Child nutrition drives the demand for baby food in India: Bonafide Research.

An infant’s better health and their nutritional needs depend upon the feeding they get, complementary feeding products are helping the parents to manage their infants feeding needs.

Baby food is easy to consume food product manufactured by blending vegetables, fruits, and cereals for infants and toddlers. It contains various nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, essential minerals and fatty acids that assist in the overall development and nourishment of babies. It is also considered to be an ideal substitute for breast milk. Moreover, as infants lack teeth for chewing, these products act as the primary source of nutrition. Nowadays, parents are widely adopting baby food and infant formula in India owing to the convenience and enhanced nutrition offered by these products.  Proper feeding increases the immunity and health of infant and young children.  Breast feed plays an important role in defining the growth and development in children. Infants are most vulnerable to get caught up with various diseases, so to get prepared against those unwanted situation the process of providing them with nutrition’s food starts right after few months of birth.  However there are cases when the women is not able to produce healthy milk or are undergoing any medication at that point of time they are advised to provide a milk substitute except solid foods to give the infant a proper nutrition till the age of 6 months.

Market Insight
India baby food market has witnessed significant growth in the past few years. According to the report “India Baby Food Market By Value, By Type (Infant Milk Formula, Baby Cereals, Follow-Up Formula, Prepared Food & Others), By Pack Size (0-200 gms, 201-400 gms, 500 gms and above), By Pack Type ( Box, Tin/Jar, Refill, Pouch), By Age Group ( 0-6 Months, 6-12 Months, 12-18 Months, 18-24 Months, 24 & Above Months, By Sales Channel ( General Retail, Multi-Brand Retail, Online), By Company (Nestle India, Denone Nutricia, GCMMF (Amul) etc.), By Brand (Amulspray, Cerelac, Lactogen etc.), By Region (East, West, North, South), By Demographics (Urban, Rural), (Trends & Forecast) Outlook, 2027-28” published by Bonafide Research the market have grown strongly and have successfully grew at a historical CAGR of 17%. It has been observed that when an infant crosses 6 month of age their nutritional needs increases. At that point of time they are been exposed to the complementary foods and the solid foods such as infant milk, baby cereals, follow-up formulas, prepared foods etc.

The market is further propelled by the increasing female working population and the rising disposable incomes of individuals in India. Apart from this, various product innovations, such as the introduction of organic, premium, minimally processed, and ready to eat (RTE) baby food and infant formula manufactured using natural ingredients and without any added preservatives and chemicals, are also contributing to the market growth. Furthermore, easy product availability on e-commerce platforms, rapid urbanization, aggressive promotional strategies adopted by the leading players, and the rising awareness regarding various health benefits provided by baby food are some of the other factors creating a positive market outlook across the country.

Today the technological advances have completely transformed the food sector in terms of logistics, order tracking and processing. It has moved away from the age old style of distribution where food products get stacked on supermarket shelves for months together and then reach the end customer. Even in the case of baby food, parents have no choice but to choose food products that are manufactured months in advance. In some cases, it’s surprising to note that the baby food might be older than the baby. This was the genesis for the porridge range. Thereby, 100% organic baby food are in high demand with highest quality of standards.

Products performance in the market

Infant baby milk formula is the form of milk that can be given to the infant within the age of 6 months and beyond it. Due to that it holds a prominent position in the market and has been growing at a CAGR of around 16.76% in last couple of years. Indian baby food market has developed a large segment for Infant milk formula as an alternative of breastfeeding. This led to propagation of formula feeding which was further supported by the health systems. Baby cereal is made of nutrition based ingredients and grains such as rice, wheat, oatmeal, etc. which promises to provide high nutrition and vitamins to babies at early stage. Rice based baby cereal are popular amongst all types of cereal. However, there are number of variants available with various flavors in baby cereal food category. This formula is not necessarily termed as milk as they are not based on animal milk but they are based on plant protein source. Follow-up formula in the baby food category is preferred for the children with the age of 6 months and up they are often called as “Growing-Up Milks” or “Toddler Milks”. The infants should not be provided with these formula products when they are less than 6 months old. Apart from all these forms of products prepared food are the trending category in this market which includes products like pureed vegetable & fruits, dry meals, baby drinks, baby wet meals, baby finger foods, special energy formula, and others form of baby food includes biscuit, puffs, snacks etc.

Some on-going trends

Organic food is one of the fastest growing sectors in the food industry overall. Indian organic baby food market is highly untapped and under-penetrated along with few organic baby food players. Pristine Organics and British Life Sciences are two companies who sell organic baby food in India. Organic baby food segment have wide gap which needs to fill. Consumers are increasingly health conscious and looking for natural, minimally-processed foods, and the stakes are even higher when it comes to their babies. More parents are seeking foods that set their children up for a healthy life even if it comes at a premium. The segment is expected to grow as more parents can afford to trade up.
 
Nestle CERELAC Fortified BABY Cereal, Early Foods Organic Porridge Mix, Happa Organic Baby Food, Pediasure, Enfamil A+ Infant Formula, Nestle Nestum Infant Cereal, Slurrp Farm Organic Baby Cereal, Similac Advance Follow-Up Infant Formula, 1st Bites

Major companies present in the market

Major companies operating in the baby food market of India are Nestle India Ltd, GCMMF (Amul), Nutricia International Pvt. Ltd. (Danone Nutricia India), Abbott India Ltd., Manna Foods Pvt. Ltd., Pristine Organics Pvt. Ltd., Mead Johnson India Pvt. Ltd., Raptakos Brett & Co

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