达能中国停售“可瑞康”

Danone has confirmed plans to stop selling its New-Zealand-made Nutricia Karicare infant formula brand in China, causing concern on social media about the safety of Karicare products. The company says, however, that it made the decision in order to focus on developing two other brands for the China market.

When a New Zealand newspaper announced the news, rumors exploded on local web sites and instant messaging aps. One spoke of what it said were "overwhelming threats" from fake products, while another charged the original product was being adulterated ten times before going on sale locally. To reassure frighted parents, the company last week issued a statement saying "Danone Nutricia has stopped supplying Karicare in line with the company's strategy on Aptamil and Nutrilon."

Zou Yongming is the CEO of China's leading baby care e-commerce website muyingzhijia and has worked with Danone. He confirms the withdrawal wasn't anything sudden, and has nothing to do with fake milk powder.

"Since the end of last year, the demand for Karicare has been reduced, and Danone has to promote other brands like Aptmail. This doesn't have any connection with fake products. As for the rumor that one ton of milk power was made 10 tons for sale, I think other platforms are exagerating. According to my experience in the industry, the proportion of fake products in the market is very limited," he said.

Zou believes that the withdrawal of Karicare is mainly the result of a company strategy shift. At its prime, Karicare ranked 2nd and 3rd on his website in 2011 and 2012. In 2013 the demand for Karicare dried up, however, following a fake botulism scare regarding New Zealand diary producer Fonterra.

In August 2013, New Zealand Fonterra said it had found a potentially fatal ingredient in a range of products sold by several companies, including Danone. After Danone recalled its Dumex and Karicare products, the scare turned out to be a false alarm. But it did cause distrust among Danone consumers. The sales on our website were cut half. I think Danone also started to think about the situation. But also Danone owns so many brands, many of which are very similar and compete with each other, so I think after the Fonterra incident, it's a wise decision for Danone to withdraw Karicare from China.

At the moment, no Danone products sold in China are from Fonterra, but instead are sourced in Europe, Aptamil from Germany and Nutrilon from the Netherlands. Many families attached to Karicare products rarely buy them in China, however. Instead, they buy it from overseas.

"To me, the effect is limited. I don't even know much about the news regarding Karicare. I ask my friend to mail me Karicare from Australia for my two children," said a buyer.

We have also spoken to professional buyers from overseas, who say they were not much affected by the reports. In any case, they are more concerned about the upcoming postal tax reform. From April 8, buyers of all imported goods purchased online from overseas must pay an extra value-added tax in addition to a consumption tax, which will substantially increase the price of mother and baby products ordered from abroad.