Beijing, January 16, 2007 – Tetra Pak, one of the world's leading suppliers of food and beverage processing and packaging solutions, today announced the launch of the Tetra Pak 'Raw Milk Support Programme' in China.
Under this programme, Tetra Pak will implement a series of activities to support dairy farming in China in collaboration with government and non-government institutions, academics, customers and sister companies. Presented by Tetra Pak Executive Vice President Nils Bjorkman, at the “2008 China Dairy Forum” in Beijing on January 12, the programme is part of Tetra Pak’s ongoing effort to work with customers and public and private partners to support the development of the dairy industry.
As part of The Raw Milk Support Programme, Tetra Pak has formed a strategic alliance with the People’s University of China (Renda) to establish the Renda-Tetra Pak Dairy Research Centre. The centre will conduct economic studies on dairy farming in China, explore ways to support raw milk growth and provide training to officials responsible for dairy farming at the grass roots level. The activities are designed to support the growth of the raw milk industry in China.
Tetra Pak also plans to launch a Dairy Farmers School in collaboration with the Dairy Association of China later in the year. This virtual school will provide lectures and demonstrations online and on TV to improve farmers' knowledge of herd management, feeding and disease control with the ultimate goal of increasing farmer's income.
Said Wen Tiejun, an economist and Dean of the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (SARD) at the People’s University of China: “China’s dairy industry has been growing rapidly, but it faces a number of challenges, such as a loose link between dairy companies and farms, an underdeveloped market mechanism and an ineffective management system for raw milk quality. I believe that our cooperation with Tetra Pak will be complementary to each other’s resources, which will help ensure the sustainability of the dairy industry in China.”
Said Tetra Pak’s Nils Bjorkman: “The Raw Milk Support Programme is a long-term initiative to support our ongoing commitment to the growth of the dairy industry in China. Since late 2007, the dairy industry has witnessed a worldwide raw milk shortage that has caused setbacks for numerous companies. Tetra Pak is happy to see the Chinese government take immediate action to protect the interest of dairy farmers and drive up the supply of high quality raw milk.”
Tetra Pak Programmes in China
Tetra Pak has a long history of supporting the development of dairy farming in China. In 1999 it collaborated in the establishment of a School Milk Programme, which today provides two million schoolchildren with milk throughout the country. This School Milk Programme played a key role in increasing China’s raw milk production as well as helping to increase employment and income for dairy farmers.
Tetra Pak has supported school milk programmes around the world for more than 40 years. Today more than 1 billion litres of milk in Tetra Pak packages is served in schools every year to around 43 million children.