Sun Yiping, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Mengniu, became the first Chinese businesswoman to speak about the growing dairy industry at a top food meeting at Harvard University during late November, as reported by Women of China.
The Private and Public, Scientific, Academic and Consumer Food Policy Group (PAPSAC) had their 22nd annual meeting at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sun attended the meeting, becoming the first Chinese female entrepreneur to give a presentation at such a top meeting in her field.
Since Sun became the CEO of Mengniu, the company's revenue has increased from 37 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) in 2011 to 50 billion yuan ($7.8 billion) in 2014. She has also put the company on a path toward globalization and digitization.
After the meeting, Sun was awarded for Entrepreneur with Social Responsibilities of the Year.
In October, Sun was also honored as Outstanding Leader of the Year by Fudan University. In July, she placed eighth on Forbes list of Top 10 Chinese Businesswomen in 2015.
During the meeting, Sun delivered a speech with the theme, "Innovation: The Engine for Sustainable Development."
Sun defined the Chinese market with four D's: deceleration, for medium-high growth of economic development; digitization, for the impact of technology on the market; diversity, for the increasingly complex consumer demands; and dual-child policy, for the Chinese government's recent decision to ease family planning policies.
Sun expressed how her company would need to continue making full use of advantages in innovation, globalization and digitization to confront the market.
Consumer experience is also a big factor, according to Sun. She explained how her strategy involved enhancing the consumer experience with big data and visualized information.
Mengniu is known for including printed QR codes on their packaging, allowing consumers to learn about the farms where their milk is produced.
At the Harvard meeting, Sun mentioned how she had high hopes for her company, wishing for it to become China's most dynamic international business in the future.