Jersey Milk is a number one hit in Hong Kong

Wednesday 18 January 2017

A splash of this substance punctuates almost every meal and snack – from cereals, to cakes and coffees.

While a dash of Jersey Milk is something most Islanders take for granted, it’s not the case in China, where people love the dairy drink so much that it’s recently topped the best-selling beverage list of a popular chain store – even outdoing Coca Cola in the process.

In a post on social media on Monday, Jersey Dairy revealed that the Island’s pride, Jersey Whole Milk, had been the top purchased item at Hong Kong’s ‘759 Store’ chain – a group with around 280 branches in total.

Milk is the drink of choice in Hong Kong! A good start to the week for us in Hong Kong. We are No. 1 for drink sales in the 759 stores. pic.twitter.com/T99sXvHDvl

— Jersey Dairy (@JsyDairy) January 16, 2017

Bob Jones, Head of Marketing and Exports at Jersey Dairy, told Express that while Whole Milk is “nearly always in the top ten”, it was a particular achievement to outsell popular fizzy drinks brand Coca Cola.

“Hong Kong residents are particularly fond of our creamy Whole milk, though our Semi-skimmed and Skimmed milk also sell well.

“We have been present in the Hong Kong market for three years now and as a result of our success on milk we have also introduced Jersey butter and ice cream,” he said.

Pictured: Bob Jones, Head of Marketing and Exports at Jersey Dairy, meets UK Environment Secretary Liz Truss in 2015, during a drive to further promote British dairy products in China.

Attracting the middle-classes with promises of a quality drink that contains 20% higher protein and calcium than regular milk following China’s own milk contamination scandals, Jersey Dairy brokered a deal to export its esteemed product to Hong Kong – one of the world’s biggest marketplaces – agreeing to send one million litres in 2014, rising to two million in 2016.

They also sell milk to Taiwan, and Jersey butter in Japan and Korea.

Following success in HK @JsyDairy milk launched in Taiwan this Summer! Snap sent in by customer showing our milk in a Taiwanese store! pic.twitter.com/E0OHnhAtai

— Jersey Dairy (@JsyDairy) October 6, 2016

Such arrangements allow local farmers – who produce more milk than they can sell in the static Island market – to remain economically viable.

At present, Jersey Dairy only export their ice cream range to mainland China, but, given their product range’s success elsewhere, have plans to get the nation in the moo-d for more.