Shanghai, China, Dec. 23 - China-Biotics, Inc., a leading Chinese firm specializing in the manufacture, research, development, marketing and distribution of probiotics products, today announced it has signed contracts with two dairy manufacturers - Panda Dairy Product Co., Ltd. and Golden Sunshine Dairy Product Co., Ltd. - to supply probiotics as bulk additives for milk powder and yogurt products. Under the one-year contracts, China-Biotics will provide probiotics and related after sales support.
"We are delighted to further expand our commercial customer base with these two new additions," said Mr. Jinan Song, China-Biotics' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Over the past few months, the Chinese government has initiated a number of measures to reform the dairy industry, including more stringent testing, safety and quality control standards and support for horizontal and vertical consolidation. We believe China Biotics will continue to benefit from this improved industry environment as dairy companies adhere to the new government regulations and respond to customer demand for higher quality and higher value products."
The initial order from Panda Dairy includes 200 kilograms of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum ("LA-BB") and other probiotics, which will be added to milk powder to enhance product value. The initial order from Golden Sunshine Dairy includes 100 kilograms of Lactobacillus casei, which will be used to produce fermented yogurt. Both manufacturers have established highly recognized brands in regional markets.
"We carefully evaluate our business partners to ensure mutually beneficial, long-term working relationships. We believe that our well-established reputation and commitment to the highest standards of quality will help increase our market share in China," said Mr. Song.
In addition to the current annual manufacturing capacity of nine metric tons of probiotics for use as bulk additives and capsules, the Company expects to start operations at its new facility capable of producing 150 metric tons of probiotics per year in February 2009. Trial production will commence in January 2009.