11 Core Milk Proteins 100% Self-Developed! Feihe Defines New Heights of Milk Proteins with Chinese Innovation

Listing | Zhongfang Network

Review | Li Xiaoyan

With the in-depth advancement of Healthy China construction, the nutritional needs of the population are shifting from basic supplementation to a new stage of precision, functionality, and personalization. High-quality milk protein has become a core track in the nutrition and health field. Currently, the global milk protein market is steadily expanding, with consumers demanding higher quality, absorption efficiency, and adaptability. However, China’s dairy industry has long faced structural challenges such as heavy reliance on imported raw materials, insufficient deep processing capabilities, and a shortage of precise nutritional supply. These issues pose dual challenges to supply chain security and public nutrition. As a leading enterprise with over sixty years of deep cultivation in China’s dairy industry, Feihe leverages its strong foundation in infant formula nutrition, focusing on the strategic direction of independent milk protein production for all ages. Through source control, technological breakthroughs, and product innovation, it aims to solve the “bottleneck” of raw material dependence, build a comprehensive nutrition supply system covering the entire lifecycle, and use Chinese manufacturing to safeguard national health and promote high-quality industry development.

As the public’s nutritional demands upgrade, precise protein nutrition has become an urgent need of the era. With a full awakening of health awareness, the public’s understanding of protein is no longer limited to “adequate supplementation,” but increasingly focuses on “high quality, good absorption, and suitability for oneself.” Data shows that there are significant structural deficiencies in protein intake among Chinese residents: teenagers have a monotonous intake, adults lack high-quality protein, and middle-aged and elderly groups experience nutritional deficiencies due to decreased digestion and absorption capacity. “Hidden hunger” of protein has become a key factor affecting national health. As a high-quality complete protein containing all essential amino acids, milk protein is an ideal choice to address these nutritional gaps. However, China’s key raw materials such as whey protein and lactoferrin have long depended heavily on imports, making the supply chain vulnerable. Meanwhile, the industry structure is unbalanced, with too high a proportion of liquid milk and insufficient supply of high-value-added deep-processed products. The inefficient conversion of milk sources further exacerbates the mismatch between nutritional supply and market demand.

In response to industry pain points and public needs, Feihe regards independent innovation in milk protein as a core strategic focus. It builds a solid foundation through full industry chain deployment. Milk source is the origin of milk protein quality. Feihe is rooted in the 47°N golden milk source belt, establishing large-scale, standardized proprietary farms. From forage planting and dairy cow breeding to fresh milk collection, strict control is maintained throughout the entire process to ensure natural purity and balanced nutrition, providing high-quality raw materials for deep processing. Relying on a complete integrated agricultural and pastoral industry cluster, Feihe has built a “2-hour fresh ecological circle” to enable rapid processing of fresh milk, maximally preserving the natural activity of milk protein and establishing a product quality advantage from the source.

Technological independence is key to breaking foreign monopolies and achieving industry breakthroughs. Feihe has long focused on deep processing technology R&D for milk protein, undertaking national “Twelfth Five-Year” and “Fourteenth Five-Year” science and technology support projects. It has partnered with top domestic and international research institutions to establish an industry-university-research innovation system, forging a path of “independent R&D, independent production, and controllable technology.” Over the years, Feihe has continuously broken through core processes, establishing multiple domestically first-of-its-kind large-scale production lines for demineralized whey, lactoferrin, small-molecule hydrolyzed milk protein, casein, and more. It has overcome key technologies such as low-temperature separation, targeted enzymolysis, and fresh extraction, achieving 100% self-reliance in the R&D and production of 11 core milk protein raw materials, completely reversing dependence on imports. This has built a complete technological ecosystem of “frontier breakthroughs—technology reserves—commercialization.”

The world’s first fresh extraction active milk protein process is a hallmark of Feihe’s technological innovation. This process revolutionizes traditional milk protein extraction by directly and precisely extracting active proteins from fresh raw milk, avoiding nutrient loss caused by multiple processing steps. Using low-temperature physical technology, it retains the natural activity and purity of the proteins, enabling a leap in milk protein quality. Additionally, Feihe has established the industry’s first fresh raw material traceability system, utilizing digital means to achieve full transparency and traceability from farm to product, allowing consumers to directly perceive quality confidence and demonstrating industry leadership with solid strength.

From infant formula to full lifecycle nutrition, Feihe empowers all-age populations with infant-grade nutritional standards, using precise nutrition to address health issues at different ages. Relying on long-term research in breast milk and infant nutrition, Feihe has built a global research network focused on the physical and nutritional needs of the Chinese population. It has developed a full product matrix covering early life, children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly, ensuring professional nutrition benefits every family. For middle-aged and elderly groups with weak digestion, muscle loss, and bone health concerns, Feihe has spent seven years and over 3,000 experiments developing patented small-molecule milk protein enzymolysis technology, converting large-molecule proteins into easily absorbed small molecules, combined with joint muscle and bone formulas for efficient nutrient utilization. These technologies have won top industry scientific awards and received high market recognition.

To meet the nation’s nutritional supplementation needs, Feihe continues to expand its product boundaries, launching fresh extract milk protein nutritional powders tailored to Chinese physiques. These products feature formulas with zero lactose, high dietary fiber, and patented probiotics, balancing nutrition and tolerability, providing high-quality solutions for lactose-intolerant and daily nutrition supplement consumers. In the field of nutritional compositions, Feihe has laid out multiple patented technologies in immune regulation, bone health, and gut care, building a solid technological moat. Continuous innovation drives product iteration to meet the diverse nutritional needs of the population.

Industry prosperity ensures people’s well-being; technological strength makes a nation strong. Feihe’s independent innovation in milk protein not only breaks through its own development bottlenecks but also provides a replicable path for China’s dairy industry transformation and upgrading. National People’s Congress deputy and Feihe chairman Leng Youbin emphasizes that promoting supply-side upgrades and strengthening public nutrition science are vital measures to practice the “big food” concept and support high-quality population development. Feihe is actively transforming technological advantages into industry and product advantages, making independent, controllable high-quality milk protein a solid foundation for national health.

From deep cultivation in infant formula to full-age nutrition deployment, from breaking raw material monopolies to leading technological innovation, Feihe’s sixty-plus years of perseverance exemplify the responsibility and commitment of Chinese dairy enterprises. On the journey toward a Healthy China and a strong dairy nation, Feihe will continue to focus on technological innovation, full-age nutrition, deepen its milk protein industry layout, enhance core competitiveness, and nourish the public’s health with independent high-quality proteins. It will leverage industry strength to propel China’s dairy industry onto the global stage, writing a new chapter of high-quality development for Chinese brands with craftsmanship and technology.