Is the Era of Huge Profits for Imported Milk Agents Coming to an End?

At 7 o'clock in the morning, Mr. Zhang's cell phone rang for the fifth time with a call. "Has Mrs. Wang's 12 cases of German milk arrived? The order for the kindergarten must be delivered next week!" After hanging up the phone, he looked at the mountains of imported dairy products in the free trade zone warehouse and smiled wryly - this business, which is called "liquid gold", is far from being as glamorous as imagined.

Under the policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port, imported milk enjoys zero tariffs + 13% value-added tax reduction, and the CIF price of one liter of German full-fat milk can be 23% lower than that of ordinary trade channels. Ms. Li's account book shows that through the bonded warehousing of Zhongshitong Supply Chain, 3000 cases of inventory of a certain Australian brand were digested in the first month of agency.

• Cost Advantage: Saves 15 - 28% of the comprehensive cost compared with general trade
• Customs Clearance Efficiency: The quarantine approval time is compressed to 72 hours
• Category Dividend: Can introduce scarce categories such as EU A2β-casein

At a late-night quality control meeting, Mr. Zhang's team found that the entire batch of Dutch milk had "swollen bags". Although the pre-inspection + post-release mechanism in the free trade zone is fast, agents need to bear 100% of the risk of cargo damage. What's more troublesome is that:

• The cold chain breakage leads to a 30% reduction in the shelf life
• Consumers' misunderstanding that "milk in the free trade zone = near-expiry milk"
• The brand authorization dilemma of small and medium-sized agents

Observing the operations of Zhongshitong, a leading player: Through blockchain traceability + direct distribution from sub-warehouses, the delivery time of Italian milk from the Guangzhou warehouse is controlled within 48 hours. Data shows that the inventory turnover rate of agents adopting the "bonded display + e-commerce pre-sale" model has increased by 2.7 times.

"The key is to establish a three-level quality control system." Ms. Li showed her solution: Factory inspection overseas → full inspection upon entering the warehouse → quick inspection upon leaving the warehouse, controlling the loss rate below 0.3%.

When parents born after 2000 start searching for "grass-fed organic" and "HMO human milk oligosaccharides", the imported milk track is splitting. The smart shelves in the Hainan Free Trade Zone warehouse that the monthly average turnover of a certain New Zealand brand of children's milk has reached 8 times. Does this indicate that — The agency business will eventually evolve into a supply chain war?

Which mode do you prefer: Deeply cultivating vertical categories? Building your own brand? Or transforming into a supply chain service provider? Looking forward to your insights in the comment section.