Dissecting Feihe's "Moat": Why Is It So Hard to Imitate the "More Suitable" Proposition?

Feihe has been around for 63 years.

This brand, which claims to be "more suitable for the constitution of Chinese babies," has been constantly scrutinized and analyzed over the long years to find the success logic behind the keyword "more suitable."

Behind a deeply rooted and impactful slogan, there is no shortage of imitators. However, few brands have truly managed to cross Feihe's moat.

Why is it Feihe?

Over the decades, it has answered a seemingly simple yet actually complex question: What does "more suitable" mean? On October 14th, Feihe held a press conference on scientific research breakthroughs and new product launches for its products "more suitable for the constitution of Chinese babies." At the event, it officially announced the upgrade of its "new generation of more suitable" products and revealed plans to launch multiple new infant milk powder products in the "new generation of more suitable" category.

This is not just an update of a marketing slogan but a systematic review of its past achievements from its own perspective. The underlying logic is clear: Whether scientific research can be sustained, whether the industry can be self - controlled, and whether empirical evidence can be quantified determine the depth and breadth of "suitability."

And this is exactly what Feihe wants to prove.

63 years have achieved the "new generation of more suitable"

For a dairy enterprise, 63 years is not just a measure of time but also a deep exploration of the industry's coordinates.

Many young parents today drank Feihe milk powder when they were children, and now their children are becoming the beneficiaries of the "new generation of more suitable" products.

Since the early days when Feihe started in the Great Northern Wilderness, the brand has regarded milk powder as "a mother's cause and a cause of conscience." In 2001, it established the core proposition of "more suitable." In 2006, it launched the industry's first full - industrial - chain construction, with full self - control from forage, dairy cows to the production process. This determination to "work hard the old - fashioned way" enabled Feihe to be one of the few enterprises that remained unscathed during the industry crisis in 2008 and also became the foundation for the reconstruction of trust in the Chinese dairy industry.

After that, Feihe established the strategy of "more suitable for the constitution of Chinese babies" in 2015 and became the dairy enterprise with the highest market value in the Hong Kong stock market in 2019. Feihe's growth has been almost in sync with the recovery of the Chinese dairy industry.

Behind this generational continuity lies a deeper issue: In the globally standardized dairy industry landscape, how can Chinese brands find their own answers?

Feihe chose a slower and more arduous path. It did not follow the supply - chain rhythm of international brands nor copy overseas formula standards. Instead, it built an independent system of "milk source - scientific research - formula - verification" based on the physiological characteristics of Chinese babies.

In this sense, what Feihe really wants to convey is not just "more suitable" but also the concept of the "new generation."

On the one hand, in this category, the so - called "suitability" is more important than in any other product because it is directly related to the development quality of a baby's first few years of life.

In the context of the globalization of the dairy industry, many brands choose to source raw materials globally to reduce costs through large - scale supply chains. In contrast, Feihe started from the golden milk source belt at 47° north latitude in China. Relying on the industry's first and only "golden production area for infant milk sources in China," it arranged its pastures and built a full - industrial - chain with the standards of "traceability, controllability, and verifiability." Every drop of milk is processed from milking to powder - making within two hours, strictly ensuring product safety and freshness.

Such a process is extremely rare in the global dairy industry. Feihe has transformed its geographical advantages into strategic barriers and made "freshness" the first line of defense for its products. For consumers, "more suitable" is not just an advertising slogan but a solid guarantee of quality, such as the milk source having a protein content 20 times higher than the EU standard (≥3.5%), a somatic cell count half of the international standard, and a purity 20 times better than the EU standard, as well as the milk powder having twice the nutritional activity and six times better absorption.

On the other hand, the concept of the "new generation of more suitable" reverses the industry's past logic. For a long time, most Chinese milk powder formulas have followed European and American standards, with the implicit logic that "Western breast milk is the standard." Feihe chose to overthrow this premise from the root. Since joining the National 863 Program in 2009 and winning the bid for the "14th Five - Year Plan" national key research and development program, Feihe has assembled a "national team for breast milk research," established the largest mother - child cohort in China, covering 12 dietary and cultural regions across the country and 3,000 mother - infant samples, and built a big - data center for Chinese breast milk. Through in - depth research on the composition of domestic breast milk, Feihe has successfully made its infant formula milk powder closer to Chinese mothers' breast milk in terms of nutritional components such as protein, fat, and carbohydrates.

For example, in terms of nutritional components that promote infants' brain development, Feihe was the first to propose and verify the ratio of fatty acids in domestic breast milk, DHA:ARA = 1:1.7, and this result has been applied to all of Feihe's products. The revealed ratio of five major brain phospholipids is also closer to the level of Chinese mothers' breast milk.

These data give Feihe the confidence to make differentiated innovations in the formula that are "more suitable for Chinese babies." In other words, Feihe did not take the shortcut of "one formula for the world" but chose the slowest path.

Over 63 years, Feihe has made safety its foundation. By continuously exploring the scientific path of "more suitable," it has made scientific research its language. It has both the certainty of an industrial system and the openness of scientific research exploration. As the Chinese dairy industry gradually synchronizes with the global industry, it has chosen a more difficult path: using scientific research to find the "Chinese answer."

Why is it more suitable?

Feihe's claim of being "more suitable for the constitution of Chinese babies" is not just a brand impression maintained by a slogan but a systematic logic supported by scientific research, formulas, the industry, and data.

The concept of "more suitable" has tangible support. In the highly sensitive field of infant nutrition, the longer this chain is, the stronger the consumers' trust will be. Feihe's real competitiveness lies not in a single - point breakthrough but in a systematic "suitability project."

"Freshness" is the deepest obsession in Chinese food culture. However, in the food - industry system, it often means higher costs and lower efficiency. Most brands rely on imported bulk milk powder to pursue large - scale production. Fresh milk is transported across the ocean and then reconstituted for production.

Although this process is standardized, it is difficult to avoid nutrient loss. Feihe's proposed "two - hour ecological circle" essentially exchanges heavy - asset investment for consumers' trust dividends: From the pasture to the factory, fresh milk is made into powder within two hours, with the whole process in cold - chain transportation without interruption, and one - step powder - making maximally retains the nutritional activity.

This is a typical business decision of "exchanging efficiency for trust." Behind it is a whole set of extreme management from technology to testing, from raw materials to time. In this system, technology is given cultural significance. Feihe has transformed the Chinese people's emotional preference for "freshness" into a perceptible advantage of the product, creating high - quality nutritional products that are fresher and more easily absorbed.

If "freshness" is the external logic of the system, then "empirical evidence" is its underlying support. In the Chinese milk - powder market that has experienced a trust crisis, for consumers, manufacturers' publicity is not enough. Only empirical evidence can build trust.

In 2010, Feihe was the first in the industry to conduct clinical feeding experiments and has persisted ever since, forming the most complete and longest - cycle empirical system in the industry. In the latest clinical feeding experiment of Xingfeifan Zhuorui milk powder, the data evaluation and analysis of more than 600 infants over a two - year follow - up period in five major modules, although these seemingly cold numbers, are the results of Feihe's long - term scientific research investment and a quantitative expression of trust.

Its significance lies not in proving that the product is "qualified" but in building a self - calibrating scientific system. Through clinical verification, Feihe continuously iterates its formulas, forming a closed - loop between scientific research results and real - world feeding data. Such a mechanism makes "more suitable" no longer just the result of the enterprise's self - narration but an objective fact that can be verified by data and traced by the industry. It also provides reliable scientific data for novice parents when choosing milk powder.

Scientific research, the industry, formulas, and verification are nested layer by layer, forming a self - consistent link: a closed system. The competitiveness brought by this system is not the obvious "newness" but the inherent "difficulty."

The difficulty lies in the accumulation of time, the patience in scientific research, the continuous investment, and the compound interest of trust.

Different from most international brands that rely on a global standardized system, Feihe has almost rewritten the industrial paradigm of a "milk - powder company." It has spent decades completing a systematic verification, transforming consumers' abstract demand for "trust" into executable industrial standards.

It did not follow the mature models of other countries but rebuilt a vertically integrated self - research system in China. From breast - milk research to formula iteration, from fresh - milk technology to clinical evidence, every link points to the same goal: making the products more suitable for the constitution of Chinese babies.

Because of leadership, it is suitable

In the milk - powder industry, "leading" is never a simple adjective.

It means both the depth of scientific research and long - term market verification. Feihe has established its authority in the concept of "more suitable" precisely because it has mastered the initiative in both dimensions, making scientific research the engine of growth and the market a verification field for scientific research results.

As the leading unit of the national key research and development program on breast - milk research during the "14th Five - Year Plan," Feihe has undertaken more than 40 national - level scientific research projects, published 207 papers in total, applied for 698 patents, and participated in and issued 45 standards. Behind these numbers is an ever - expanding scientific research system: It is not limited to formula improvement but covers the entire research chain of breast milk, nutrition, and physiological development. The results of scientific research have long gone beyond the laboratory and become the practical basis for driving product iteration.

Different from most dairy enterprises, Feihe's scientific research is not isolated but built on a huge data system. For example, the aforementioned largest mother - child cohort in China gives Feihe a sufficient density of local samples, providing a dynamic scientific basis for formula iteration. More importantly, the existence of this data system has transformed the concept of "more suitable" into a scientific proposition that can be quantified and verified.

The significance of leading in scientific research lies not only in the "problem - solving speed" but also in the "right to set the questions."

In the global dairy industry landscape long dominated by European and American standards, Feihe is reshaping industry standards through scientific research innovation. From the ratio of fatty acids to the mechanism of brain development, from the breast - milk database to the full - industrial - chain traceability system, every aspect it defines is a complement to the Chinese dairy industry's scientific system.

International scientific research cooperation is also accelerating this systemization. By collaborating with top institutions such as Harvard, Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Jiangnan University to study the mechanism of early - life brain development and nutrient absorption, Feihe has published 12 papers in international journals and applied for more than 30 patents, making its innovation move from being "more suitable for Chinese babies" to a "more internationally influential Chinese solution." In the global dairy industry's competition system centered on standards, Feihe is becoming the definer in the field of "domestic breast - milk research" rather than just a follower. For this reason, Feihe has obtained three "first" certifications from authoritative institutions, including the first in domestic breast - milk research results, the first in the number of patents for Chinese infant formula milk powder, and the first brand in domestic mother - source formula nutrition.

The other side of scientific research is the market's response. If scientific research cannot enter families, it will only remain in papers. Feihe is one of the few dairy enterprises that have achieved a two - way cycle between scientific research and the market: Scientific research results are transformed into product innovation, and consumers' choices in turn feed back into scientific research investment. Ranking first in sales in China for six consecutive years, first globally for four consecutive years, and having Xingfeifan Zhuorui become the world's best - selling single product, these achievements are not accidental but are social verifications of long - term scientific research accumulation.

This model is essentially a "market logic driven by scientific research." The path of most consumer brands is "market first, scientific research later": First, seize the market share, and then use profits to support research and development. In contrast, Feihe's logic is the opposite. It first maximizes scientific research and then uses scientific research results to expand the market. This path is slower and more arduous, but once a system is formed, it becomes an irreplicable barrier. Scientific research has elevated Feihe's competition from "product differentiation" to "system differentiation."

Looking at it today, Feihe's leadership has gone beyond the scope of "milk powder." It represents the structural leap of the Chinese dairy industry from a "raw - material - based industry" to a "scientific - research - based industry." In the past, the keywords in dairy - industry competition were "cost" and "scale." Now, Feihe has made the "Chinese solution" a standard option in the global dairy industry. Scientific research, data, standards, and consumer trust together form a new competitive coordinate system.

In this competition measured by time, "more suitable" is not just an answer but also a methodology that Feihe has left for the Chinese dairy industry.

Why is Feihe difficult to replicate?

To answer the question of "why Feihe is difficult to replicate," we first need to recognize that it has changed not the competitive landscape but the "correct answer" in the industry.

In the past, the Chinese milk - powder industry has always referred to overseas standards: Global sourcing of raw materials, generalized formulas, and meeting the standards through random inspections. However, from "breast - milk research" to "biomimetic formulas," from "fresh - milk technology" to "clinical evidence," Feihe has built a systematic logic centered on scientific verification. This logic has given the industry a Chinese - style problem - solving approach for the first time.

When a brand raises the "passing line" to a "system line," it is no longer just participating in the competition but