One of China's biggest food product companies is claiming record growth in profits despite a poisoning scandal last year.
State-owned Hangzhou Wahaha Group last week reported 230 per cent growth in first-quarter net profits to US$8.86 million, and claimed output of fruit drinks and other products nearly doubled compared with last year's result.
Wahaha Group was hit by disclosures last year that one of its beverage products was to blame for fatal poisonings of children in Anhui. The company has repeatedly refused to comment on the case.
The beverage manufacturer claimed sales were so brisk that 'plants are in production 24 hours a day and still cannot meet the demand'.
'Entering the new year, orders have poured in from all over the country,' the company said in a notice in the official China Business Weekly.
'This is a sharp contrast to many state enterprises which find it difficult to sell their products,' it said.