Author: Pan Xian (original)
With the growth of China's infant nutrition market slowing down, Nestle's Garbo brand hopes to break through the situation with "professional formula brands".
Today, Garbo announced the launch of the world's first¹ formulated rice noodle series in China, with two new products, including A2 Formulated Rice Flour and PHW Partially Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Formulated Rice Flour. "China is the world's first market for this series, and we look forward to bringing new breakthroughs to the infant food category through these two blockbuster innovative products." Xie Guoyao, vice president of Nestlé Chinese mainland and head of Chinese mainland of Nestlé's infant nutrition business unit, revealed when communicating with Xiaoshidai and others.
Garbo launches the world's first formulated rice noodle series in China
This new launch means that the infant nutrition business in China, which has been repeatedly emphasized by Nestlé's CEO to develop firmly, has received strong support from the global level. Xie Guoyao told Xiaoshidai that the development of the new products has made use of Nestlé's global expertise accumulated over the years, and that the local team and the global R&D team work "very closely". Based on Nestlé's more than 150 years of expertise in infant nutrition and Garbo's nearly 100 years of exploration of complementary food for infants and young children, this breakthrough product was launched in just eight months, which also reflects the rapid response ability of Nestlé and Garbo in product innovation.
Let's take a look.
Playing the "Recipe Card"
Complementary feeding plays a pivotal role in the healthy development of infants and young children.
From 6 months of age, supplementation with complementary foods along with breastfeeding or formula milk is essential for both short and long-term infant development. At the meeting, Wang Huishan, a researcher at the Maternal and Child Health Center of the National Health Commission, said that from the age of 6 months, breast milk is gradually unable to meet the increasing nutritional needs of babies, and complementary foods need to be added urgently. However, due to the incomplete development of the intestinal tract of infants and young children, the ability to digest macromolecular substances and the immune mechanism are not yet mature, so in the feeding stage of the first bite of complementary food, it is recommended to choose foods that are easy to swallow and digest, and rice noodles are "recognized as the best first bite".
Wang Huishan, a researcher at the Maternal and Child Health Center of the National Health Commission
At present, rice noodles have become a common complementary food, and most of them focus on natural and organic, high-iron (note: iron is one of the nutrients that infants and young children need to supplement from six months onwards) and other selling points. However, in Garbo's view, there are still unmet consumer needs in this category, one is that rice noodles should provide more comprehensive nutrition for babies. Wang Huishan pointed out that the nutritional needs of the first bite of complementary food are "not only iron", but also need to consider the nutrient density of the food consumed. At the same time, whether the nutrients are well absorbed is also a key consideration in the choice of complementary foods. Second, it is difficult for babies with different physiques to choose rice noodles that match their physical needs.
It is reported that the newly launched Garbo rice noodles have been developed in response to these needs, with a view to promoting the development of the category through more professional formulas. However, at present, there are not many rice noodles on the market that highlight the "formula", and this concept is usually used for infant milk powder, so what is the consideration of Nestle's positioning?
Xie Guoyao, Vice President of Nestlé Chinese Mainland and Head of Chinese Mainland of Nestlé's Infant Nutrition Business Unit
In this regard, Xie Guoyao said that today's parents are very familiar with the concept of "formula milk powder" and are relatively familiar with the various ingredients in infant formula, but most parents' nutritional cognition of the first bite of complementary food is still at the stage of "rice noodles are only used to supplement iron".
"Garbo hopes that through the concept of 'formula rice noodles', more consumers can realize that rice noodles also have professional formulas, and can also provide professional and scientific nutrition solutions for infants and young children to help babies meet the nutritional and growth and development needs of 6-12 months old." He said that applying the concept of "formula" to Garbo complementary food rice noodles will also help consumers perceive the scientific nutrition of the new product more concisely and clearly.
It is understood that in response to the demand for high-protein² and high-density³, Garbo's two new rice flour products use dual protein formulas, containing high-quality plant protein and animal protein, in addition to adding 22 kinds of nutrients such as DHA, calcium, iron, and zinc to meet multi-dimensional nutritional needs.
In order to create a product with good absorption, Garbo A2 formula rice flour is "selected from A2 β-casein, which is nutritionally friendly and easy to absorb, and 10 times the probiotic⁴Bb-12 helps the stomach comfort⁵". Another PHW Partially Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Formula Rice Flour focuses on small sensitive⁶ baby groups, which not only contains probiotic Bb-12, but also adds PHW Partial Hydrolyzed Whey Protein to rice flour, which hydrolyzes whey protein into small molecule protein, so that the protein can be better absorbed by the baby; At the same time, with the CHE grain hydrolysis process, the starch macromolecules are hydrolyzed into small molecules, which are easier to absorb.
"This time, Garbo fully combines and makes use of Nestle's professional scientific research and technical advantages in infant nutrition, focusing on the nutritional needs of babies aged 6 to 12 months, especially for the nutritional needs of the first bite of complementary food from the age of 6 months, and innovatively launches Garbo's world's first formula rice flour series, opening a new era of nutrition for the first mouthful⁸, and also provides targeted complementary food product nutrition solutions for babies with small sensitivities and abdominal discomfort to help all babies grow up healthily." Zhang Xiqiang, Executive Vice President of Nestlé Group and Chairman and CEO of Nestlé Greater China, said in his speech.
What I do best
In fact, the launch of Garbo's first rice noodle formula is part of the brand's long-term strategy to launch in China.
Like infant milk powder, complementary food has also faced the problem of slowdown and homogenization in recent years. In the face of this situation, Xie Guoyao believes that Garbo should return to "what it does best" in its pursuit of growth, that is, the advantage of R&D platform, which is also in line with the trend of the new generation of Chinese mothers paying more attention to scientific parenting.
"On the surface, this series of breakthrough products took only eight months to get to market, which is a quick time, but behind it is actually Nestlé's more than 150 years of infant nutrition expertise." He said that taking PHW partially hydrolyzed whey protein formula rice flour as an example, this new product is based on Nestle's research and development and accumulation of partially hydrolyzed protein technology for many years, so it can greatly shorten the innovation time in formula development and processing technology, and can be quickly implemented.
This innovation is actually a combination of Nestlé's nutritional expertise in infant formula and Garbo complementary foods. In China's milk powder industry, Nestlé has a focus on nutritional solutions in the field of special formulations, and is also a leader in the field of partially hydrolyzed protein formulas.
In addition to R&D strength, Garbo's solid brand foundation is also seen as a major advantage. Since its establishment in 1927, Garbo has been focusing on the field of infant snacks and complementary foods with a history of nearly 100 years, and has launched a number of sub-categories of complementary food products, including rice noodles, fruit purees, puffs, etc., which are sold to more than 70 countries around the world, and has become the leading infant complementary food brand in the global retail sales share.
As early as 1997, Garbo entered the Chinese market and belonged to one of the first brands to deploy infant complementary food in China. At present, the brand has factories in Shuangcheng and Qingdao, and its rice noodles, puffs, fruit purees and other major categories have localized production capacity, which has also laid the foundation for the rapid implementation of more innovations.
Garbo new product release site
Looking to the future, Garbo sees the increase in the penetration rate of complementary food for infants and young children as the biggest opportunity.
"For example, there is still a lot of room for growth in the penetration rate of rice noodles in the Chinese market. Nowadays, many families will choose homemade rice oil and rice cereal as the baby's first bite of complementary food. However, homemade rice cereal contains only a small amount of calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, minerals, and vitamins are limited to a small amount of B1 and B2, and the types and contents of these ingredients are still far from the needs of minerals and other vitamins in 6-month-old babies. Xie Guoyao described the shift from home-made feeding habits to professional finished products will be a "great business growth point" for Garbo.
It is reported that in order to improve the penetration rate of complementary food and brand, Garbo will popularize the importance of professional complementary food feeding through continuous consumer social planting and offline mother class education in the future, and at the same time help the overall growth of the brand.
"Relying on the scientific research strength and technical advantages of Nestle and Garbo, Garbo has been building the brand image of 'complementary food nutrition expert'. In the future, Garbo will continue to deepen the field of infant nutrition and health, and strive to bring a more professional, scientific and nutritious product portfolio to Chinese babies, while meeting the different nutritional needs of more babies. Xie Guoyao said.
1. Refers to the world's first formula rice noodle series under the "Garbo" brand
2. Nutritional high protein refers to the product follows the category of high-protein cereal supplementary food for infants and young children in the GB10769.
3. Nutrient density refers to the concentration of important nutrients (vitamins, minerals, and proteins) contained in food on a unit calorie basis. SHI Rui. Beijing:Chemical Industry Press,2012.2.Jiabao formula rice flour contains 22 kinds of nutrients such as protein, DHA, 5 kinds of minerals and 12 kinds of vitamins.
4. In terms of the amount of probiotics, the amount of probiotics added to "Garbo Professional Edition A2 β-Casein Formula Rice Flour" is not less than 10 to the 7th power, and the addition amount of the rest of Garbo's primary rice flour products is not less than 10 to the 6th power.
5.A2β-酪蛋白及活性益生菌Bb-12,助力肚肚舒适。
6. Definition of "small sensitivity": less frequent poop, difficult poop, diarrhea, abdominal pain, belly swelling, frequent fart, frequent spitting up, etc.
7. Refers to the first time that some hydrolyzed whey protein has been added to Garbo's baby rice flour series products.
8. "First mouthful" refers to the first bite of complementary food other than breast milk and formula milk.