Giant aimed at the silver market, middle-aged and elderly milk powder high-end war started

A number of dairy companies have recently launched new milk powder products for the elderly, aiming at the "silver hair" market. It should be noted that the new products have more features and are priced higher.

In this regard, the industry believes that dairy enterprises increase the size of the elderly milk powder market on the one hand because of the huge market potential, on the other hand, it is also due to the fierce competition in the market homogeneity, dairy enterprises are trying to seek differentiated selling points. But it may take time for these new products to really catch on with consumers.

Enterprises to strengthen the layout

In recent years, many dairy giants have increased their investment in the elderly milk powder market and launched many new products.

To be specific, Danone has launched two products, Gammai Xinrui sheep milk powder for the elderly and Gammai Mianyuli milk powder for the elderly, officially entering the market for the elderly. Nestle has launched Yiyang milk powder and sugar law formula for middle-aged and elderly people, whose main selling point is to alleviate postprandial blood glucose. Yili's Xinhuo milk powder for the elderly has launched new products such as sugar, bone energy, heart vitality, selenium rich multi-dimensional high calcium and so on.

Jiabai Yingjia, a subsidiary of Ausnutria, has also upgraded its elderly milk powder products and launched a new series of Baohu products and Yingxin formula sheep milk powder. The former is fortified with lactoferrin and other nutritional elements, aiming to improve the immunity of middle-aged and elderly people, while the latter is said to improve the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health of middle-aged and elderly people.

Earlier, Feihe also launched four kinds of Aiben series milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people, including lactoferrin formula milk powder, Baoxin formula milk powder, Shangu formula milk powder and Qingcheng formula milk powder, which can meet the different needs of middle-aged and elderly people to improve immunity, cardiovascular health, bone health, blood glucose health and so on.

And Mengniu Yourui's six kinds of middle-aged and elderly milk powder, such as Guyi, Shun Yi, Liyi, Xinpei, Yi Tian, selenium high calcium sheep milk powder, have also passed the food EU standard evaluation certification, Mengniu Yourui Yi Tian products have also obtained the low GI (low glycemic index) certification.

The market demand potential is large

One of the major reasons for dairy giants to increase their milk powder business is that the silver hair market has great potential under the background of accelerating population aging.

Feihe told China Business Daily that the seventh national census data showed that the number of people aged 60 and above in our country exceeded 264 million. At present, people's demand for nutrition and health is more and more urgent, and adult functional milk powder contains huge market potential. Yili also told China Business Daily that at present, the base of middle-aged and elderly people in China is expanding, the health awareness of the population is strengthening, and the concept of scientific nutrition and dietary supply has been greatly advanced, and the demand for middle-aged and elderly milk powder is naturally becoming more and more vigorous.

Mengniu mentioned to the China Business Daily reporter that whether it is from the point of view of the number of consumers or from the consumption ability, the middle-aged and elderly milk powder market has great potential. At present in the elderly milk powder market, Mengniu sales performance is ideal. In 2021, the net income of Mengniu Yourui increased by multiple. In the first half of 2021, the sales volume of Mengniu's middle-aged and elderly milk powder was in a leading position in the high-end middle-aged and elderly milk powder market.

Danone told reporters that immunity, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health are the most concerned issues for consumers over the age of 50. Based on these consumer insights, Danone launched a series of milk powder products for the middle-aged and elderly people for the first time in the Chinese market, aiming to supplement the needs of the middle-aged and elderly people with fine and professional scientific nutritional formula and help the healthy aging process.

Ausnutria also told reporters that due to the aging population, consumer health awareness and other factors, the popularity of the elderly milk powder market has been increasing in recent years. Ausnutria launches new milk powder products for middle-aged and elderly people based on the current large market demand.

Wang Haidong, director of the Department of Aging of the National Health Commission, said on September 20 that the population of the elderly aged 60 and above is expected to exceed 300 million during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and the country will enter a moderate aging stage. Around 2035, the total number of elderly people aged 60 and above in China will exceed 400 million, which will enter the stage of severe aging.

Wang Mingyi (a pseudonym), a practitioner in the milk powder industry, told China Business Daily that the current size of dairy companies are betting on the elderly milk powder market. Many milk powder companies use factories that previously produced infant formula to produce milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people, and some milk powder companies build factories to produce milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people.

Start of high-end war

It should be noted that the new products of middle-aged and elderly milk powder listed by the milk powder giant are more upgrades of previous products, which have played a lot of new concepts and higher pricing.

It is understood that the price of middle-aged and elderly milk powder products on the market is low, the bag products are mostly 25 yuan/bag, and the canned products are mostly priced between 50 and 100 yuan/can. The new products listed by this giant are almost all canned, priced at 150-200 yuan/can.

Mengniu said that most of the middle-aged and elderly milk powder on the market is based on basic nutritional supplements, resulting in serious product homogeneity. Therefore, many milk enterprises have changed the formula route, actively carried out the upgrading of the formula of middle-aged and elderly milk powder, and developed functional products such as improving immunity, improving sleep, anti-oxidation, and promoting intestinal absorption.

Dairy analyst Song Liang told China Business Daily reporter analysis, has been, the elderly milk powder market homogenization problem is prominent, the price war is fierce, the volume is serious. This milk giant to push new products is also to highlight the differentiation of selling points, to maintain the stability of the price.

Wang Jingxuan, a distributor of milk powder industry and founder of Ximibeibei brand, told China Business Daily that the middle-aged and elderly milk powder market has been plagued by low prices and low profits. This time, the dairy giants are pushing new products to upgrade the previous products. These dairy giants want to create momentum first, stir up the market heat, and then re-sort the industry development logic, and start a high-end war.

Feihe said that the original intention of the company's adult milk powder business is to use high-quality products to protect the health of middle-aged and elderly people. This year, Feihe will continue to make efforts to launch products featuring immunity and cardiovascular functions to better meet the diversified needs of consumers. Yili also revealed that Xinlive, as the first brand of milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people, will continue to invest in product improvement and category education.

Consumer acceptance will take time

However, at present, the new products of middle-aged and elderly milk powder launched by dairy giants are sold more online channels, and they have not been widely promoted in offline channels, and it will take time for these new products to be truly accepted by consumers.

A reporter from China Business Daily visited a number of mother and baby stores and large supermarkets in Beijing and found that the middle-aged and elderly milk powder on display in mother and baby stores is mostly the old products on the market before, focusing on the concept of calcium supplementation. There are not many kinds of milk powder products for middle-aged and elderly people in supermarkets, only a few products such as Nestle Yiyang and Yili Xinhuo, and new products that have been launched recently are rarely seen in offline channels.

Wang Jingxuan revealed that the milk giant first tested the water on the online channel, and so on. After the market heats up and the terminal stores accept its high-priced products, the giant or will carry out offline promotion. "According to my observation, at present, many offline stores are not very enthusiastic about buying new milk powder products for middle-aged and elderly people, mainly because these products are priced too high and the acceptance of such products at the consumer level is also very limited."

Wang Qing, a consumer, told China Business Daily, "If I want to supplement my parents with protein, I will buy pure milk directly. Even if I want to buy milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people, I will not consider products with so many functions, and I am not sure whether the quality of the product is really so good."

Song Liang also admitted that the current consumer's functional awareness of middle-aged and elderly milk powder is not high. In addition, the content of lactoferrin and other nutrients added to milk powder, the geometry of efficacy, and whether there is clinical verification are not very clear, which also affects the choice of consumers. In the future, if the middle-aged and elderly milk powder market wants to achieve considerable development, on the one hand, milk powder enterprises should increase the efforts of technology research and development, introduce more specialized products, and strengthen clinical verification; On the other hand, consumer education should be continued.

Wang Jingxuan believes that in the future, large dairy enterprises may set up a special Marketing Department for the elderly, set up a professional team, and realize product serialization, function subjectivity, and independent publicity. I believe that after a long period of cultivation, the elderly milk powder market will have more room for growth.