Infant nutrition has always been an emotive area as parents are the most attentive category of consumers. When it comes to their children`s overall growth and development, especially since healthy dietary habits form at a young age, parents from every corner of the world are increasingly demanding healthier, safer and innovative baby foods, making manufacturers continue to research, reformulate, and develop more appealing baby food products. In the same vein, with the fast-growing global baby food market, seized at US$ 42.7 Billion in 2020 and the positive forecast for the next decade, baby food importers in every country are ready to supply themselves with the best prospects, to secure a profitable position on this competitive and profitable niche market.
Baby food market drivers
As in any other industry, the baby food sector is vulnerable to several issues, in this case, low birth rates in developed countries, babies milk intolerance or strict regulations, however opportunities for the baby food market on a global scale remain hugely attractive, with a plethora of positive market drivers.
The increasing population migration to the urban landscape and the rising disposable income in most developing countries have lead to a series of lifestyle changes for the food consumer, namely an increased awareness for nutrition, health and wellness but also convenience.
Additionally, the increased number of working women has hindered the time for breastfeeding, home-cooking as well as finding fresh grocery supplies, creating a high demand for qualitative baby food products. Moreover, baby food supplements are a modern-day saviour, be it an option for babies who require added nutritional intake, a temporary alternative for breastfeeding, or even a vital solution for women who can`t lactate due to health issues.
For this reason, companies from around the world, are continuously investing in developing new products and technologies, focusing on coming up with fortified baby foods, at the highest safety and standards, as well as creative, eco-friendly packaging. At the same time, manufacturers are targeting older children to keep their consumer base for a longer time, while the increased marketing in the sector is positively impacting baby food knowledge among parents, who are in turn, more eager to feed new food combinations to their babies.
Another positive growth can be seen in the development of distribution and retail marketing channels over the world. In terms of availability, baby food can today be found in a wide variety of several price points in supermarkets, hypermarkets, grocery stores, drug stores, and even discounters. Although supermarkets dominate the market for their convenience of offering a wide range of products and longer operating hours, the e-commerce sector is also driving baby food sales for their convenience and recent attention received after Covid lockdown when consumers were highly dependent on this channel.
Baby food trends
As baby food is generally divided into different stages of a child`s development, including age group and nutritional needs, today, commercially available baby food also comes in a wide range of textures and flavours, be it ready-made products like cans, jars, dried products (who needs added water before consumption), milk formulas, or other baby foods like biscuits, fruit juices or snacks.
For decades, baby food meant jars of fruit and vegetable purees but today this sector has suffered an entire revolution, brands are coming up with a neverending portfolio of textures, flavours, colours, blends, and nutritious ingredients. In the age of information available at one click away, modern parents are increasingly aware of their babies diet and overall development, thus putting a lot of attention on global and local trends as well as gaining the right knowledge about baby nutrition.
As a result, with the current global trend of clean eating, there`s no doubt that naturality and clean processing is a top choice for baby food since every food segment has already been impacted by organic trend. With an increasing number of adults following plant-based diets, children too are increasingly exposed to the health benefits of these chemical-free superfoods. The high and long term demand for organic baby food is a profitable business for baby food importers, exporters and distributors in the field, particularly since there is a dynamic development and investing climate in emerging economies.
Among recent concerns about babies diets, digestive health and immunity supplements are also popular baby food products, that come to aid parent`s concerns about health and wellness after the recent Covid pandemic. In 2020, baby cereals we`re creating buzz thanks to their content of vitamins and minerals, essential for every infant’s diet.
Biggest markets & players
The global baby food market can be divided into 5 main regions, namely Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America and MEA (the Middle East and Africa). Today, Asia-Pacific is the biggest and fastest-growing market for baby food, while also being forecasted to witness further positive success due to consumers hectic lifestyles and growing birth rates. Also growing at a fast pace is the US market, the emerging European economies, as well as Vietnam, India, or Brazil.
In terms of market players, the global baby food market is highly competitive due to its attractive business potential and a vast number of market players across multiple countries, including giants like Nestlé S.A., Danone S.A, The Kraft Heinz Company or Abbott Laboratories.
3 Baby Food Importers:
Song Mã Retail Company, Ltd.
Address: 04 Phan Ke Binh St, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Phone: +84 28 6291 2292
Website: smrc.com.vn
Pemix Ltd.
Address: Eucharistic Congress Road, Il-mosta, MST 4024, Malta
Phone: +356 2141 7634
Website: pemix.com.mt
Global Importing Group, Inc.
Address: 4201 Northeast 161st Avenue, Wilkes, Portland, Oregon, Multnomah County, United States
Phone: +1 503-655-3000
Website: globalimportinggroup.com
To get access to a list of active baby food importers and distributors from around the world, you can access the Baby Food Importers Database, created especially for producers in this fast-growing global niche market.