---
title: "Internet-famous brand 'Adopt a Cow' leverages 'adoption model' to go viral, plans A-share IPO"
description: "According to the latest news, the internet-famous dairy brand 'Adopt a Cow' (认养一头牛), which gained popularity through its adoption concept, has recently begun its push for an A-share IPO. On October 14, the filing documents for the initial public offering and listing guidance of Adopt a Cow Holding Group Co., Ltd. were published on the website of the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau. The documents show that CITIC Securities is the guidance broker, with the guidance period roughly from September 2021 to April 2022. Since its establishment nearly seven years ago, Adopt a Cow has completed three rounds of financing, with the latest round occurring in April this year, involving investors such as KKR, DCP Capital, Haibang Fenghua, and Guanghe Investment."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2021-10-19"
language: "en"
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# Internet-famous brand 'Adopt a Cow' leverages 'adoption model' to go viral, plans A-share IPO

> According to the latest news, the internet-famous dairy brand 'Adopt a Cow' (认养一头牛), which gained popularity through its adoption concept, has recently begun its push for an A-share IPO. On October 14, the filing documents for the initial public offering and listing guidance of Adopt a Cow Holding Group Co., Ltd. were published on the website of the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau. The documents show that CITIC Securities is the guidance broker, with the guidance period roughly from September 2021 to April 2022. Since its establishment nearly seven years ago, Adopt a Cow has completed three rounds of financing, with the latest round occurring in April this year, involving investors such as KKR, DCP Capital, Haibang Fenghua, and Guanghe Investment.

According to the latest news, **the internet-famous dairy brand 'Adopt a Cow' (认养一头牛), which gained popularity through its adoption concept, has recently begun its push for an A-share IPO.**

On October 14, the filing documents for the initial public offering and listing guidance of Adopt a Cow Holding Group Co., Ltd. were published on the website of the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau. The documents show that CITIC Securities is the guidance broker, with the guidance period roughly from September 2021 to April 2022.

Since its establishment nearly seven years ago, Adopt a Cow has completed three rounds of financing, with the latest round occurring in April this year, involving investors such as KKR, DCP Capital, Haibang Fenghua, and Guanghe Investment.

As a new brand skilled in online marketing, Adopt a Cow currently achieves annual sales of around 2 billion yuan. Selling pure milk, yogurt, cheese sticks, and milk powder at higher prices than traditional brands, and frequently collaborating with major brands, Adopt a Cow continuously captures consumer attention in innovative ways.

**Relying on marketing models to make the brand 'go viral'**

Adopt a Cow was founded in 2016 by Xu Xiaobo, a former real estate industry professional. According to its Tmall flagship store website, Xu's original intention stemmed from an experience in 2012 when he was bringing milk powder from Hong Kong for his son. Unaware of the 'purchase restriction order,' he exceeded the limit of two cans and was detained by Hong Kong customs.

Thus, in 2013, Xu decided to build a ranch. In 2014, he imported 6,000 Holstein cows from Australia and invested 460 million yuan to establish the first ranch, 'Kanghong Ranch,' in Gucheng, Hebei, with 60,000 mu of supporting pasture. Subsequently, in 2016, the 'Adopt a Cow' brand was officially established, implementing an integrated business model of large-scale dairy farming, dairy product processing, and online and offline sales.

In just a few years, it seized opportunities in **content self-media, private domain traffic, and live streaming**, developing into a new brand with **over 25 million fans and over 11.9 million members across the internet.** Initially accumulating sales through private domain traffic, Adopt a Cow began appearing frequently in live streams of major influencers. For example, its pure milk, yogurt, and milk powder were regulars in Viya's live streams.

In fact, since its founding in 2016, Adopt a Cow has risen rapidly, creating one miracle after another.

In 2019, overall sales exceeded 500 million yuan; in 2020, during the first hour of Tmall's 618 shopping festival, Adopt a Cow's overall transaction volume grew over 600% year-on-year; during the 2020 Double 11, 'Adopt a Cow' became the first dairy store on Tmall to exceed 100 million yuan in sales, ranking No.1 in flagship store sales.

This Double 11, in addition to live streaming on its official flagship store on WeChat, Adopt a Cow also joined Viya's Double 11 product selection. On October 13, 'Hand Speed Festival' day, Viya featured Adopt a Cow's room-temperature yogurt in her live stream, priced about 25 yuan cheaper than the official flagship store.

Besides relying on top influencers, Adopt a Cow also advertises on platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Toutiao, Zhihu, and Douyin to attract consumers, successfully building a multi-ecosystem layout.

To become an internet-famous brand, the conventional approach is to put the product forward, but Adopt a Cow's approach is to make its cows the stars, always shouting the slogan **'Good cows, good milk'** (奶牛养得好、牛奶才会好).

**Core philosophy remains consistent**

Behind these achievements, the **'adoption' concept** has played a crucial role. **'Buying milk is not as good as adopting a cow'** has become the core slogan of Adopt a Cow's brand promotion.

In May 2020, Adopt a Cow formally proposed the 'adoption' concept. In fact, Adopt a Cow does not let consumers personally 'adopt' a cow to obtain milk from a specific cow, but rather offers consumers **cloud adoption, co-branded adoption, and real-name adoption** three models. Consumers can experience the adoption model through cloud cow-raising mini-games and the cow-raising partner model.

**The first is cloud adoption,** similar to the previously popular 'cloud cat raising.' The difference is that Adopt a Cow users can watch ranch updates and live streams through Taobao or WeChat mini-program games.

**The second is co-branded adoption.** Users purchase IP co-branded cards, such as quarterly, semi-annual, or annual cards, to obtain co-branded adoption rights, enjoying regular fresh product home delivery and themed member customization benefits.

**The third is real-name adoption, becoming a cow-raising partner.** This model is fundamentally about traceability, allowing consumers to control milk quality from the source.

However, across the industry, to emphasize high-quality milk sources, all companies present the **transparency and traceability** of their production processes. But Adopt a Cow is unique in highlighting these details, having previously profited from consumers' perception gaps.

Adopt a Cow's best-selling products are pure milk and room-temperature yogurt, and the identity of being a cow raiser gives Adopt a Cow an endless stream of new stories to tell.

On April 2 this year, after nearly five years of rapid development, the new dairy brand 'Adopt a Cow' upgraded its logo for the first time comprehensively. The new logo, with a simpler and more recognizable image, **conveys the brand philosophy 'Good cows, good milk' to users.**

The overall shape and angle are the biggest changes in the new logo. The two straight lines at the top have become more streamlined arcs, and their position has changed from tilted to upright, making the new logo's shape more similar to a cow's 'ear tag.'

**The 'ear tag' is the 'ID card' of each cow on Adopt a Cow's ranch.** As soon as a calf is born, it is attached to their ear. Through ear tags, electronic chip ear tags, and SCR smart collars, the ranch can better record each cow's daily information and manage each cow.

For Adopt a Cow, being able to 'break out and debut' also stems from its consistent adherence to the **development philosophy and product quality of 'good cows, good milk,'** with the recognition and word-of-mouth accumulated among consumers occupying the 'C position' in public opinion.

**Creating product differentiation**

Adopt a Cow's current product portfolio mainly includes pure milk, yogurt, cheese sticks, and milk powder, as well as external sales of fresh milk.

Among them, the company **focuses on the development and marketing of differentiated and high-end products.** Based on the refined operation of modern, large-scale dairy farming, it has launched 'A2β-casein pure milk' products based on 'A2-type cows' and 'Jersey cow pure milk' products based on the precious 'Jersey cows.'

In recent years, **A2β-casein has become a major hotspot in dairy consumption.** According to a report by Fior Markets, the global A2 milk market will reach $21.4 billion by 2026.

This has attracted more and more powerful domestic dairy companies to increase their presence in this field. Currently, well-known domestic dairy companies such as Mengniu, Sanyuan, and New Hope Dairy have all made arrangements in this area.

To produce better A2 milk that is more suitable for consumers, Adopt a Cow launched its A2β-casein milk at the end of 2020, screening Holstein cows from its own ranch, selecting about 2,000 purebred A2 cows from 10,000.

In addition, it recruited over 1,000 consumers online and held offline new product co-creation sessions to communicate deeply with consumers, ultimately finalizing the positioning of the A2 milk new product.

In fact, Adopt a Cow's A2β-casein pure milk contains 3.3 grams of protein per 100 grams, which is not particularly high compared to most dairy products. Even ordinary pure milk from Mengniu and Yili can reach 3.2 grams per 100 grams, and the latter's unit price is lower than Adopt a Cow's.

Previously, industry experts also stated that A2β-casein milk, which has little nutritional difference from ordinary milk, is not necessary for everyone.

We know that different brands of pure milk **do not differ much in taste, and protein content is the main factor determining quality, which also determines product price.**

A2β-casein pure milk, marketed as 'close to breast milk' and aiding digestion, is typically seen as a choice for brands to position in high-end milk. Currently, A2-type milk on the market, besides several overseas brands, has been launched early by Mengniu's Daily Fresh, Bright Dairy, and Sanyuan, **with unit prices reaching 2-3 times that of ordinary pure milk.**

However, there are currently limited brands focusing on A2 milk, so packaging newer marketing concepts and targeting scarce cow breeds are seen as breakthroughs by major dairy companies. **As a new brand entering the market, Adopt a Cow is also seizing this relatively small market early.**

**Continuing to seize blank areas not covered by other brands,** Adopt a Cow quickly launched a new product line, importing over 3,000 rare Jersey cows from overseas, and in April this year launched Jersey pure milk with 3.8g/100ml protein, claiming to be the 'Hermès' of milk.

**Committed to building the first digital and intelligent dairy brand**

From the continuous advancement of the full industry chain layout and innovative brand strategy to the soaring sales performance, the secret to Adopt a Cow's explosive user growth is a new incremental model: controlling quality and efficiency on the supply side, creating participatory consumption experiences on the user side, and deeply cultivating channels while combining both ends, **achieving a high degree of integration of product power, brand power, and channel power.**

**To effectively implement the adoption model, Adopt a Cow has specially built a transparent ranch.** Users can not only watch live broadcasts of the ranch 24 hours a day, but also bring their families to the ranch for activities such as adopting cows and parent-child tours. They can even use digital and intelligent technological means to truly enjoy visible feeding, visible production, and visible delivery products and services.

**Being friends with users yields direct and authentic feedback.** Every year, Adopt a Cow's ranch receives nearly 10,000 users from various platforms, allowing users to witness the birth of a good glass of milk from the source. **The direct sensory experience and inner consumption experience of the transparent ranch can maximize their satisfaction and sense of identity.**

At the same time, Adopt a Cow has also connected its **CRM system, achieving a complete link between users and the brand.** Not only does it keep pace with the times in user acquisition and daily activity operations, but it has also successively launched cloud cow-raising mini-games, AR mini-games, and a membership periodic purchase service system, fully utilizing intelligent information tools to bring the brand closer to users.

**A series of digital and intelligent marketing combinations, consistent with the brand's DNA, are strongly supported by the brand's digital intelligence behind its counter-trend growth.**

Adopt a Cow's preparation for listing undoubtedly provides more confidence to new consumer brands and entrepreneurs. Finally, we look forward to Adopt a Cow becoming a typical representative in the new consumption field in the future, making the enterprise bigger and going further.

**Are you 'watching' me?**


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