(Yicai) Feb. 12 -- China's dairy gift box sales improved during the recent Chinese New Year holiday, though the industry outlook remains cautious for the first half of the year.

Sales of dairy product gift boxes during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday showed renewed vigor compared to the same period in 2024, with some stores selling out their inventory, a food distributor in Weihai, Shandong province, told Yicai.

The source added that distributors were more conservative in building inventory before the Spring Festival, which began in late January, due to weak sales during last year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

Industry insiders interviewed by Yicai remain cautious in their first-half performance forecasts. A manager at a domestic dairy company said that due to slow demand recovery since the second half of last year, the producer still faces significant inventory pressures despite strong holiday sales, making market performance difficult to assess.

Independent dairy analyst Song Liang noted that while the improving performance has boosted industry confidence for the first-half outlook, further observation is needed to determine the extent of the market recovery.

Song added that a retail survey showed double-digit growth in sales of adult milk powder gift baskets, driven by family visits and tourism during the Chinese New Year holiday. While UHT milk demand increased, yogurt gift sales saw a slight decline.

One factor contributing to the holiday sales boost was increased product marketing by dairy manufacturers. Industry giants Yili Group and China Mengniu Dairy, for instance, sponsored popular movie releases during the Spring Festival holiday, the most important public holiday of the year.

A Mengniu insider told Yicai that while sales figures are not yet available for disclosure, the movie Ne Zha 2, which topped the holiday box office, significantly boosted the company's sales.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine