Dutch milk powder producer Primavita grows in mainland
Primavita, a renowned infant milk powder producer from the Netherlands, is expanding in the Chinese market, vowing to offer customers healthy and nutritious products.
Primavita first made inroads into China in 2005, when its name was translated into Kangweiduo, which in Chinese means health, vitamins and quality life.
“In the past year, we have been very successful in terms of sales. The secret is to enlarge the market here, in a situation with a lot of competitors,” said Koos de Koning, CEO of Primavita. “The Kongweiduo brand is strong, as it contains a whole range of products for both babies and mothers.”
Several local farmers opened the company’s first factory back in 1912 in a small town called Heino in the east of the European country.
At first it produced butter, and later its production portfolio started to expand to include cheese, cream and milk. The factory first started to produce milk powder in 1925, and by the 1950s, large amounts of fresh milk was loaded onto carriages and transported to the factory every day to be processed into milk powder.
Now, the company sells milk powder in 55 cities across China in cooperation with many major specialized children chain stores. Its 12 products across three series can be found in more than 4,000 stores.
Only original products from the Netherlands are allowed to reach Chinese customers, whose tastes and preferences Primavita took into account before upgrading their products for the key market.
Primavita is innovating its design approach to better compete for customers’ attention on the crowded shelves, while its customer-centric business strategy aims to raise brand awareness and loyalty.
In 2014, Primavita purchased milk production company Industriele Diensten Heino to deepen its research and development in milk products. The company has integrated its international resources to create an innovative cooperation and development model, establishing a mutually beneficial relationship between China and the Netherlands in the field of infant milk formula.
The company’s Beijing branch opened in 2015, establishing it as a truly multinational trading group.
Primavita said that, amid deepened relations between China and the Netherlands, it expects to provide Chinese families with more high-quality dairy products.
Known as the beautiful backyard of Europe, the Netherlands boasts rich culture and history. Dutch people have built dams to defend its low lying land from the ocean for generations. Now, it is a coveted tourist destination where you can ride a bicycle to enjoy the scenery, take a boat along the canals, or go for a walk along the coastline.
In the town of Heino in the Zwolle area, where Primavita milk powder is produced, the climate is always warm and well-watered, which makes it an ideal place for grass to grow, for cows to produce quality milk, and for the dairy industry to prosper.
The company completed a factory renovation project in early 2015, in a bid to meet growing market demand. The project significantly improved the Primavita factories’ processing capability, which can now produce up to 20,000 metric tons of milk powder a year.
New equipment installed in the factories, with polished all-metal internal stirring machinery, is used to produce all of Primavita’s product lines, making them cleaner and safer.
From the collection of fresh milk via cold-chain transportation, to safe storage standards, the whole process is compliant with the European Union’s quality supervision system.
Primavita has also taken measures to comply with Chinese milk production standards.
De Koning said the Chinese market is the company’s strategic focus for global expansion. In the future, China will continue to receive the company’s core investment of its most competitive resources, he said.