Triple discount, sell more and get gold reward: Fake milk expands thanks to greed

Consultant "favors" strange milk

Ms. Hoa (character's name has been changed) discovered that she had bought fake milk while reading the newspaper in recent days.

"The consultant sat for half an hour analyzing the ingredients and uses of each product.

Fake milk products in the network have just been discovered (Photo: VTV).

It sounds so good, it has all the benefits that big milk companies don't have. I believed it and bought Cilonmum milk for my 6-month-old baby to try," Ms. Hoa shared.

Not only Ms. Hoa, many other mothers also shared similar experiences. They were advised by staff at drugstores and mother and baby stores to switch from big brands to strange types of milk, introduced as "imported European ingredients", "concentrated DHA supplement", "children drink it and sleep well, gain weight significantly".

The question is, why do these strange milk brands soon cover distribution channels and are "favored" by sales people?

"Grass" milk has a discount of 2-3 times, and even gold rewards if you sell a lot.

Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. NKB, who has many years of experience as a manager in the diaper and milk distribution industry, revealed the methods by which strange milk companies can easily dominate the market.

According to Mr. B., small/new branded milk usually has 3 main distribution channels:

- Set up sales teams, often in the form of collaborators.

- Sold over the counter.

- Sold through mother and baby stores.

According to Mr. B., drugstores and mother and baby stores are considered golden distribution channels.

"Once products are sent here, sales will increase dramatically, so new companies will often focus on these two channels," said Mr. B.

Answering the question of why many employees of pharmacies or mother and baby stores favor these strange milk brands over big milk companies, Mr. B. said it is mainly due to profit.

"New, less-known milk companies often offer direct discounts to distribution channels that are 2-3 times higher than those of big brands. This can be up to 30%. Thus, by selling a carton of milk for 500,000 VND to a customer, the seller can make a profit of 100,000-200,000 VND," said Mr. B.

Not stopping there, according to Mr. B., these companies also have attractive bonuses when stores reach large sales milestones.

Consumers share their experiences of buying fake milk (Photo: Screenshot).

"Companies will have bonus sales milestones, for example 50 million VND - 100 million VND - 200 million VND/month. The rewards will gradually increase in value according to milestones such as: TV, refrigerator, even gold and foreign trips," said Mr. B.

With an "irresistible" commission structure, many sellers prioritize promoting high-margin products.

However, according to Mr. B., it is difficult to blame the distribution channels, because when a product like milk wants to be sold in pharmacies, stores also need to provide documents proving quality.

"There will be many types of documents such as: food safety, inspection certificate, ISO; company name, trademark registration. When complete, the distribution channels will be available," said Mr. B.

According to Mr. B., in recent years, there have been many milk and diaper products with unfamiliar brands. These products are often distributed in suburban and rural markets.

Celebrities "collude" with fake milk

Not only infiltrating mother and baby stores, strange types of milk - even fake milk - are also promoted through the images of famous people (KOL, influencer) on social networks.

Recently, many celebrities have been identified as being involved in advertising milk products with exaggerated effects or unknown quality.

Posts often use pictures of children, with honest statements like "this milk is very suitable for my child", or "I have used many types, but this one is the best".

Actor Doan Quoc Dam once advertised for the fake milk brand Cilonmum Colos IQ Grow 24h (Photo: Hai Nam).

On the evening of April 16, actor Doan Quoc Dam also officially spoke up after many days of being "called" for appearing in a video advertising Cilonmum milk of Rance Pharma International Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company. One of the units that has just been prosecuted and investigated in relation to the production line of more than 500 types of fake milk.

According to Doan Quoc Dam, before accepting to participate in the advertisement, he was provided with full legal documents from the brand including: Product quality inspection certificate, product declaration and advertisement certificate issued by competent authorities.

The actor born in 1988 added that in the promotional video, he did not use any words to encourage or call on people to buy and use the product. If such content had been in the script, he would have refused from the beginning.

Previously, in a promotional video for the Cilonmum Colos IQ Grow 24h milk brand for children aged 1-15 by Rance Pharma, actor Doan Quoc Dam shared that he and his wife "researched very carefully" before giving it to their child.

A KOL (celebrity) specializing in family life content revealed that the commission rate for these "strange" milk products is many times higher than that of reputable brands.

If you accept affiliate (affiliate marketing), each KOL order can receive up to 20-25% of the product value. If you do it in the form of booking PR articles or advertising videos, you will also have a relatively large salary. Not everyone can verify the truth before accepting an advertisement.

Milk quality management loopholes

The overlap between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in management also makes the control and post-inspection of nutritional products ineffective.

Meanwhile, monitoring advertising content, especially on digital platforms, social networks, e-commerce platforms, etc., is still "out of reach".

The recent incident also showed the "loophole" that allows fake milk and milk with exaggerated effects to thrive.

Currently, depending on each food group, businesses can choose to self-declare or register to declare products according to regulations - a policy designed to reduce administrative procedures and encourage production and business.

However, this also opens up risks: Businesses send qualified product samples for testing, but when actually producing, they use cheap materials, reducing quality to optimize costs.

In that context, product announcement - in any form - is only effective when post-inspection is carried out seriously, regularly, and with strong enough sanctions.

On April 12, the Ministry of Public Security announced the results of the investigation into the production and consumption of fake milk powder organized by Rance Pharma Company and Hacofood Group. 573 brands of fake milk powder, revenue of nearly 500 billion VND, operating for the past 4 years in many provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Thai Binh, Hai Duong...

More worryingly, a large number of them are milk for infants, young children, sick people, pregnant women - the most vulnerable groups. According to verification, these products only reach less than 70% of the declared nutritional content, many of which have unknown ingredients, are printed with eye-catching packaging, and labeled "exclusively imported" for easy sale on the market.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/chiet-khau-gap-3-ban-nhieu-thuong-vang-sua-gia-banh-truong-nho-long-tham-20250417100549456.htm