Our European Research and Development Center was opened in 2014 on the campus of Wageningen University in the Netherlands in the heart of Food Valley. In New Zealand our center to cover the Oceania area was founded in 2016 on Lincoln University Campus in Christchurch. These Innovation Centers connect globally in order to drive innovation for Yili.
We are the pillars of Yili’s global innovation network in our regions and work intensively with partners along the value chain in the fields of nutrition & health, product and process technology, food safety and farm management. The focus was initially on collaborations with universities, research institutes and bridging external and internal expertise. The 2018 upgrade to Innovation Centers extends our activities to building strategic partnerships with suppliers, linking with start-up and scale-up companies and create win-win relationships to deliver innovations for the market.
Yili Group is Asia’s largest dairy company and has remained the leading position for eight consecutive years. Yili retained its ranking among the Top 5 global dairy brands in 2023. The company is highly active across all dairy categories, including liquid milk, milk powder, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, and more. Beyond its core dairy sector, the company is continuously evolving its product portfolio and entering new business lines, such as mineral water, plant-based beverages, and lactic acid bacteria drinks.
In ranking of global dairy companies
Leading dairy company in Asia
Billion EUR turnover
percent reduction in CO2 per ton product since 2012
percent of households in China use Yili products
Patents
We scout for new products, innovative packaging, improved processing and new scientific insights in food safety and nutrition & health and link these to relevant opportunities for the Chinese dairy market.
We run collaborative projects with universities, institutes, innovative companies and our key suppliers.
We continuously monitor new developments in food quality and safety systems to ensure our products are up to world class standards.
We build the global Yili Innovation Ecosystem with innovative companies, think-tanks and networks to grow our outreach and continiously improve our management of collaborations.
We test and validate new ingredients and technologies and translate scientific insights to actionable opportunities for Yili.
From July 5 to 6, 2023, the Open Innovation Forum was held on the campus of Wageningen University and Research (WUR), one of the world’s to...
11 July, 2023
The 16th Global Dairy Congress was held in London, UK on June 21-22. Widely considered a “weathervane” of industrial innovation, the World ...
23 June, 2023
From June 21 to 22, the 16th Global Dairy Congress, themed “Reimagining Dairy,” took place as a platform for exchanging views on the high-q...
22 June, 2023
On May 23, Yili’s subsidiary Westland Milk Products held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of its NZD 70 million (USD 42.58 mi...
23 May, 2023
Yili Innovation Center Europe
Bronland 12 E-1
6708WH Wageningen
The Netherlands
Yili Innovation Center Oceania
c/o Department of Wine, Food and Molecular Bioscience
RFH Building, Lincoln University
Cnr Springs Road and Ellesmere Junction Road
Lincoln 7647, Christchurch
New Zealand
