Foreign firms to gain from crisis

Foreign manufacturers of baby milk formulas are set to benefit from the scandal surrounding locally made products, an industry expert said yesterday.

Chen Lianfang, an analyst with Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants said that with confidence in Chinese brands in tatters, the market dominance of foreign brands will be further consolidated over the next year or two.

According to figures from the Dairy Association of China (DAC), the four bestselling baby milk formulas in China all come from overseas producers, which dominate the top end of the market with sales of about 5 billion yuan ($730 million) a year.