"China Economic Weekly" reporter Hou Jun丨Beijing report
From "contracting the stomachs of this session of young people" to being questioned as "the representative of the latest harvest of consumer IQ tax", the probiotics industry has once again been pushed to the forefront.
On July 26, Rao Yi, President of Capital Medical University, posted on his personal account "Rao Yi Science", "Too powerful fools will fool themselves: because they are too realistic", questioning Yin, CEO of Huada Group and Vice Chairman of Huada Gene. The probiotics promoted by Ye are fake drugs, saying that "all the probiotics currently promoted in China are all fake drugs. The research on intestinal bacteria is very popular, but so far there is no product that can be effectively applied."
On July 28, Yin Ye posted "How many microflora articles has BGI published" on his personal public account "Yin Ge Liao Gene", suspected of responding to Rao Yi's remarks.
The article pointed out that as of June 2022, BGI has applied for more than 300 invention patents related to disease-related microbial markers, functional probiotic strains, etc. More than 140 items have been approved.
On July 30, Rao Yi once again published an article "Praise Yin Ye for proving that he sells counterfeit medicines: none of the dozens of papers published have tested any biological effects of its probiotics", saying that BGI's own articles basically do not solve scientific problems , does not solve the application problem, and takes the responsibility of stacking data.
Are probiotics a tool for companies to make money or are they really good for health?
The past and present of probiotics
The concept of probiotics originated from the Greek word "for life", which means: beneficial to life.
According to the data, the probiotics produced by the fermentation of yogurt may be the earliest probiotics consumed by humans.
As early as 2000 BC, there are records that yogurt and other dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt, were produced in the process of human preservation and transportation of mare's milk.
In the early 20th century, Russian bacteriologist Ilya Ilyich Metchnikoff, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine, was the first to combine "probiotics" and "health". When looking at the population data of each country, it was found that at that time Bulgaria had the highest number of centenarians in any country.
After further research into the lives of Bulgarians and other factors, Mechnikov believes that the reason for the longevity of Bulgarians is that they drink yogurt in large quantities for a long time.
Therefore, Mechnikov is also known as the "father of probiotics".
While advocating that people eat lactic acid bacteria, Mechnikov invested and opened four "lactic acid bacteria factories" in Paris.
In the last century, people were extremely eager for longevity, especially when they heard that yogurt has such an effect, they went to buy it, and Mechnikov made a lot of money.
Since then, the concept of "probiotics" has been remembered and used by a large number of dairy companies around the world, and it has become a classic case of yogurt marketing. For example, Shanghai Bright Dairy's Mosleyan yogurt once described the story of Changshou Village on its official website.
In China's probiotic beverage market, the company with the highest recognition is undoubtedly the Japanese brand Yakult.
In the early 20th century, Minoru Daida, the founder of Yakult Group, successfully isolated and strengthened lactic acid bacteria that could reach the intestine alive and play a beneficial role in the Microbiology Department of the Faculty of Medicine of Kyoto University.
This lactic acid bacteria was later named "Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota" after him.
This is one of the strains with the longest history of application.
After that, Daida began to produce "Yakult live bacteria-type lactic acid bacteria milk drink", and in 1955, Yakult Co., Ltd. was established in Japan.
In 2002, Yakult began to promote the live bacteria-type lactic acid bacteria milk drink in China. At present, China's global market share in Yakult is close to 20%.
The Yakult case is currently the most successful commercial application of probiotics in the world.
Yuji Matsuura, general manager of Yakult (China) Investment Co., Ltd., said in an interview with the media: "With the rapid development of Chinese society, the probiotics industry has ushered in a good opportunity for development. At the same time, consumers' health awareness has also been changing and improving. Bacteria companies have put forward higher requirements.”
In 2001, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization defined "probiotics" as "active microorganisms that, when ingested in sufficient quantities, confer a health benefit on the host".
According to data from Euromonitor, a global research organization, in 2019, the global probiotic supplement revenue was US$6.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%; the Chinese probiotic supplement market revenue was 4.24 billion yuan, an increase of 18% year-on-year, making it the No. 1 probiotic supplement in the world. Two major consumer markets.
In addition, the application of Chinese probiotics in dairy products accounts for about 66% of global probiotics products.
Lan Canhui, founder of the Enthusiasm Biotechnology Research Institute and vice president of the Chinese Biophysical Society’s Intestinal Microbiota Branch, told a reporter from China Economic Weekly: “Looking back now, although Mechnikov’s research samples were inaccurate, In recent years, probiotics have undoubtedly become the most concerned intervention methods for targeting intestinal flora. On the one hand, due to the extensive impact of intestinal flora on the health of the host, more and more basic and clinical studies have begun to explore the effects of probiotics on the health of the host. Intestinal and extra-intestinal effects; on the other hand, people's knowledge of intestinal flora has greatly expanded the resources of potential probiotics. The development and application of various research techniques have also significantly promoted the study of the mechanism of probiotics."
When Copda people start live broadcast: the end of science is to bring goods?
"I'm just a seller. The first floor of my refrigerator is dedicated to probiotics. One bag before drinking, another bag after drinking a few cups. After 10 cups or 8 cups, another bag will make you feel uncomfortable. Same."
"Many people ask me what to eat for breakfast. The only thing that doesn't change is BGI Nutrition's probiotic - Umida."
"Drinking it after socializing can improve sleep and treat depression."
Yin Ye promotes BGI's probiotic products in various social media.
Yin Ye has repeatedly claimed in various videos that taking probiotic products has different effects such as weight loss, sleep improvement, anti-depression, and even care of women's private parts health.
At present, Yin Ye has a total of more than 4 million followers on several top social platforms, and the 46 products sold in the Douyin account named after him have a total sales revenue of more than 20 million yuan, including BGI Group's self-operated probiotic product "Youida" is priced at 188 yuan per box.
Yin Ye also replied to netizens in the comment area, saying: "Probiotics are one of the main businesses of Huada Nutrition, a subsidiary of Huada Group. This is not an irrelevant delivery. As the CEO of the group, even such a powerful and good product as his own is not enough. If you sell it, is it still qualified?" "A good thing must be recommended to everyone."
At present, it is a very common phenomenon for corporate executives to live broadcast with goods.
For example, Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric, sold air conditioners on live broadcasts across the country, Liang Jianzhang, founder of Ctrip, recommended hotel suites, Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental, sold books and agricultural products, and Ding Lei, founder of NetEase, sold pork. The difference is that Yin Ye has always been a "popular science boss" for his "personality" and label at the beginning.
On Douyin and other accounts, Yin Ye's profile is also "PhD of Copenhagen University, Genome Researcher, Popular Science Expert, Life Science You Can Understand", etc., and has opened a personal WeChat public account, often participates in speeches, interviews, and is active in Platforms such as Douyin, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, etc., are known as "Internet Celebrities in the Biological World" in the industry.
However, on July 23, Rao Yi began to "all-round crackdown" on Yin Ye from academics to scientific research to products, which made his "personality" questionable.
For two consecutive days, Rao Yi continued to publish articles criticizing Yin Ye, as a public figure and a biological science practitioner, for the many loopholes in the popular science information disseminated to the public.
Rao Yi said: "Basically all of Yin Ye's videos have mistakes, but some mistakes need to be known by professionals who know some professions. Because of the large amount and wide range of coverage, I am afraid that no scientist with normal psychology and spirit is willing to come out and spend time, effort and specificity. Point out the vast amount of mistakes made by people with poor scientific foundations and the vast amount of lies they make up."
Then on July 25, he was in "Chen Chunhua and Yin Ye: Whose Doctor is more "water" after 20 years of competition?
"The article extends from questioning Yin Ye's identity as a science popularizer to his Ph.D.
"If it's a doctor who doesn't need to take classes, then it can be disputed whether Yin Ye's doctor or Chen Chunhua's doctor is more watery."
"Rao Yi is a person with very strict logic. Aside from the academic background, he questioned Yin Ye's probiotic products as counterfeit drugs. There are several logics behind it: First, if the publicity product is effective, it must be proved that it is a fake product. Such eye-catching publicity can only be carried out after clinical verification and is a regular drug. At present, there are only 31 probiotic drugs in my country that have obtained the batch number of probiotic drugs for clinical application, and there are no BGI products; There is not enough clinical verification on whether taking probiotics products can cure diseases, so Rao Yi believes that BGI claims that its products have functional effects after only one-sided data research, and there is no biological molecular mechanism demonstration, which violates scientific principles; Third, Yin Ye conducts popular science on the one hand and puts it in the shopping cart during the live broadcast, which is very provocative." Lan Canhui said in an interview with a reporter from China Economic Weekly.
He believes that Rao Yi, from the perspective of a scientist, questioned Huada and Yin Ye from a scientific and ethical point of view, while Yin Ye and Huada proved themselves correct from an industrial closed loop.
A professor from the School of Life Sciences of Sun Yat-Sen University told a reporter from China Economic Weekly that Rao Yi is an undisputed and accomplished biologist academically. He has a tough personality and has repeatedly cracked down on academic fraud.
"The BGI company has always been controversial. From the founder Wang Jian to the former BGI CEO Wang Jun, to the current CEO Yin Ye, they are all unstoppable. They have always carried out business marketing under the banner of the college. There is also a lot of controversy in the industry, does the end of science also bring goods?!"
In 2012, Rao Yi and Wang Jun, the former CEO of BGI, held an open debate on the interdisciplinary academic forum of biology held by Peking University that year, on whether or not BGI is benefiting the common people and how BGI does academic work, which once aroused the high level of the industry. focus on.
"At least one thing is clear at present, BGI's probiotics are not medicines, but they are not 'three no' products. From the product description, BGI defines it as a food category, not a drug for the treatment of diseases. For example, Yichang and Yidong are tablet candies, Yixiu and Mimi are solid beverages, and Yishu is probiotic powder." Lan Canhui said, "Rao Yi said that it is a fake drug, which is a bit biased. But Yin Ye's problem It is too absolute when bringing the goods. The industry has not yet concluded what the properties of probiotics are. Such imprecise promotion of views that are useful for weight loss and depression, lack of scientific evidence, and it is easy to mislead consumers. This may be the case. Beyond the bottom line of the business."
Bacteria violence?
In fact, probiotics products are a new product line developed by BGI Group in recent years, and the main slogan is "the genes of the nation, the bacteria of the nation".
Regarding issues such as BGI's entry into probiotics and production-scale research and development, reporters from "China Economic Weekly" contacted BGI for many times, but have not received a reply as of press time.
Some media analysts said that BGI entered the game because the main business performance has declined in recent years, and the probiotics industry has exploded.
On the one hand, the financial report of BGI (300676.SZ) shows that in 2018 and 2019, BGI’s net profit declined for two consecutive years.
In 2020, affected by the surge in the market demand for new crown nucleic acid detection reagents, the company's performance rebounded; in 2021, the company fell into a situation of declining net profit again, and the year-on-year decline continued to expand, from 2.88% in 2018 to the first half of 2022. 46.59% in the trailer.
On the other hand, the common promotional effects of "weight loss", "improvement of immunity", "beauty and skin care", and probiotics just hit the hearts of consumers.
In addition to BGI Group, many players are eyeing the "cake" of the probiotics market.
The "2022 Global Probiotics Industry-Academia Research and Development Trends White Paper" shows that my country's probiotics research field is advancing rapidly, and it is the country with the most published papers in the world.
The scale of the Chinese market continues to grow, with tens of thousands of products. In the post-epidemic era, consumers have a strong will to be healthy. It is expected that the market scale will reach more than 100 billion yuan in 2022.
At present, the application of probiotics in the food field in my country is mainly added to infant milk powder, yogurt and beverages.
In addition, probiotics can also be directly used as terminal consumer products such as granules, solid beverages, and tablet candies.
According to data from the Tianyancha APP, there are currently more than 3,000 probiotic-related companies in my country, and 45% of them have been established within five years.
In terms of sub-regions, Shandong, Hubei and Jiangsu have the most related enterprises, accounting for 16.1%, 12.7% and 10.8% respectively.
Probiotics have grown into a massive race track.
"China Economic Weekly" reporters found that on the probiotics track, there are dairy companies such as Mengniu, Yili, and Ausnutria; there are also top brands of health care products such as Shancun, Mommyai, Biostime, and By-Health; there are also snack consumption. Brands such as Laiyifen launched probiotic milk candy, Three Squirrels launched probiotic nut and fruit oatmeal, Jiangzhong monkey probiotic biscuits; many brands have launched a variety of probiotic face washes Milk, probiotic mask, probiotic toothpaste, etc.
In addition, emerging consumer brands such as Wonderlab and Daily Bacteria have also entered the probiotics track.
According to the prospectus of Ketuo Bio (300858.SZ), the first share of A-share “probiotics”, the gross profit margin of its business of selling raw bacteria powder to Mengniu and other dairy companies exceeds 60%.
"China Economic Weekly" reporters found on platforms such as 1688 that many factories said that they can customize any probiotic products according to the needs of customers.
Industry insiders told the "China Economic Weekly" reporter that, generally calculated in kilograms, the domestically produced bacterial powder for intestinal health functions is 6,000 yuan/kg, while the imported ones range from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan/kg.
On the 1688 platform, a foundry customer service clearly stated that a OEM probiotic product generally contains 10 sachets in a box, each bag has 5 grams of content, the probiotic content in each bag is less than 2g, and the raw material production cost is 50%. From the perspective of production, the cost of each box (specification: 10 bags) is only 5 yuan. "If the packaging is more beautiful, the cost of each box will be 5~8 yuan. If the sales are good, it can be sold for about 50 yuan/box. ."
The probiotics market that lacks national standards needs to be regulated
Why is the probiotics market so confusing?
At present, there is no normative definition of "probiotics" in China, and there is no national standard for the probiotics industry in the strict sense.
In order to regulate the use of probiotics by enterprises, the competent health authorities have released the List of Bacteria that Can Be Used in Food and the List of Bacteria that Can Be Used in Food for Infants and Young Children. The revised version in 2021 stipulates that there are 16 types of bacteria that can be used.
"Usually, the order in which we choose the standard is national standard → industrial standard → group standard. When there are national standards and industrial standards, the national standard and industrial standard are preferred; when there is no national standard or industrial standard, industry associations and scientific research institutions can independently take the lead in formulating group standards. "Liu Xuecong, Vice President of Ausnutria Dairy China and Chairman of Pennant Biology, told the "China Economic Weekly" reporter.
In April 2021, Lactobacillus rhamnosus MP108, developed by the R&D team of Pennant Biosciences, was approved by the National Health Commission and is the only Chinese patented strain in the "List of Bacteria that Can Be Used in Infant Food".
This is also a breakthrough in the localization of probiotic strains for infants and young children in China.
Liu Xuecong told the reporter of "China Economic Weekly" that a probiotic with superior functions is screened and isolated from nature, passed through safety evaluation, functional evaluation, and finally applied and developed into a terminal product, which takes a long time and requires a lot of R&D investment and human resources. put in.
Generally, the development cost of a strain requires hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan.
"At present, the probiotics track is in an outbreak stage, and the prices of probiotics products are also very different. Probiotics products are related to the strains used, the amount of addition, the process, etc., and cannot simply be measured by price. The lack of standards allows professional production of probiotics. Enterprises have to compete on the same stage with solid beverage and candy manufacturers. Even if the products are produced according to solid beverage standards, the R&D and quality control capabilities, the selection of raw material strains and dosages are completely different between enterprises, and the corresponding costs And the price will naturally be different." Liu Xuecong said.
He believes that the most important core feature of probiotics is the beneficial functional properties of health, which needs to be based on scientific and rigorous clinical trial evaluation and evidence-based medical evidence.
The exploration and evaluation of the efficacy of probiotics is a long-term, rigorous and scientific process.
"The influx of some low-end OEM brands into the market has brought product homogeneity, and the ensuing price war has made some OEM brands blindly reduce costs, making it difficult to guarantee product quality. At the same time, in order to promote market sales, the There is an exaggerated effect in the process, which creates a vicious circle and adversely affects the development of the domestic probiotics industry. The probiotics industry is an emerging industry. Although there are some chaos in the market development, the overall situation is healthy and good, and the industry needs more nurture and support." Liu Xuecong said.