Nutritional Qualities of Yak Products Drives Industry Expansion in China

Online, January 27, 2010 (Newswire.com) - BEIJING - The American Independent Capital Group, Inc (AICG), an international company that provides assistance to innovative enterprises seeking capital funding for business projects, has reached an agreement with the Sichuan Hongyuan Dairy Company, Ltd. to expand their facilities in southwest China in order to meet increasing domestic and international demand for nutritional products derived from the yak.

Yaks are member of the bovine family, like cows and buffalos. Yaks were domesticated in Tibet during the first millennium B.C. Today there are more than 12 million yaks in the Himalayan steppes where they live at altitudes above 3,200 meters (10,500 feet). Yak milk, meat, cheese and butter have long been staple foods in the diets of people living in the Himalayan region.

Until recently the nutritional value of yak products was not well known. However, new studies revealed the yak's potential benefits to humans. Scientists in Canada, in a paper published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (March 2008), found that yak cheese had a lower overall fat content than cheese made from cow's milk. It also contained much higher levels of heart-healthy "good fats" such as CLA and omega-3 fatty acids. An Indian study indicates that yak meat also contains very high omega-3 fatty acid, which helps combat cardiovascular diseases by keeping cholesterol in check. The China Nutrition Society, a research institute of the Ministry of Health, says that yak milk contains 18 kinds of amino acids, including eight essential ones that humans cannot synthesize. The amino acids, calcium, and vitamin A in yak milk are up to 15 percent higher than in cow's milk. The nutrition society also claims that Yak milk improves immunity and bone density, controls diabetes, and plays an important role in muscle tissue.

Because yak products are completely organic and offer many health benefits, demand for yak products is increasing both in China and worldwide. Yak herding is primarily a family business, and increased demand for yak will contribute to the economic well-being of the semi-nomadic herders in China, India, Nepal, and other countries. Although no international standards currently exist for yak meat, organizations such as the International Congress on Yak are calling for standardization of the industry. Yak meat is currently exported from China to Europe under EU standards.

Established in 1956, the Sichuan Hongyuan Dairy Company is focused on dairy production and processing, and has been an industry leader in the introduction of new technologies. In 2001 the company signed a cooperative agreement in with the U.S. based company Land O' Lakes, Inc. Land O' Lakes provided advice and training in world-class management concepts and techniques. Subsequently, all products produced by the Hongyuan Dairy Company have passed ISO9001-2000 international quality system certifications.

With the aid of AICG, Inc. the Sichuan Hongyuan Dairy Company, Ltd. hopes to find investors who will work with them to increase their current production capacity of 3,500 metric tons of yak milk products annually, to build and operate a technologically advanced yak meat processing facility, and to expand their research into the benefits of yak products to humans.

The Sichuan Hongyuan Dairy Company, Ltd. is located in Qiongxi Township of Sichuan Province, near Tibet. Qiongxi is approximately 280 kilometers northwest of Chungdu, the provincial capital. Qiongxi is in a large area of rolling hills, covered with seemingly endless grasslands, at an altitude of 3,200 meters above sea level.