| Type | State-owned enterprise |
|---|---|
| Industry | Dairy |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China |
| Key people | Chairman: Mr. Pan Gang |
| Products | Dairy products |
| Website | http://www.yili.com/ |
Yili Group (Chinese: 伊利集团; pinyin: Yīlì Jítuán; full name Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Company Limited;SSE: 600887) is a privately-owned company of dairy industry in China. It is engaged in processing and manufacturing of milk products, including ice-cream, milk powder, milk tea powder, sterilized milk and fresh milk under "Yili" brand. It is headquartered in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. [1][2] Its main competitor in China is Mengniu.
The company was an official sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Yili was implicated in the baby milk scandal after tests found its infant formula contained melamine. Yili recalled tainted milk powders and apologised to the public.[3] Shares in other listed dairy companies fell strongly the next day.[4] On discovery that their liquid milk was also contaminated, Yili was stripped of its status as a 'Chinese national brand'.[5]
Hong Kong and Singapore authorities ordered a recall of Yili products after 8 out of 30 tested positive for melamine.[6] Mengniu, whose product tested negative in Hong Kong government tests, and Yili liquid milk was immediately de-listed by supermarket chains after tests showed that contaminated samples had been found on the mainland.[7]
As of 18 September 2008, no one is believed to have been made ill because of the tainted yoghurt.[8] However, Hong Kong doctors found a stone in the left kidney of a three-year-old girl who had been drinking the contaminated Yili milk for 15 months.[9]