Click image for details Rural markets remain the hardest hit, with merchants knowingly selling fakes. During the Spring Festival holiday, reporters interviewed in several northern provinces and regions and found that counterfeit and substandard milk is being sold in large quantities in rural areas. Some boxed counterfeit milk, due to their "high-end" appearance and lower prices compared to genuine products, have become bestsellers during the holiday season. However, these "milk" products, which tout various ranch names and calcium-boosting gimmicks, are actually just beverages, and some manufacturers even lack the qualifications to produce beverages. Industry insiders believe that counterfeit milk, by passing off inferior goods as genuine, not only defrauds rural consumers of their money but also adds hidden dangers to food safety. A variety of "Telun" products are hard to distinguish. During the Spring Festival, several "milk" products using words like "Telun" and "Jingdian" with packaging that closely resembles well-known domestic brands caught the attention of law enforcement officers from the Market Supervision Administration of Haibowan District, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia. Upon inspection, these products were found not to be milk. As of the 13th, law enforcement officers seized over 2,000 pieces of counterfeit milk in 9 varieties, labeled as "Telun Ranch," "Jingdian Ranch," "Telun Classic," and others. "These counterfeit milk products are mostly labeled as produced by Inner Mongolia Telun Shengmu Ranch Co., Ltd. Although they are marked as high-calcium milk, sugar-free milk, or walnut milk, they are not actually milk; their actual category is compound protein beverage. Some of the commissioned manufacturers do not even have the relevant production qualifications. Additionally, these beverages have false labeling of food ingredients, and the barcodes do not match the labeled manufacturers," said Wei Wei, deputy director of the Haibowan District Market Supervision Administration. Reporters saw that most of these counterfeit milk products use ranch names and calcium-boosting gimmicks. Some boldly write the two characters "milk" (牛奶) on the packaging, while others subtly mark "beverage" (饮品) in a corner. Among them, there are many varieties using the words "Telun" (特仑/特伦), such as Telun Ranch, Telun Ranch, Telun Ranch, Telun Classic, Telun Classic... making it dizzying and impossible to distinguish their relationships. During the Spring Festival, law enforcement officers from the Haibowan District Market Supervision Administration in Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, seized counterfeit milk in the market. (Photo provided by Haibowan District Market Supervision Administration) Wei Wei explained that according to the Food Safety Law, Telunsu and Shengmu are well-known trademarks, and counterfeit milk is suspected of trademark infringement. At the same time, milk and beverages are two different concepts, and counterfeit milk is suspected of false advertising. Furthermore, these products advertise as sugar-free or low-sugar, but their actual sugar content is not low, and they are almost all mixed with additives and preservatives, which could harm people with diabetes and the elderly. Due to the large quantity and complexity of counterfeit milk in the market, the Haibowan District Market Supervision Administration has filed a case, and the public security department is conducting an investigation. Bought at 20 yuan, sold at 50 yuan, small shops compete to stock them. Reporters found that small shops in rural areas particularly favor these counterfeit milk products with exquisite packaging, a big-brand look, and low purchase prices. These counterfeit products have a purchase price of around 20 yuan, but can be sold to farmers at double the price. It is precisely because of the huge profit margins that unscrupulous traders flock to them. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, at the north of Xianfeng Bridge, Shuanghe Town, Linhe District, Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia, colorful gift boxes lined both sides of the street, some stacked over one person's height, with most being milk. Seeing a reporter, a merchant approached and recommended a white-packaged "milk." This product was stacked on several boxes of Telunsu, and its packaging style and color were almost identical to Telunsu, especially the "DELUXE MILK" lettering, which was very prominent and could easily be mistaken for the real thing. When the merchant said it was 45 yuan per box, the reporter suddenly realized that the real Telunsu costs 60 yuan. The reporter repeatedly examined the packaging of this "milk" and finally found the small words "flavored beverage" in the dense text on the side. Along both sides of the street, similar counterfeit milk products were numerous, and people were coming to buy them from time to time. Reporter Wang Jing photographed counterfeit Telunsu at the north of Xianfeng Bridge, Shuanghe Town, Linhe District, Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia. On Beiyue Road, in front of the People's Hospital of Quyang County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, a dazzling array of gift boxes were moved to the street by merchants and piled into "small mountains." After careful comparison, reporters found that these beautifully packaged gift boxes contained many counterfeit products: "Telunsu" became "Telun," "Six Walnuts" became "Six-Ren Walnuts" and "Six Zhen Walnuts," and "Lulu Almond Milk" became "Chengde Almond Milk." These counterfeit products not only have similar brand names but also imitate packaging details, advertising slogans, and celebrity endorsements to deceive consumers. The female spokesperson for Chengde Almond Milk looks almost identical to the one for Lulu Almond Milk, with the same clothes, hairstyle, and even the same posture and direction of holding the cup. Moreover, merchants deliberately mix counterfeit products with genuine ones, making it difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish and easily confusing them at the time of purchase. At a wholesale store near the People's Hospital of Quyang County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, various counterfeit products are sold mixed with genuine ones. (Photo by reporter An Lumeng) At a wholesale store near the People's Hospital of Quyang County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, various counterfeit products are sold mixed with genuine ones. (Photo by reporter An Lumeng) At a wholesale store near the People's Hospital of Quyang County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, Lulu Almond Milk (left) and Chengde Almond Milk (right) are sold. (Photo by reporter An Lumeng) In a small shop in an urban-rural fringe area, reporters saw the counter filled with colorful counterfeit milk, including Telun Ranch, Jingdian Ranch, Chunxiang Ranch, Ecological Ranch... among them was the same counterfeit Telunsu as in Bayannur City. The shop owner, Ms. Wang, privately revealed that before the Spring Festival, she had stocked a large batch of these gift boxes specifically for the New Year, all produced in Shandong and Hebei. A gift box costs 20 yuan to purchase and can be sold for 50 yuan, still cheaper than Telunsu. Although they are not milk, rural people buy them for visiting relatives during the holiday; as long as they look high-end, they sell very well. "High-end gift boxes" are popular, and people are "willing" to be deceived. Counterfeit milk has become a bestseller for rural gift-giving. A wholesale store owner near Quyang County People's Hospital said that compared to genuine products, counterfeit milk looks similar but has a clear price advantage, making them popular gifts in counties and villages. The store owner said, "Telun Classic" and other high-imitation brands sell for 45 yuan, and they make a large profit in between, but consumers also find the price acceptable, so high-end gift milk sells particularly well during the New Year. At the north of Xianfeng Bridge, Shuanghe Town, Linhe District, Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia, counterfeit milk in fancy packaging is mixed among various high-end gift boxes. (Photo by reporter Wang Jing) At a small shop in Naiman Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, a customer buys two boxes of "milk," with packaging identical to the products seized in Wuhai City. (Photo by reporter Zhang Lina) Liu Hao went home for the New Year and was very angry with his parents because they had bought a pile of counterfeit food, which they ate themselves and also gave to their children and grandchildren who came home for the holiday. Even when advised, the elderly did not listen. For example, a large gift box labeled as Greek yogurt had no markings on the outer packaging, and at first glance it looked like "Ambrosial," but upon opening, it was found not to be yogurt at all, nor even milk, but a beverage completely inconsistent with the packaging. The beverage was named "Huiyuan Ranch" flavored drink, produced in Zibo City, Shandong Province. "I don't know if other vendors assembled this product new, or if it's just the manufacturer's trick," Liu Hao wanted to confront the seller, but the elderly quickly stopped him, saying, "They are all neighbors; it would be bad to make a fuss over such a small matter. Besides, it's cheap, and no one has gotten sick from drinking it." Reporters learned through investigation that the characteristics of well-selling counterfeit milk are high-end packaging and luxurious appearance, but upon opening, not only are the products fake and substandard, but the contents are also pitifully small, with little left after removing the packaging. Peng Minglin, director of the Haibowan District Market Supervision Administration in Wuhai City, said that due to the Spring Festival holiday, law enforcement is weak, and the holiday season is a peak for gift-giving, so illegal production enterprises take advantage of the opportunity to target rural consumers with weak awareness and conduct misleading sales. These counterfeit gift-box milk products cater to people's desire to save face, but in reality, they are cheap to produce and not cheap to sell, allowing merchants to reap huge profits. In the end, ordinary people spend a lot of money thinking they bought a big brand, but the product may not even be as good as sugar water, and may even be harmful to health. An industry insider revealed that counterfeit milk is abundant in northern rural areas, and Mengniu's distributors have previously reported to local regulatory authorities multiple times. Judging from the development trend, this problem shows no signs of abating, laying hidden dangers. Especially some counterfeit milk production enterprises do not even have the qualifications to produce dairy beverages, posing serious food safety risks. Milk is a sensitive food; to prevent counterfeit milk from becoming a disaster area in the vast rural areas with weak regulatory power, it is recommended that relevant departments carry out special actions to crack down on counterfeiting. Source: Xinhua Net New Distribution will hold the 2019 (5th) FMCG + Internet Conference during the Chengdu Spring Sugar and Wine Fair from March 16 to 18. This conference will focus on the topic of "Breaking the Game" , with in-depth discussions with numerous brand owners, supply chain service providers, distributors, retailers, and others. Compared to previous conferences, this summit will be fully upgraded. In addition to the original topics such as channel innovation, city distribution logistics, and distributor transformation , it will also add multiple parallel forums on new marketing cases, IP + FMCG empowerment, community group buying, and innovative retail . 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