanese milk powder, resulting in the sweeping of many Japanese shopping malls in Hong Kong.

“A few days after the earthquake, there were indeed many parents who came to buy the Meiji milk powder that was produced before the earthquake.” Ms. Huang, who runs a maternity store, happened to have imported a batch of Meiji milk powder before the earthquake in Japan. However, she told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter to buy the tide. It only appeared a few days, and soon nobody bought it. "It wasn’t until the last two months that the last can of Meiji milk powder had just been sold out. It was also a one-on-one promotion."

Before the earthquake in Japan, many buyers purchased milk powder from brands such as Meiji, Snowprint, Morinaga and Gully from retail terminals or agents in Japan, hoarded to a certain amount, and then the shipping company focused on transporting milk powder to Hong Kong. After processing by the customs clearance company, some of the products were sold in Hong Kong, and some of them were brought to Shenzhen and sold to domestic sellers. Industry data show that Hong Kong’s import of milk powder in Japan has soared from 2006 to 2010. However, after the nuclear radiation incident in Japan, many imported food suppliers in Shenzhen have suspended the purchase of Japanese milk powder from Hong Kong. The Japanese milk powder also gradually disappeared from domestic maternal and child stores.

The Yangcheng Evening News reporter visited a number of maternal and infant stores in Guangzhou yesterday and found that most of the maternal and infant stores had already sold Meiji milk powder that had not been sold for a long time. In some of the imported food stores in the gold rush and the Tianhe River, snow and Morinaga milk powder that had been on the shelf a year ago had also been “disappeared”. Even Taobao's Meiji milk purchase was forced to stop. In the past, the first Japanese milk powder purchasing service had to give up its "throne."

According to industry estimates, the sales volume of Japanese Meiji milk powder in all channels, including parallel imports, before the earthquake was about 1 billion yuan, and it fell after the earthquake. Statistics from regular sales channels show that the market share of Meiji milk powder even fell by 90% after the earthquake. Although Meiji milk powder changed its country of origin from Japan to Australia in July last year and returned to the Chinese market, it soon encountered nuclear radiation. Last year, radioactive cesium was detected for the first time in the Meiji Step milk formula of Meiji infant formula in Japan. "Although the domestic Meiji milk powder is from Australia, but after all, the brand is still a Japanese brand, mothers have concerns when buying." Ms. Huang said.

Domestic and foreign milk powder brands have been losing ground to Japan's milk powder. Instead, imported powdered milk from Other countries has taken over. Some industry figures estimate that in the past year, more than a dozen brand new imported milk powder brands have come to Nuggets.

These foreign brands of milk powder, together with the original foreign brands and domestic brands of milk powder, have increased sales in the past year. A maternal and child shop owner told the Yangcheng Evening News that foreign brands, in addition to Mead Johnson, Abbott, Dumex, the United States from the Netherlands, milk powder sales in the past year also rose about 20%. The domestic brand Yili milk powder broke through 5.6 billion yuan last year, and high-end milk powder grew by more than 81%.

Dairy expert Wang Dingmian interviewed a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News. “Despite Meiji’s milk production moving to Australia, the psychological impact will still make this brand less acceptable,” said Wang Dingmian.