Annual income close to 1 billion yuan, online live streaming fails: Hidden concerns about Haihe Milk's agency operations surface | Big Fish Finance

Recently, a netizen recorded a video to report that the live streamer at the “Haihe Milk Flagship Store” on a short video platform used vulgar language during product promotion, allegedly containing sexual innuendos. The related videos quickly spread on social media. On the afternoon of April 7, the store’s homepage could no longer be found with videos of the male streamer involved. The store’s customer service responded to netizens with an apology, stating that “the issue has been immediately reported to the dedicated staff for serious handling, and a comprehensive rectification of live broadcast standards and personnel management will be carried out to firmly eliminate vulgar and illegal content.”

After the public opinion fermented, the past live streaming methods of this account were gradually uncovered.

Based on screen recordings and user records retained on social media platforms, it was found that as early as the first half of 2023, this live room had long been broadcasting late at night or even in the early morning hours. In a widely circulated video, the streamer was wearing a raincoat, standing outdoors in heavy rain, promoting products while rubbing his eyes and wiping rainwater off his face, repeatedly explaining to viewers, “This is not a recorded video,” and “I can’t keep my eyes open.”

Similar live streaming methods also sparked discussions about employment conditions. In the comments section of related videos, a netizen claiming to be informed mentioned the resignation of a former streamer named “A-Fen,” saying “leaving the original Haihe company was the right decision,” and pointed out that the team “has to broadcast in rain or shine.” Subsequently, discussions involving keywords like “labor arbitration” appeared in the comments, but these claims have not yet been publicly verified.

According to business registration information, the account verification entity for “Haihe Milk Flagship Store” is not the parent company of the Haihe brand, but Tianjin Baiyi E-commerce Co., Ltd., established in May 2019.

Tianyancha shows that this company has only invested in one enterprise—Tianjin Qiangxin E-commerce Co., Ltd., holding a 25% stake. On July 3, 2024, Qiangxin E-commerce was listed as an abnormal business operation by the Market Supervision Administration of Hexi District, Tianjin, for failing to publish annual reports within the prescribed period.

Third-party data platform Feigua indicates that the “Haihe Milk Flagship Store” account has approximately 143k followers, with a sales volume of 100k to 250k yuan in the past 30 days, but its overall scale is not prominent.

Contrasting with this scale is the industrial foundation behind Haihe Milk.

Its parent company, Tianjin Food Group, achieved a total operating revenue of 2B yuan in 2024. Specifically, in the dairy sector, Haihe Milk generated 985 million yuan in revenue that year, with a gross profit margin of 23.95%, maintaining relatively stable operations.

At the upstream level, Haihe Milk relies on the internal Jialihe牧业 (Jialihe Livestock) to supply fresh milk. The farm has about 51k dairy cows, producing approximately 250k tons of fresh milk annually, with a market share of 40% in Tianjin locally.

In terms of terminal sales, Haihe Dairy has a solid offline channel layout. Its market share of liquid milk in Tianjin is about 20%, with multiple directly operated stores covering major urban areas, and it has entered large supermarket chains such as Renrenle, Carrefour, Walmart, RT-Mart, Metro, China Resources, and Wumart. Classic products like “Cocoa Milk,” promoted via social media and e-commerce platforms, still saw some sales growth in 2024.

Feigua data shows that this live room’s monthly sales are less than 250k yuan, accounting for a very small proportion of the entire group.

Tianyancha App indicates that the main operating entities for “Haihe Milk” are currently two companies: Tianjin Haihe Dairy Co., Ltd., established in January 2002, with Zou Yang as legal representative, registered capital of 310 million yuan, wholly owned by Tianjin Food Group; and Tianjin Haihe Dairy Co., Ltd., established in April 2019, with the same legal representative Zou Yang, registered capital about 234 million yuan, jointly held by Tianjin Food Group and Tianjin Linong Haihe Equity Investment Fund.

Regarding risk information, Tianjin Haihe Dairy Co., Ltd. is involved in multiple judicial cases, including disputes over sales contracts, unjust enrichment, and labor disputes with some individuals.

Reporter: Du Lin Editor: Cao Mengjia Proofreader: Tang Qi