Why does a milk-producing brand insist on conducting soil tests?

When "ESG" becomes a part of a company's brand image, more and more enterprises start to consider how to convey sustainability in different fields.

However, not many brands can give a definite answer on what specific actions are effective.

Asahi Vipin has some say in this aspect. As a brand that planned to cultivate the soil in 2003 and was established in 2006, Asahi Vipin has been operating organic agricultural products and organic dairy products for these years.

The attempts at sustainability have permeated different operational links, especially the firm model of circular farming and the entire organic line. In Laiyang, Shandong, Asahi Vipin has a 1,500-mu organic agricultural park. The land is left uncultivated for 5 years to restore its natural fertility. Asahi Vipin has its own soil research institute and conducts soil check-ups every year. This year, Asahi Vipin released the latest "2024 Asahi Vipin Soil Health Report".

The detection items in this report include: pesticide residues in the soil, antibiotics in organic fertilizers, soil nutrient detection, irrigation water detection, agricultural products, and organic certification of milk.

Conducting specialized sustainable detection on the soil is not common in the industry. However, from the various actions of Asahi Vipin, we may be able to discern the driving force for this brand to adhere to sustainability: integrating sustainability into every link of product production and operation, so as to truly move consumers to participate together.

For consumers, in the past, many brands' practice of "sustainability" was somewhat distant from individual life. After the brand permeates sustainability to the source and integrates it into offline activities, better product quality can be obtained. Such practices are an inspiration for all consumer brands.

Completing the "Cycle" with the Soil

The soil is the source that determines the production quality of dairy brands and the cornerstone of all products. In 2022, Asahi Vipin jointly released the industry's first "Soil White Paper" with Qingdao Agricultural University. Over the years, Asahi Vipin has been conducting strict multi-faceted tests on the soil, and the number of test items has been increasing year by year.

The soil, fertilizer, and irrigation water are the three basic production factors in agriculture. Regarding the safety indicators in Asahi Vipin's circular farming, Asahi Vipin's monitoring covers irrigation water quality monitoring; pesticide residue monitoring in the soil of the agricultural park; antibiotic monitoring in the organic fertilizer of Asahi Vipin's agricultural park; heavy metal monitoring in soil, fertilizer, and water, and organic certification of agricultural products and milk.

Not only that, Asahi Vipin also monitors the nutritional indicators in circular farming - this is another important influencing factor to ensure the quality of agricultural products. For this, Asahi Vipin conducts soil nutrient detection in the agricultural park, nutritional component detection of agricultural products, and health indicator detection of raw milk.

According to the test report disclosed in the "Soil Health Report", on the one hand, Asahi Vipin strives to meet the basic standards stipulated by the country, and on the other hand, it also practices its own standards and principles in the control of the product source.

For example, in the field of water resources, China has issued a number of national and industry standards. Among them, the most relevant to farmland irrigation is the "Farmland Irrigation Water Quality Standard (GB 5084 - 2021)" promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. According to this standard (GB 5084 - 2021), the source water safety detection includes 16 basic detection items, including BOD5, CODCr, suspended solids, anionic surfactant, water temperature, pH value, total salt content, chloride, sulfide, total mercury, cadmium, total arsenic, chromium (hexavalent), lead, fecal coliform count, and Ascaris egg count.

The "Soil Health Report" shows that Asahi Vipin has been testing and identifying the water source used for many years. According to the water source detection data of the Asahi Vipin agricultural park in 2024, Asahi Vipin samples and detects the irrigation water source, and many indicators meet the farmland irrigation water quality standard.

The "Soil Health Report" shows that in terms of chemical fertilizers, Asahi Vipin tested the pesticide residue situation in the soil of the agricultural park in 2024, and none of the 126 items were detected; 26 antibiotics in the fermented cow dung organic fertilizer in the park were tested, and the results showed that no antibiotics were detected. The national organic certification has tested 13 items such as drug residues, pollutants, and mycotoxins in organic milk, and the test results are all qualified.

Detection results of pesticide residues in silage corn

Detection results of antibiotics in cow dung organic fertilizer

With the soil as the source and fully ensuring the health of the water quality, Asahi Vipin's ecological circular agriculture can continue to develop healthily.

After meeting these basic safety indicators, more data in the "Soil Health Report" reveals the idea that the brand has long adhered to: to produce higher-quality products, it is also necessary to ensure sufficient nutrients in the soil.

When testing the soil nutrients, the "Soil Health Report" shows that Asahi Vipin is very "abundant" in nutrient elements such as organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus. For example, according to the grading standards for cultivated land quality monitoring indicators in Shandong Province, the soil organic matter content is divided into 5 grades, namely deficient (≤10 g/kg), relatively deficient (>10 - 15 g/kg), medium (>15 - 20 g/kg), relatively abundant (>20 - 25 g/kg), and abundant (>25 g/kg). Asahi Vipin's agricultural park has been practicing circular farming for many years, and the soil maintains a good organic matter level, and the organic matter content is at the abundant level.

In fact, ensuring organic circular farming from the source is precisely the brand's sustainability implemented from the root. This persistence is not a one-time declaration but integrates sustainability into the specific product details.

Through long-term strict testing of the soil and the release of the "Soil Health Report", Asahi Vipin maintains a "persistent" insistence on ecological organic agriculture. This has laid a solid foundation for it,换来 high-quality organic milk products, and continuously improves the organic quality of the products. Over the years, Asahi Vipin has successively obtained multiple certificates of domestic organic product certification, Japanese JAS organic certification, and American organic certification.

Currently, Asahi Vipin is also extending more high-quality product lines. In recent years, in addition to organic milk, Asahi Vipin has also successively produced some other high-quality organic agricultural products of other categories, such as organic fruits and vegetables products like strawberries, pumpkins, and corn.

The Long-Termism of a Brand

Zhang Ruifeng, who "embraces the soil day after day", has found something he likes to do and is willing to persist in doing at the Asahi Vipin Organic Farm.

As a professional farmer who studies agriculture and resource utilization, he has been deeply cultivating in the Asahi Vipin Farm for many years and now serves as a researcher at the Asahi Vipin Soil Research Institute. Zhang Ruifeng's daily routine is to have "close contact" with the soil and fruits and vegetables, such as observing the soil environment and checking the pollination situation of the latest round of fruit corn.

It is precisely because he deeply understands the meaning of long-term persistence that Zhang Ruifeng has stayed on this farm for 17 years. In Zhang Ruifeng's view, the most important thing in organic farming is the soil. Improving the soil and keeping the soil healthy can better lay the foundation for organic products.

From Laiyang, Shandong, which is two and a half hours' drive from Qingdao Airport in Shandong, many farmers, like Zhang Ruifeng, focus on the details of nature at the Asahi Vipin Organic Farm and contribute their strength.

The individual's recognition of circular farming precisely reflects how the brand practices long-termism.

In fact, at the beginning of the brand's establishment, the original intention of Asahi Vipin was to develop organic agricultural products and use cow dung to cultivate the soil to improve the natural fertility of the soil. But later, because the fertility of cow dung was not sufficient, it was decided to raise cattle by themselves, open farms and pastures, and produce their own organic dairy products.

In these changes, what remains unchanged is the concept that runs through the Asahi Vipin brand: circular farming, and natural deliciousness. For nearly 20 years, Asahi Vipin has adhered to the circular farming model and provided products through the self-circulation between its own organic farms and pastures.

The brand's products ultimately still need to be circulated to consumers. In this process, many brands are also striving to achieve a complete closed loop of sustainability.

Making Sustainability Reach Consumers

This year's Earth Day, Asahi Vipin held an "Environmental Protection Recycling · Handicraft" activity to recycle used milk cartons, achieving a connection between people, the brand, and the earth.

Starting from the natural lifestyle of the Naxi people following the rhythm and the "Dongba Paper Craft", a non-heritage ancient paper-making technique that has been passed down for thousands of years, this Earth Day handicraft workshop activity attracted many consumers to participate. At the event site, Asahi Vipin first placed an earth made of milk cartons and an "Nature Balance" environmental protection device, and at the same time invited each attending consumer to bring a carton of buttermilk and put the carton into the "Recycling Progress" measuring cylinder. Consumers can also watch the intangible cultural heritage exhibition on the spot and experience the production technique of Dongba paper to truly feel the meaning of "sustainability".

Observing the various practices of Asahi Vipin, all convey the concept of sustainability.

Recently, Asahi Vipin held a brand exhibition "Flowing Cycle" at the design360 Design Festival, bringing a piece of soil to the scene. This exhibition uses a flowing cycle to tell a story of the symbiotic relationship between people, soil, and nature to the attendees. Moreover, the attending consumers can choose a circulating slice at the scene (including fallen leaves of fruits and vegetables, pasture feed, environmental protection packaging, etc.), interact with the brand, and then take away the seeds and soil that breed new life. During the three-day event, the story of Asahi Vipin's circular farming and environmental protection and sustainability also shone brightly in this exchange.

Based on these activities, Asahi Vipin has also made some peripherals that interact with users, such as seed packs, vegetable boxes, etc. In the daily design, the organic milk packaging box of Asahi Vipin uses degradable virgin pulp paper, the ranch buttermilk series uses an environmentally friendly "plant-based carton" packaging, and the inner cup packaging also adopts a detachable mode to facilitate users to classify garbage and achieve 100% recyclability to the greatest extent.

These practices further extend the concept of sustainability to every consumer behavior and convey it to the hearts of consumers.

For consumers, they are also part of the brand image and spirit. On the one hand, the activity itself realizes the environmental protection value of recycling, and on the other hand, it also fully mobilizes the participation of consumers, allowing consumers to understand the concept of sustainability while also fully interacting with the brand and promoting long-term trust.

Whether it is soil testing or sustainable activities, they are the practical results of these concepts. In the future, Asahi Vipin also hopes to exert value in the fields of environmental protection and public welfare, and embrace sustainability with a long-termist mentality.

The above-mentioned "Soil Health Report" mentioned that in the future, Asahi Vipin will continue to practice the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", continue to take the green development path, ensure the health and nutrition of every agricultural product, and safeguard the "safety on the tip of the tongue" of the people; it will also further optimize the soil structure through organic improvement measures, improve the water and fertilizer retention capacity of the soil, increase the soil organic matter content, so that crops can absorb more abundant nutrition, thereby providing more nutritious and healthy food and contributing to human health.

Just as Zhang Lei, the manager of Asahi Vipin, expressed to the media - "When we repositioned the brand at the beginning, we did not regard Asahi Vipin as a dairy brand, but advocated a healthy and inspiring lifestyle brand." Indeed, the ultimate goal of a brand's sustainability is not only to protect the earth, produce organic and healthy products, but also to truly influence consumers, so that sustainability is deeply rooted in the hearts of every consumer for a healthy life.