Yili Group
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| Type | State-owned enterprise |
|---|---|
| Industry | Dairy |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China |
| Key people | Chairman: Mr. Pan Gang |
| Products | Dairy products |
| Website | http://www.yili.com/ |
Yili Group (Chinese: 伊利集团; pinyin: Yīlì Jítuán; full name Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Company Limited;SSE: 600887) is a privately-owned company of dairy industry in China. It is engaged in processing and manufacturing of milk products, including ice-cream, milk powder, milk tea powder, sterilized milk and fresh milk under "Yili" brand. It is headquartered in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. [1][2] Its main competitor in China is Mengniu.
The company was an official sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
[edit] 2008 Chinese milk scandal
Yili was implicated in the baby milk scandal after tests found its infant formula contained melamine. Yili recalled tainted milk powders and apologised to the public.[3] Shares in other listed dairy companies fell strongly the next day.[4] On discovery that their liquid milk was also contaminated, Yili was stripped of its status as a 'Chinese national brand'.[5]
Hong Kong and Singapore authorities ordered a recall of Yili products after 8 out of 30 tested positive for melamine.[6] Mengniu, whose product tested negative in Hong Kong government tests, and Yili liquid milk was immediately de-listed by supermarket chains after tests showed that contaminated samples had been found on the mainland.[7]
As of 18 September 2008, no one is believed to have been made ill because of the tainted yoghurt.[8] However, Hong Kong doctors found a stone in the left kidney of a three-year-old girl who had been drinking the contaminated Yili milk for 15 months.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Background of Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd.
- ^ Profile of Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Company Limited
- ^ Lee Spears, "China Revokes `Inspection-Free' Right as Milk Scandal Spreads", Bloomberg (18 September 2008)
- ^ Reuters, "Investors dump financials and dairy producers", South China Morning Post (18 September 2008)
- ^ Yili, Mengniu, Bright Dairy lose their status as 'national brands', China Central Television (22 September 2008)
- ^ Hong Kong recalls dairy products", BBC News (18 September 2008)
- ^ Paggie Leung & Mary Ann Benitez, "HK store chains strip shelves of Mengniu goods", Page A2, South China Morning Post (20 September 2008)
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7623037.stm
- ^ Lee Spears and Wendy Leung, China Milk Scandal Spreads; Hong Kong Girl Sickened (Update2) Bloomberg, (21 September 2008)
