Both are dairy giants that went global from Hohhot. Mengniu and Yili have always been compared on the same stage. In terms of marketing, Mengniu created phenomenon-level marketing by naming "Super Girl" and became a household brand. Later, Yili became the only senior dairy sponsor of the Shanghai World Expo; the two also "followed each other" in the product line, occupying a long-term position. It ranks first and second in China’s liquid milk market. In 2019, Mengniu turns 20 years old and has been fighting with Yili for 20 years.

Back in March this year, Mengniu Dairy released its 2018 results, with total annual revenue of 68.977 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%, and net profit of 3.043 billion yuan. The results are gratifying, but there is still some distance from Mengniu’s “100 billion goal”.

In 2017, Mengniu Dairy CEO Lu Minfang announced that Mengniu’s sales will reach 100 billion in 2020, and its market value will also reach 100 billion.

Similarly, in 2017, Chinese dairy giant Yili also proposed its own "100 billion goal": in 2020, Yili will enter the top five global dairy companies and have operating income exceed 100 billion. According to Yili's public financial report, Yili's annual revenue in 2018 increased by 16.89% compared with the same period last year, reaching 79.553 billion yuan, 10.5 billion more than Mengniu. Net profit was 6.439 billion yuan, twice that of Mengniu.

Comparison of the performance of Yili and Mengniu from 1999 to 2018. Picture source: FBIF

There is still 31 billion yuan short of the 100 billion target, but Mengniu only has two years to sprint.

Even faced with the huge profit gap with Yili, Mengniu has never relaxed its "100 billion plan". According to the "Economic Observer" report [1], at Mengniu's 2018 performance briefing meeting, Lu Minfang repeatedly emphasized that "this goal is firm and unchanging"