As the growth of traditional dairy product categories slows down, dairy companies once again turn their attention to the larger silver-haired consumer group.

　　At the 2022 semi-annual report performance meeting, a number of leading dairy companies, including Mengniu Dairy (02319.HK), Yili (600887.SH), China Feihe (06186.HK), etc., indicated that the next step will be in the silver economy market. work hard.

　　Data shows that there are currently more than 260 million domestic consumers over the age of 60, and the market potential is huge. However, milk powder and other related dairy products for middle-aged and elderly people have been facing the embarrassment of slow market expansion. Can dairy companies find new breakthroughs this time?

Dairy companies bring back the silver economy

　　At the recent performance meeting, Mengniu President Lu Minfang revealed that consumers are paying more attention to nutrition and health under the epidemic, which is also the most important development trend in the industry. Mengniu is already deploying in the silver hair market and plans to Detailed disclosure will be made next year.

Yili also replied to the first financial reporter that Yili is also paying attention to the market opportunities of the silver-haired economy, and the detailed plan cannot be disclosed. Such as yogurt, probiotic products, etc.

　　From the perspective of the industry, dairy companies value the market potential of China's silver-haired economy. According to the seventh national census, China's silver-haired population aged 60 and above accounted for 18.7% of the population, reaching 264 million, which means a huge incremental market.

　　It is worth noting that this is not the first time that domestic dairy companies have focused on the silver-haired economy. Around 2018, due to the peak growth of the liquid milk and infant formula market at that time, domestic dairy companies have intensively promoted the formulating of milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people. It has a share of the silver-haired consumer market, but after a few years of development, middle-aged and elderly milk powder has rarely been shown in the performance reports of dairy companies.

　　Statistics from the Huajing Industry Research Institute show that between 2016 and 2021, the price of domestic milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people has increased from 92.24 yuan/kg to 100.1 yuan/kg, and the price growth rate is far behind that of infant formula milk powder.

It has been estimated in the industry that although it has been developing for many years, by 2021, the overall size of the adult milk powder market in which the domestic middle-aged and elderly milk powder is located will be about 15 billion to 20 billion yuan, which is only a quarter or even less of infant formula milk powder.

　　Wei Jing, vice president of China Feihe, told the First Financial Reporter that the domestic middle-aged and elderly milk powder market is slow to expand. On the one hand, it is due to the lack of mature brands in the adult powder market, and on the other hand, it is related to the domestic consumer's consumption habits still need to be cultivated.

　　Ausnutria Dairy also responded that domestic consumers, especially middle-aged and elderly consumers, have not formed the habit of drinking milk, so consumption growth is limited, and in terms of drinking milk, some consumers prefer to choose liquid milk. affected the growth of the total industry.

The previous adult milk powder products were mainly based on basic nutritional supplements, which could not meet the increasingly diversified and refined actual needs of consumers.

　　In addition, the slow development of domestic milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people is also related to consumer trust. Due to the low threshold for basic nutritional supplement milk powder products, some cases of shoddy milk powder and illegal sales of middle-aged and elderly milk powder have appeared in the market. Consumer groups do not trust this type of milk powder products.

Can functionalization achieve industry breakthroughs?

　　The first financial reporter noticed that this round of domestic dairy companies are readjusting their product strategies for middle-aged and elderly people. In the past two years, various dairy companies have launched new milk powder or nutritional products for middle-aged and elderly people, and gradually turned to focus on subdivided nutritional and health needs. Product "functionalization" realizes differentiation, thereby achieving market breakthrough.

　　In July and September this year, Ausnutria launched two middle-aged and elderly formula milk powders under the core brand Kabrita, mainly targeting the needs of middle-aged and elderly people for immunity and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health.

In 2021, China Feihe will launch four adult functional milk powder products in one go, mainly targeting the needs of middle-aged and elderly people for immunity, cardiovascular, bone, blood sugar health, etc., and will launch two more new adult milk powder products in the second half of this year. , corresponding to immune and cardiovascular health needs, respectively.

At the performance meeting, Cai Fangliang, president of China Feihe, also revealed that in the adult category, it will carry out in-depth technological innovation, including gradually promoting models such as customization.

The announcement of Yashili International (01230.HK), a listed milk powder company under Mengniu, also shows that it has launched a variety of functional milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people, and a number of innovative adult milk powders are in the process of research and development.

　　Song Liang told Yicai.com that the future of domestic milk powder companies is still to gradually expand from infant nutrition to the whole family nutrition market, especially for middle-aged and elderly-related products, but this also requires companies to increase investment in scientific and technological research and development and product innovation. Develop more nutritious, scientific and functional health products.

For example, foreign dairy companies have been developing nutritional products with targeted functions such as the prevention of Alzheimer's disease, which have been unveiled at the Shanghai International Import Expo.

　　This is also similar to the development logic of the Japanese dairy industry. After 1997, due to the reduction in consumption due to aging and population decline, Japanese dairy companies also faced greater pressure on revenue growth. Taking Meiji Dairy as an example, its products gradually increased to high value-added products. Value and functionalization are moving closer. Since 1995, Meiji Dairy has launched a series of functional yogurt, nutritional drinks, etc. in addition to traditional dairy products. After 2017, it has further launched gastrointestinal formulas, sports nutrition and other related products .

　　However, the reporter learned that there are still problems to be solved in the functionalization of products for the middle-aged and elderly in domestic dairy enterprises, because according to the National Food Safety Law, currently only health food can claim functions.

　　Li Liangqiu, vice president of China Nutrition and Health Food Association, told Yicai.com that the innovative transformation of dairy enterprises and the layout of R&D investment in advance should be encouraged. On the whole, the "function" of ordinary food is claimed to be a function of the nutrients or ingredients it contains. Nutritional efficacy introduction, health food under the registration and filing requirements, is to mark the stable health care function of the product, and the difference between the two is obvious.

　　In this regard, Wei Jing also said that at this stage, China has strict requirements on the production, listing and sales of functional food, but in the field of functional food, in order to cultivate a Chinese brand with an identity, it is recommended to implement a moderately loose policy on the one hand. , such as expanding the catalogue of raw materials, accelerating the filing and approval of raw materials, etc., to enhance the flexibility of market competition; Achieve differentiated competition.

　　Song Liang also suggested that the current domestic laws and regulations related to nutritional products are lagging behind. He also hopes that the relevant state departments can issue relevant regulations as soon as possible to encourage more capable dairy companies to speed up their transformation while raising the industry threshold.