Current situation and main problems of the hottest

Current situation and main problems of liquid milk packaging market

in recent years, the realization of liquid milk in the dairy industry, the high-value development of recycled materials is particularly eye-catching, and has become a larger and faster growing variety. Liquid dairy products include pure fresh milk, ultra-high temperature sterilized milk and fruit flavored milk. China has also experienced rapid development in this regard. While various forms coexist, there are also some problems

uht processing technology can alleviate the problem of uneven geographical distribution of milk sources in China. The emergence of sterile blow molding bottles and sterile filling technology has found a balance between improving the shelf life and maintaining the taste of liquid dairy products and maintaining appropriate costs. Multi layer coextrusion technology has been widely used in the manufacture of blow molded bottles of dairy products

China's milk industry is becoming the mainstream consumer goods of the people. The data of the National Bureau of statistics shows that the national output of liquid milk was 1245700 tons in 2000; In 2001, it was 2131400 tons; From January to June 2003, it was 2.4607 million tons. The liquid dairy research team said that it had found a solution and would be the mainstream of dairy consumption in the future. It is expected that China's dairy industry will develop rapidly in the next five years, among which liquid dairy products will be paid attention to because they are easy to drink and meet the requirements of modern life rhythm

liquid milk packaging takes on a new look

liquid milk packaging mainly includes Tetra Pak and Kangmei box for ultra-high temperature sterilized milk packaging, Tetra Pak pillow for ultra-high temperature instant sterilization (UHT) milk packaging, roof for micro microbial milk packaging, and plastic bags such as bailibao made of sterile composite film. Glass bottles are mainly used for packaging pasteurized milk, flavored milk and yogurt. PP and PS cups are the main packaging containers for sterile compound milk

according to statistics, in China's liquid milk market in 2002, bagged milk accounted for 45% of the market share, and paper brick milk accounted for 25%; 17% for plastic bottles, 7% for plastic cups and 5.5% for glass bottles; Other packages such as tin cans account for 0.5%. Various forms of packaging present the market, contributing to a new competitive situation in the packaging market

in recent years, high-end milk packaging represented by Tetra Pak has grown rapidly in the south. While the northern and central and western regions are dominated by economical milk packaging, with plastic bag packaging accounting for 70% of the whole liquid milk market, Tetra Pak's sterile pillows and sterile plastic bags are growing rapidly in the northern market, indicating that high-quality packaging is increasingly popular in the market. Tetra Pak pillow has a high cost performance ratio, and its cost price is 0.3 yuan. At present, this technology has been widely used in developed countries for fresh milk packaging, and the normal temperature shelf life of fresh milk can reach 45 days. Milk can be kept at room temperature for more than a month without adding preservatives

the roof box is beautifully printed and suitable for filling high-end products such as fresh milk, fancy milk, yogurt and lactic acid bacteria drinks with high nutritional value and fresh taste, but it needs to be refrigerated and fresh-keeping, and the shelf life is relatively short. But the cost is low, about 0.48 yuan. This package is becoming more and more popular in big cities. The sales volume of the whole roof box milk market in 2002 increased by 30% compared with 2001, reaching 410000 tons, and there was still a growth rate of more than 20% in 2003

Baili bag is a new low-cost packaging form, with a cost price of 0.12 ~ 0.13 yuan. Since the summer of 2002, this kind of aseptic composite membrane packaged dairy products has been sought after by the market. However, some insiders believe that Baili bag is only a transitional product with low grade, which will eventually be replaced by products such as roof box. Plastic bag packaging is a choice for small dairy production enterprises to reduce costs, and its cost is only 0.04 yuan. However, due to its poor image, it will gradually be eliminated by the market

at present, pasteurized milk accounts for 60%, ultra-high temperature sterilized milk 21.1% and cheese 19% of liquid dairy products in China. Among them, ultra-high temperature sterilized milk showed an obvious upward trend, mainly due to the long shelf life of ultra-high temperature sterilized milk, diversified packaging, convenient storage and carrying. Pasteurization is used for milk in glass bottles, plastic bags and roof cartons, which are common in the market. The disinfection time is moderate, which can effectively control the number of bacteria within 30000 per milliliter as stipulated by the state, and maintain the taste of milk. Pasteurized milk (bagged/house shaped) is also called pasteurized milk. After several seconds of killing bacteria at about 80 ℃, it needs to be stored in cold storage. The shelf life is generally 1 to 7 days; When the storage temperature exceeds 4 ℃, the bacteria in milk can reproduce, so it cannot be stored for a long time at room temperature

progress in liquid milk packaging technology

many experts affirmed the contribution of processing technology to the development of China's dairy market. The market share of sterilized milk is expanding because UHT processing technology can alleviate the problem of uneven geographical distribution of milk sources in China. In terms of the regional distribution of milk sources in China, they are mainly concentrated in the northeast, North China and northwest. There are few milk sources in the economically developed areas in the South and coastal areas. If UHT is not used, it is difficult for regions with high-quality milk sources to transport milk to the markets with large milk consumption in the South due to the short preservation period of milk

the progress of liquid dairy packaging technology is of great significance to large dairy production groups, but improving the shelf life is a contradiction with maintaining the taste of liquid dairy products and maintaining appropriate costs. The emergence of sterile blow molding bottles and sterile filling technology has found a balance. Blow molded sterile plastic bottle is a kind of plastic bottle which is completely sterile inside and free of yeast and other loose particles. Because the bottle mouth is sealed, this kind of bottle will always remain sterile during storage and transportation to the sterile filling machine. It is only necessary to disinfect the outside of the bottle with sterile liquid before filling, so as to ensure that the whole processing process, such as re opening, filling and secondary sealing, is carried out in a sterile state. Sterile blow molded bottles for liquid dairy products are usually made of 3 or 6 layers of HDPE

the multi-layer coextrusion technology was initially used to solve waste leftover materials, mainly to reduce the use of raw materials and recycle 10% to 30% of the materials in each container. Later, it was widely used in the manufacture of blow molded bottles of dairy products. The inner and outer layers of the 3-layer bottle are white, and the middle layer is black, which plays the role of UV resistance. The shelf life of the product is 3 months without refrigeration. EVOH barrier layer is added to the 6-layer bottle, and the shelf life of the product can reach months

in June, 2003, skanemejerief dairy company in Sweden launched a new product package with a capacity of 2 liters blow molded packaging bottles to the market. The packaging bottle is made of a synthetic resin called eco lean, calcium carbonate of more than 40% and high polyethylene. The reason why this kind of bottle is considered new is not only that the petrochemical raw materials used in it are less than 40%, but also that the additives used make it have the characteristics of fast cooling speed and enhanced hardness, which is different from the previous cartons as most of the packaging of dairy products. This new environmentally friendly resin material is not only used in food packaging in Sweden, but also recognized in the European Union. It is reported that the green manufacturing level of eco-l related enterprises adopted by the company has been greatly improved, and ean packaging bottles will replace the original dairy packaging bottles

the packaging market is too monopoly

at present, China's domestic dairy and beverage industry giants such as Guangming, Yili, Sanyuan, Mengniu, Wahaha, Huiyuan and so on use sterile packaging, which should immediately cut off the power supply, accounting for more than 90% of the market share. Yili company alone used Tetra Pak sterile bags of 1.48 billion yuan in 2002. For more than 20 years, Tetra Pak has gained more than 95% of the market share of China's filling machine market, forming a monopoly position

according to statistics, the annual consumption of sterile cartons in China is 10billion packages of packaging materials, with a price equivalent to nearly 4billion yuan, accounting for about 10% of the global market share, and increasing at a rate of 20% - 30% every year, becoming the largest and fastest-growing market in the world. In 2004, Tetra Pak's production capacity of sterile packaging boxes in China increased to 6billion packages

the packaging cost is too high

with the surge in production, the profit margin of dairy enterprises has not increased significantly, and the packaging monopoly is an important reason. Experts pointed out that in shopping malls, 1/3 of the cost of a package of fresh milk is paid for packaging. According to the listing report of Yili company in 2003, packaging accounts for 40% of the total sales cost of Yili

according to the estimates of authoritative institutions, Tetra Pak's profit margin is about 20%, which is several times higher than that of some competitors. For example, e10pak in Norway was about 6.5% in 2001 and sigcombibloc was about 12%. A domestic beverage company revealed that the company would pay 0.2 yuan for each package of liquid milk produced because the packaging was too expensive. If 250 ml brick bags are localized, each bag can save 0.1 yuan, which means that dairy enterprises can make an extra profit of 400 yuan per ton of milk. This phenomenon has aroused the attention and concern of the industry, because the high packaging cost will restrict the development and competition of the whole industry

in addition, at present, the sterile packaging of liquid milk in China mainly adopts imported equipment, which is too expensive, and the price of liquid milk is high, which restricts the healthy development of production and consumption. Experts in the dairy industry believe that as a country with "poor milk", the breakthrough to solve the development of China's dairy industry is to develop liquid milk production, and the key is to break the current situation of relying on imports for sterile packaging

reprinted from: China's food industry