Abandoned as a newborn and sold for just 50 yuan (Rs 590), Niu Gensheng’s journey from the harsh plains of Inner Mongolia to the summit of a multi-billion-yuan dairy empire is not just a rags-to-riches tale—it’s a masterclass in grit and rebellion against norms.
Niu, now 67, is celebrated as the founder of Mengniu Dairy, one of China’s top dairy giants, and the visionary behind Aice, the Southeast Asian ice cream brand with annual revenues topping 3 billion yuan (US$410 million), South China Morning Post reported.
Born into poverty, Niu’s biological parents were forced to sell him to a cattle farmer. The farmer raised him as his own, but life didn’t get any easier. At just eight, Niu was thrust into labour, sweeping streets and doing odd jobs after his adoptive father lost his livelihood in a political purge. Soon after, he lost both adoptive parents.
Despite the early trauma, Niu’s tenacity took root in a dairy plant in 1983 where he began his career as a bottle washer. That factory would eventually become Yili , China’s other dairy behemoth. Over a decade, Niu climbed the ranks to become its Vice-President of Production and Operations, earning over a million yuan annually. But internal politics and intensifying competition prompted his exit.
“I wanted to build something that didn’t just follow the rules—I wanted to betray common sense,” Niu once said, South China Morning Post reported.
In 1999, with 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) in hand, he founded Mengniu Dairy. At the time, Yili was already worth 1.2 billion yuan. Undeterred, Niu took a bold gamble—he targeted China’s rural belt with advertisements in local dialects, low prices, and mass-market appeal. By 2005, Mengniu had dethroned Yili as China’s top dairy brand.
In 2015, he entered Southeast Asia with Aice, aimed squarely at Indonesia’s lower-income consumers. His strategy? Affordable indulgence.
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Aice kept prices between 900 to 1500 Indonesian Rupiah (Rs 5 to 9) and introduced culturally attuned flavours like durian and coconut milk coffee. The brand also supported local vendors by supplying free freezers and subsidising electricity costs.
Today, Aice operates across 1,200 districts in Indonesia and dominates the region’s ice cream market. Meanwhile, Niu continues to invest in philanthropy—funding treatment for critically ill children in Inner Mongolia and helping establish schools across China.
