At the prestigious international competition World Dairy Innovation Awards 2026, Chinese manufacturers continued to strengthen their status as global leaders in food technology. In the second part of the awards announcement, the expert jury highly appreciated the achievements of Chinese dairy companies in developing advanced milk‑based products aimed at health support and specialized nutrition.

According to the official results of the awards, the top prizes went to the following innovative products from China:

• Best functional dairy product: Feihe Qingcheng Glycaemic Health Milk Powder, a dry milk powder enriched with white kidney bean extract, by China Feihe.

• Best specialist milk powder: Aiben Beishuhe medical nutrition formula, also developed by the China Feihe research center.

• Best yogurt: Changqing Lemon & Oat Popping Beads Probiotic Yogurt, containing natural lemon juice, fruit pulp and oats, by Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial (Jinshan division).

• Best health innovation: Deluxe Good Night ice cream with lychee flavour and added gamma‑aminobutyric acid (GABA), launched by the brand Mengniu Dairy.

• Best innovation for people with specific dietary needs: Yeeper Boneng Young Children Formula, a specialist goat‑milk‑based dry children’s formula produced by Yeeper Nutrition Technology in Qingdao.

Export prospects to CIS markets

The confident leadership of Chinese brands in the segments of therapeutic‑and‑preventive, infant and functional nutrition opens up broad opportunities for expanding exports.

On the retail and pharmaceutical markets in Russia, there is currently a shortage of high‑quality specialist formulas — including medical nutrition products and goat‑milk‑based alternatives — due to reduced supplies from Western corporations. Chinese manufacturers have an opportunity to quickly occupy this high‑margin niche by offering major Russian distributors and pharmacy chains products with proven efficacy and international recognition.

A separate trend worthy of attention is the rise of functional desserts (for example, GABA‑enriched ice cream to help reduce stress). Such innovative sweets have strong sales potential in the premium segment of Russian grocery retail.