Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued new regulations for infant goat milk formula, further standardizing the labeling of infant formula milk powder products. Currently, infant goat milk formula using bovine whey powder (commonly known as 'mixed goat' or 'half goat' milk powder) can no longer be called 'goat milk powder', leading many 'half goat' companies to consider transitioning to 'full goat' or pivoting to other niche categories. On the positive side, the new regulations accelerate the standardization and upgrade of the goat milk powder market. Brands focused on pure goat milk protein formulas can now stand out, escaping the previous chaotic competition, and focus on brand, quality, consumer service, channel cultivation, and refined operations. A large number of goat milk powder practitioners will also usher in new development opportunities. The Goat Milk Powder Trend Re-emerges: What Does It Mean for Distributors? China's goat milk market has huge potential. According to data, in 2020, the market size of infant goat milk formula exceeded 10 billion yuan, and it is expected to reach 20-30 billion yuan within 3-5 years. Currently, after more than a decade of rapid development, goat milk powder has become a significant player in the milk powder industry. Benefiting from the consumption upgrade of young maternal and infant families and the rise of quality consumption awareness, goat milk powder, with its unique product advantages, has changed the pattern of 'one cow dominating' and has become a high-end trend in the milk powder industry. In addition, policy guidance has also accelerated the development of goat milk powder. In 2013, the State Council issued the 'Opinions on Further Strengthening the Quality and Safety of Infant Formula Milk Powder', clearly stating that no enterprise may use raw milk (powder) other than cow or goat milk (powder) to produce infant formula milk powder, marking the first time the state recognized the status of goat milk in a policy document. Now, the state has once again emphasized strict regulations for goat milk powder, and the favorable policy wind has arrived again. Goat milk powder, positioned as a high-end product, has the potential to grow stronger. While opportunities arise, challenges are everywhere. In recent years, due to the continuous decline in the birth rate in China, the infant formula industry faces enormous growth pressure. Coupled with the further impact of the epidemic on physical maternal and infant stores, store traffic continues to decline, and the challenges facing the entire industry are still increasing. For distributors, on the one hand, they face difficulties such as high investment return pressure, increased competition, and difficulty in recruiting talent. On the other hand, the entire maternal and infant market has put forward higher requirements for distributors, including pressure from brands to improve distributor capabilities and pressure from downstream terminals due to the declining 'need' for distributors. It can be said that distributors in the maternal and infant industry are facing changes in the industry chain and challenges of their own transformation and innovation. Brands' Digital Exploration: What Synergistic Growth Points Are There for Distributors? Although from the performance of offline maternal and infant stores, the impact of the epidemic in 2021 has not completely dissipated, and the overall revenue of maternal and infant stores has continued to decline compared to last year, it is worth noting that family-based parenting has become a trend. The number of children per family has decreased, but families place more importance on parenting quality, and the demand for high-end parenting is stronger, with parenting expenses increasing. In addition, a notable phenomenon is that different cities are affected differently by the epidemic. Only third-tier cities in the middle have seen a significant decline, while first-tier and fifth-tier cities have seen positive growth in average store sales. Looking at the reasons behind this, it is not difficult to find that the growth in first-tier markets benefits from their strong digital capabilities and earlier transformation, so the integration of online and offline is higher, and they are less affected. Fifth-tier markets benefit from the developed small-circle economy and high user stickiness, so they are also less affected. The trend behind this is already very clear: the digital transformation of the entire industry chain, including refined user operations, has become very important for the entire maternal and infant industry. We see that compared to distributors, brands have acted earlier and more maturely. At present, many leading companies have taken the lead in digital layout. Brand empowerment to assist distributors' transformation and development has become an important topic that many distributors must face and learn. Ye Ping, Director of Innovation Category for Milk Powder at Health and Happiness Group (H&H), recently spoke at the China Goat Milk Powder Conference on the topic 'Breaking the Situation and Exploring, B&C Win-Win', sharing thoughts and explorations on Biostime goat milk powder in digital improvement, refined operations, and channel innovation co-construction. He believes that goat milk powder brands should seize structural opportunities in channels and think about how to bring more value to stores. Precisely matching resources to unique regions, managing the market well, controlling prices and goods to stabilize the market, can achieve symbiotic development with stores and enhance product value and service value. In 2019, Biostime officially entered the infant goat milk powder category, innovatively launching 100% pure goat milk protein formula milk powder - Biostime goat milk powder. After just over a year of development, in the first half of 2021, Biostime goat milk powder achieved strong growth of 71.8%, and Biostime goat milk powder accounted for 9.2% of Biostime's total infant formula revenue in the Chinese market. According to the recent third-quarter performance report of H&H Group, with the continuous advancement of the new channel expansion strategy for the goat milk powder big single product, Biostime goat milk powder sales continued to grow, achieving a strong year-on-year growth of 67.2%. According to Nielsen retail monitoring data, as of August 2021, Biostime goat milk powder performed outstandingly in the supermarket channel, ranking first. On the one hand, this benefits from the unified business philosophy of all brands and business units of H&H Group: PPAE. The first P is Premium, high-end and high-quality. High-end and high-quality material selection reflects the control of product power and raw materials; The second P is Proven, validated and effective. Biostime currently has 26 clinically validated products. Authoritative validation makes consumers more confident, and Biostime goat milk is also undergoing scientific validation; The third A is Aspirational, young, upward, and pursuing excellence. Biostime hopes to link the B-end and C-end, adhere to the young brand concept, and implement in-depth channel brand marketing strategies; The fourth E is Engaging, strengthening B-end and C-end synergy and interaction, consumer-centric, and rooted in terminal channel markets. On the other hand, Biostime goat milk powder fully explores the digitalization of the industry chain, with the core policy of fully embracing consumers, channel partners, and stores. In the practice of differentiated and precise marketing in-depth into channels, the meticulous work of consumer-centric channel marketing teams, and the exploration and practice of strict market management tools, it practices turning the store growth limit point into a breakthrough point, realizing the value reshaping of the industry chain, and achieving the digital exploration of quality growth with B&C win-win. From Biostime's overall core channel positioning, distributors and stores, as important parts of the channel, are the focus of the brand's service and empowerment. First, to meet the needs of distributors to better stick to terminals, Biostime customizes brand investment according to the characteristics of different markets, with gradient and differentiated penetration in first- to fifth-tier cities. Currently, in the third quarter, the first round of exploration has been carried out in cities such as Guangzhou, Changsha, Kunming, Fuyang, and Yancheng. Overall, it is through precise marketing investment and digital tools to help distributors and stores attract new customers and drive sales growth. At the same time, establish a complete mid- and back-office system. By importing private domain retention to stores and upgrading the Mama100 member system, it can precisely empower stores, help terminals achieve full-link customer value management for new customer repurchase, and help stores achieve quality growth of individual users. Second, to address the needs of distributors for internal efficiency improvement and organizational manpower enhancement, Biostime has equipped an independent sales promotion team of 1000+ people rooted in the channel, and a 8000+ Biostime collaborative sales promotion team, focusing on channel promotion work for the goat milk powder category, teaching distributors and store personnel to use digital tools, refine operational actions, improve service quality, and reduce costs and increase efficiency. Finally, Biostime's digital marketing system can also play a very important role in traceability and inventory control. The use of the 'follow-you-like-a-shadow' code tool effectively prevents cross-regional sales and low-price dumping, ensuring the interests of distributors. Through a series of actions around empowering channels, Biostime provides distributors and stores not only operational growth but also intellectual growth, using professional management concepts and professional personnel support to empower channel transformation, innovation, and growth. Final Thoughts: As a potential player in the high-end niche segment, the maternal and infant market's demand for goat milk powder is expanding day by day. The future of China's infant formula will definitely have broad development space for goat milk powder. At present, distributors should, on the one hand, tap their own value and find their own positioning. For example, do they want to be a professional logistics distributor, a professional milk powder operator, or a regional service provider? On the other hand, by following brands that have scale, strength, management systems, and empower channels to win together, distributors can also focus on honing their basic skills, doing the market well, achieving mutual success with the brand, and cultivating their irreplaceable value. This is also a good strategic choice. Behind all decisions, there is a need for deep insight into the industry and local operational practice. The industry is constantly changing, and distributors must have their own core competitiveness to find their own certainty in the changing market environment. Are you 'watching' me?